How to make a shared album on iPhone

Updated 6 November 2026

Open Photos, tap Collections, then Shared Albums, and tap Add. Name it, choose a few photos and decide who can join. The settings worth a second look are who can add photos and, on iOS 27, how much of your iCloud storage the album will use.

Before you start: turn on Shared Albums

Shared albums live in iCloud, so a couple of settings need to be on first. Apple's steps:

1. Update your iPhone to the latest iOS.
2. Go to Settings, tap your name, tap iCloud, then Photos, and turn on Shared Albums.
3. On iOS 27, make sure iCloud Photos is on too. The exception is a temporary album (more on those below), which doesn't need it.

If you also use an iPad or a Mac, sign in with the same Apple Account on each, and your shared albums appear on all of them.

How to make a shared album on iOS 27

1. Open Photos, tap Collections, then Shared Albums.
2. Tap Add, give the album a name and choose the photos to start it with.
3. In Sharing Options, choose whether you invite people and approve them, or share the album by link.
4. If it only needs to last a short while, turn on Make Album Temporary. Then tap Done.

To invite people later, open the album, tap Manage Shared Album, then Invite Participants. You can send it to a contact, share it through another app, or tap Copy Album Link and paste the link wherever you like.

Albums you made before updating keep working the old way unless you tap Upgrade Shared Album. Read the storage section below before you do.

How to make one on iOS 26

The menus are a little different. In Collections, tap Shared Albums, then Add. Name the album and choose photos, then pick people from your contacts or type an email address or an iMessage phone number. Tap Done, then Create. To add people later, open Participants and tap Add Participants.

For friends who don't use iCloud, turn on Public Website in the album's details. They can then look at the album in a web browser.

Letting other people add photos

You can always add photos to your own album. Everyone else needs permission: on iOS 27 it's the Can Add Photos setting for each participant in Manage Shared Album, and on iOS 26 it's Participants Can Add Photos.

To add pictures, people select them in their library, tap Share, then Add to Shared Album, and everyone in the album is notified. Participants can also leave comments, save anything to their own library, and delete what they added themselves.

The biggest change in iOS 27 is for friends without an iPhone. Apple says they can now join and add photos on the web, even without an Apple Account or an Apple device. One walkthrough of the web version has them type an email address, then a six-digit code sent to it, before they upload.

If you share by link, decide who gets in. With access requests on, people who open the link ask to join, and you approve them from a notification. If anyone with the link can join, they can see and add photos straight away, and they can pass the link on without asking you.

Storage and photo quality

This is where iOS 27 changed the most, and it's worth knowing before a big event.

• New albums keep full resolution, and use your storage. On iOS 27, a shared album's photos and videos count toward the owner's iCloud storage, including the ones other people add. Every iCloud account starts with 5 GB, and full-resolution photos and videos from a room full of guests add up quickly.
• Temporary albums don't. They don't count toward your iCloud storage and hold up to 5,000 photos and videos from everyone. Apple says a temporary album is deleted after 30 days, so save what you want before then. Photos saved to your own library stay there after the album is gone.
• Older albums hold smaller copies. Albums made on iOS 26 or earlier don't count toward your storage, but photos are reduced to 2,048 pixels on the long edge, and videos are kept at up to 720p and fifteen minutes long. Each one holds up to 5,000 photos and videos.
• Up to 100 people. An iOS 27 album can have up to 100 participants, including you. Older albums allow up to 100 subscribers.

Shared Album or Shared Library?

Photos has a second sharing feature with a similar name. An iCloud Shared Photo Library shares a whole library with up to five other people, usually your family, and you can only be in one at a time. The person who sets it up provides the iCloud storage for everything in it.

For a party, a trip with friends or a wedding, you want a shared album: a set of photos you choose, for a group you invite.

Using a shared album for a wedding or party

A shared album is a familiar choice for an event, especially when most of your guests have iPhones. A few things make it work better:

• Make it before the day and add a few photos of your own, so the album isn't empty when guests open it.
• Choose temporary or permanent on purpose. Temporary spares your storage but is deleted after 30 days. Permanent keeps everything at full quality, on your iCloud storage.
• Use access requests if the link will be printed or posted, so a forwarded link doesn't let strangers in.
• Put the link where people are. Send it in the group chat the day before, or print it as a QR code with the wedding QR code sign maker.
• Ask for photos that night. Guests are most likely to add them while the party is still on their minds.

A message you can copy:

We've made a shared album for tonight! Tap the link to join, then add your photos and videos as you go. Blurry, silly and candid are all welcome.

The catch is the same with any album: guests take the photo, then have to remember to add it. Plenty don't, and the rest arrive days later or not at all. If the party is already over, here's how to ask for photos afterwards.

When a shared camera works better

A shared album is best for photos people already have. For photos that haven't been taken yet, a shared camera skips the upload step. With SEENCAM, you start a roll on your iPhone and share one QR code or link. Guests scan it and shoot straight into the roll from their own phones, with no app to download and no account: the camera opens as an App Clip on iPhone and in the browser on any other phone.

Because each photo lands in the roll as it's taken, nothing depends on anyone remembering later. You choose when the photos appear (during the event, when it ends, or 12 or 24 hours later) and whether each guest sees every photo or only the ones they're in. A roll is free for up to 10 guests, and bigger rolls are a one-time purchase for that roll. There's more in how to collect wedding photos from your guests.

The two work well together: a shared album for the photos people already have, like the engagement trip, and a roll for the night itself.

Sources

• How to use Shared Albums in Photos on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, Apple Support
• Shared Albums limits, Apple Support
• Manage your iCloud storage on your Apple device, Apple Support
• How to use iCloud Shared Photo Library on iPhone or iPad, Apple Support
• iOS 27 Lets Other People Use Up Your iCloud Storage, MacRumors
• How to Share iPhone Albums with an iPhone or Android User, iPhone Life
• iOS 27 makes it easier to share iPhone albums with Android, iGeeksBlog

Related guides

• How to collect wedding photos from your guests
• How to get photos from wedding guests after the wedding
• What to look for in a wedding photo sharing app