Skip to Content

iOS 16: How to Control When iPhone Camera Shots Are Saved to Your iCloud Shared Photo Library

by

In iOS 16, it's possible to create a shared iCloud Photo Library that allows up to five other friends with Apple products to contribute photos to.

iOS 16 Photos and Camera Guide Feature
This means if you are all at the same event, you can have your iPhone camera automatically upload new shots to the same shared library for you to enjoy and look back on together.

In the Camera app, you can tap a new icon that looks like two people to swap between automatic uploading to the shared library and your personal library. Using Bluetooth, your ‌iPhone‌ can even detect when you're in the same location as other participants in the library and set the Camera app to automatically add photos and videos to the shared library.

camera
If you don't like the Sharing from Camera app option for whatever reason, you can manually disable it, and if you change your mind, you can re-enable it anytime, so long as you still have a Shared ‌iCloud Photo Library‌ active. The following steps show you how it's done on an ‌iPhone‌ running iOS 16.

  1. Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌.
  2. Scroll down and tap Photos.
  3. Under "Library," tap Shared Library.
  4. Tap Sharing From Camera.
  5. Toggle the switch on or off next to Sharing from Camera.

settings

If you choose to enable Sharing from Camera, you can use the same menu of options to set the Camera to Share Automatically or Share Manually, with the latter option allowing you to make use of the new upload button in the Camera app, as outlined above.

Popular Stories

macbook air blue

What's Coming in the M5 MacBook Air

Thursday February 26, 2026 3:57 pm PST by
Along with the low-cost MacBook, Apple could introduce a refreshed version of the MacBook Air next week. Most of the focus will be on the new machine, but the MacBook Air is expected to get some useful internal updates. M5 Chip The next-generation MacBook Air will adopt the M5 chip, which Apple already introduced in the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro models that came out last year. Apple's M5...
Apple Announces Special Event in New York Feature 1

Apple Teases 'A Big Week Ahead' With Announcements Starting Monday

Thursday February 26, 2026 6:06 am PST by
Apple CEO Tim Cook today teased "a big week ahead," with announcements starting Monday. His post included an #AppleLaunch hashtag with a colorful Apple logo, along with a short video that ultimately shows an Apple logo on the lid of a Mac. Apple is reportedly planning a three-day stretch of product announcements from Monday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 4, with up to five new products...
ipad mini 7 1

Could Apple's OLED iPad Mini Finally Be a Kindle Killer?

Friday February 27, 2026 12:08 pm PST by
With a similar screen size and easy, one-handed grip, the iPad mini has always been the Apple device that overlaps most with dedicated e-readers. Now, amid rumors pointing to an OLED display for the next generation, could the iPad mini finally replace devices such as the Kindle and Kobo? The shift from LCD to OLED could make the iPad mini far more appealing as a reading device. OLED panels...