iOS 16 Makes It Easier to Share Photos With Family Using New Shared iCloud Library

Apple in iOS 16 has introduced a new iCloud Shared Photo Library, which is designed to make it much easier for you to share your photos with close family members.

share icloud photo library
An ‌iCloud‌ Shared Photo Library can be shared with up to five other people, and each contributor has equal access to add, edit, favorite, caption, and delete shared photos.

To prevent accidentally shared photos, there are smart setup rules that can be implemented. You can opt to share all past photos or just photos from a specific start date. You can also choose to share photos that have only specific people, such as your family members.

Photos can be added to the Shared Library automatically, but there are also options to share based on Bluetooth proximity. Sharing suggestions will continue to pop up in For You as well.

There's a new toggle in the Camera app that lets all the photos you take upload to the Shared Library automatically, so if you're out on vacation with your family, everyone can see vacation photos as soon as they're snapped.

Shared photos will show up in Memories, Featured ‌Photos‌, and the ‌Photos‌ widget, similar to standard ‌iCloud‌ Library images.

The ‌iCloud‌ Shared Photo Library does not appear to be implemented in the first beta, so support will likely be added in a future beta.

Related Forum: iOS 16

Popular Stories

ipad mini 2021 youtube

New Report Reveals When to Expect the iPad Mini 7

Tuesday October 1, 2024 2:09 pm PDT by
Apple is working on a new iPad mini that will "potentially" be released "by the end of 2024," according to a report today from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Last month, Gurman reported that Apple had "new iPads in the works," including an upgraded version of the iPad mini. At the time, he said the device was "on deck for Apple's October event" alongside the first M4 Macs. The wording in his...
Generic iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.0.1 With Touch Screen Bug Fix and More

Thursday October 3, 2024 2:22 pm PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.0.1 and iPadOS 18.0.1, the first updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that debuted earlier in September. iOS 18.0.1 and iPadOS 18.0.1 come two weeks after the launch of iOS 18. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release notes, the...
apple silicon mac lineup wwdc 2022 feature purple

MacBook Pro, iMac, and Redesigned Mac Mini With M4 Chips on Track to Launch 'This Year'

Tuesday October 1, 2024 1:57 pm PDT by
Apple plans to release new MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini models with the M4 series of chips "this year," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman initially said these Macs would likely be announced during a virtual event this October, but he has been more vague about the timing lately, with wording such as "in the coming weeks" and now merely "this year." In any case, it is clear that...
15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.1

Friday September 27, 2024 6:14 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.1 in October, bringing the first set of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update marks a significant step forward in Apple's AI integration, offering a new Siri contextually-aware experience and a range of additional capabilities powered by on-device machine learning and large language models. There are a couple of handy new...
macOS Sequoia Night Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.0.1 With Bug Fixes

Thursday October 3, 2024 2:27 pm PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.0.1, the first update for the macOS Sequoia operating system. The 15.0.1 update comes a week after Apple first released macOS Sequoia 15. Mac users can download the ‌macOS Sequoia‌ update by using the Software Update section of System Settings. According to Apple's release notes, macOS Sequoia 15.0.1 fixes a bug that could cause the Messages app...
airpods pro 2 gradient

AirPods Pro 3 Expected Next Year: Here's What We Know

Tuesday October 1, 2024 5:47 am PDT by
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch sometime in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for. Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.0.1 Coming Soon: What to Expect for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 2, 2024 5:50 am PDT by
Following the release of iOS 18 for the iPhone last month, Apple is preparing to release iOS 18.0.1 with bug fixes in the near future. We previously reported that Apple has been internally testing iOS 18.0.1, and today a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing iOS-related information said the update will have a build number of 22A3370. We expect iOS 18.0.1 to be a minor ...
Apple Logo

Apple in October: Six New Things to Expect This Month

Tuesday October 1, 2024 11:47 am PDT by
The calendar has turned to October, and it should be another busy month for Apple. Apple is likely to hold another event this month to announce new Macs and iPads, and there are also a couple of iOS 18 updates that are expected to be released soon. Below, we outline six new things to expect from Apple this month. MacBook Pro Apple plans to announce updated 14-inch and 16-inch...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Here Are All the New Features Coming to macOS Sequoia This Month

Thursday October 3, 2024 6:27 am PDT by
‌Apple in October will release macOS Sequoia‌ 15.1, bringing to Macs the first Apple Intelligence features such as Writing Tools, new Siri features, Smart Replies, and more. In addition, macOS 15.1 adds a handful of welcome tweaks and improvements to existing Mac capabilities. Here's what we can expect from the first major update to macOS Sequoia later this month. Note that Apple...

Top Rated Comments

I am Sampson Avatar
31 months ago
Best news of WWDC in my opinion.
Was literarily looking for a way to force all photos to be shared just a few days ago. My partner and I have no need for privacy and want to share everything just like devices under the same appleID do. Very happy about this!
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WannaGoMac Avatar
31 months ago
how is this any different than existing shared albums?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
eilavid Avatar
31 months ago
will this take up icloud storage? or is it free like the shared album feature
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Schtibbie Avatar
31 months ago

Lets also hope its not based on Apples “lets downscale to a crap resolution “ approach they have today with sharing…
Yeah.. It needs to (for me) have the following end result: We go on a vacation as a family. I take pics on my iphone. My wife takes pics on HER iphone. If either of us goes on our home macbook that contains ALL our family photos since the beginning of time, we'll find BOTH sets of pics all in the Photos application, ALL FULL RESOLUTION. We can let them live in icloud but we can ALSO fully back them up on time machine when the Macbook backs up to our external disk. And at no point do I have to plug my phone old-school-like into the macbook to upload (and then erase from my phone) my photos into the "family" Photos. I hate having to do that. It's clunky. And if i leave them on my phone after the upload we end up taking up 2x family shared cloud storage! HATE IT.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Knowledge Navigator Avatar
31 months ago
God I hope my family don't share their pictures with me, they're honestly just terrible (BTW, this is coming from a guy that takes pictures of different coloured Henry vacuum cleaners)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrSimmo Avatar
31 months ago
Lets also hope its not based on Apples “lets downscale to a crap resolution “ approach they have today with sharing…
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)