Sharing photos with family: albums, shared libraries, location and consent

Sharing a copy against sharing the library, whether a share sends full-size photos, who can add and delete, checking location before a photo leaves your phone, and asking before you post other people.

Sharing a copy: shared albums Understand

There are two ways to share photos with family. You can share a copy: you send or post some photos, and the people you send them to get their own copies. Or you can share the library: a small group keeps one set of photos together, and each person can change it. Most families need the first for nearly everyone and the second for one household at most. This manual's default is a copy for anyone outside your home. Preference

A shared album is an album in a photo service that other people can view and, if you let them, add to. It sits between the two: the photos live in the owner's account, the people in it see them there, and each person can save copies of their own. The table puts the common ways side by side. Every cell is the maker's own statement on 2026-10-30, and the makers change these.

Apple shared albums in iOS 27

Shared Albums changed in version 27. Apple says that starting in iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27, shared albums support full-resolution sharing, and that friends and family can join and add photos on the web, even without an Apple Account or Apple device (Apple's Shared Albums page). Albums made in version 27 or later store items in their original formats at full resolution and count toward the owner's iCloud storage, including what other people add; an album can have up to 100 people, the owner included (Apple's Shared Albums limits). Albums made in version 26 or earlier keep their old rules: photos are reduced to 2048 pixels on the long edge, video to 720p, and they do not count toward storage. A family with mixed devices sees both kinds. Product

To make one in iOS 27, Apple's steps are: open Photos, tap Collections, scroll to Shared Albums and tap it, tap Add, name the album and choose photos, then tap Sharing Options to choose between inviting and approving people or sharing by a link. Turn on Make Album Temporary if you want it to expire. Tap Done. Shared Albums must be on (Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos > Shared Albums), and in version 27 iCloud Photos must be on as well, except for a temporary album. In iOS 26 the steps differ: you choose people from your contacts and tap Create; Apple's page gives both.

A temporary shared album is a version 27 album that expires after 30 days. Apple says it does not use iCloud storage, holds up to 5,000 items, and that anything not saved to someone's library by then is deleted (Apple's temporary shared album page). It suits a handover: the other person saves what they want, and your storage is untouched.

The choice between "invite and approve" and "share with a link" decides who can get in. With a link, anyone who has it can join or ask to join, depending on the album's Sharing Options, and a link can be forwarded. With invitations, you approve each person. Our default for family photos is invitations. Preference

Google Photos shared albums

Google says anyone with a shared album's link can view the photos and add to the album (Google's Share photos and videos page). Two other rules matter for a family. A photo someone saves from a shared album becomes their own copy and counts toward their storage, and edits you make to the original later do not reach it. And a person who leaves an album or conversation removes everything they added to it. Product

A shared album is not a backup

Apple says deleting a shared album permanently deletes all of its photos, for everyone in it; only the copies people saved to their own libraries stay. A shared album is a view of photos in one account, and the owner can end it. Keep your own originals in your library and its copies (Backups), and treat the album as a way to show, not a place to keep. The sharing sheet's checklist has a line for this: you have your own copy outside the share. Principle

Sharing the library: shared libraries and partner sharing

A shared library is one photo library that several people keep together: what any of them adds, every one of them sees, and every one of them can change. It is for a household that wants one collection, not for sending photos to relatives.

iCloud Shared Photo Library

Apple's iCloud Shared Photo Library lets you share with up to five other people, and each person can belong to one shared library. Photos you put in it move out of your Personal Library. Apple says all participants can add, edit and delete content, and that the creator provides the iCloud storage for all of it (Apple's iCloud Shared Photo Library page). It needs iOS 16.1 or later with iCloud Photos on; children under 13 can join only with their Family Sharing group. Set it up in Settings > Apps > Photos > Shared Library (in iOS 17 or earlier, Settings > Photos). The Camera can add photos as you take them, with the choices Share Automatically, Share Manually or Share When At Home. In iOS 27 you switch between the shared and personal views in Library > Sort and Filter > Library View. Product

Two of Apple's rules decide whether it suits a household. A deleted item goes to Recently Deleted, and only the person who contributed it can delete it from there. If the creator runs out of iCloud storage, nobody can add to the library, and edits stop syncing. What happens when the creator deletes the library, or a person leaves, is under Go deeper.

Google partner sharing

Google's partner sharing shares your library with one other person: all your photos, or only chosen face groups, from a start date you pick (Google's partner sharing page). The path is your profile picture > Photos settings > Sharing > Partner sharing. Google's rules: one partner at a time; the partner needs a Google Account; only backed-up photos are shared; photos the partner saves do not count against their storage as long as you keep sharing them; and your later edits or deletions do not reach copies your partner has saved. Partner sharing also sends location: Google says every photo you share this way includes its location details. Product

Our default: a shared library or partner sharing only for people who live with you and whom you would trust to delete. Everyone else gets an album or a copy. Preference One home for your photos covers using partner sharing to bring two accounts into one library.

What size arrives

A photo can arrive smaller than you took it. Compression is saving an image again in fewer bytes, which for a photo usually means throwing away fine detail; a service may also shrink its pixel dimensions. Metadata is the information stored with a photo besides the picture: date and time, camera, location and sometimes a caption. Exif is the standard most cameras and phones use to write that information into the file. A share that compresses can also drop the metadata, and with it the date the photo was taken.

A 2025 forensic study tested transfers by USB, email and six messaging apps. Its abstract reports that USB, email and document-style sends kept every Exif field and the file unchanged, while sending as an image in chat apps compressed the photo and in effect removed the metadata (Nishchal Soni, Perspectives in Legal and Forensic Sciences, 2025). We read the abstract only, so we give no per-app sizes. Test

On an iPhone in iOS 27, the share sheet's Options button holds the format choices: Automatic picks a format for the destination, Current prevents a conversion, and Most Compatible may convert to JPEG or MOV (Apple's iOS 27 sharing guide). For a person who will print or keep the photos, Current sends the photo as it is. Product

WhatsApp's help page on HD photos says you choose Standard quality or HD quality with the HD icon each time you send, or set a default under Settings > Storage and data > Media upload quality. You can't upgrade a photo once it is sent; you resend it in HD. The page gives no pixel sizes and does not say whether metadata is kept. Product

Our default: for photos someone will print, frame or keep as their copy, use a way that sends originals (a version 27 shared album, AirDrop, email, or a drive handed over), and keep chat apps for a quick look. Preference Where the maker does not say, test: send one photo, then compare its pixel size and date on the receiving end with yours (on an iPhone, swipe up on the photo to see its information). Test

Location: where a photo was taken

Location metadata is the place, stored as map coordinates, that a phone writes into a photo when the camera has access to location. Apple's Personal Safety guide says that when Location Services is on for the Camera, these coordinates are embedded in each photo and video, and that people you share them with may be able to see where they were taken (Apple's Manage location metadata in Photos, published September 2026). The FTC tells young people the same in plain terms: the camera may record where you were, and you can turn off location on the phone's camera if you do not want to broadcast it (FTC's Heads Up). Product

Location is useful in your own library: it lets you browse photos on a map and search by place. The question is only what leaves with a share. There are three places to control it.

On an iPhone

Stop the camera recording it. Apple's Personal Safety guide says location can be collected only if the Camera app has access to Location Services, and gives Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Camera, then Never. Apple's iOS 27 guide describes the same list: Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services, then tap an app to change its access (Apple's iOS 27 location guide). This affects new photos only, and you lose the map for them. Product

Remove it from one photo. The Personal Safety guide's steps are: open the photo, tap the information button, tap Adjust Info, tap Adjust Location, then tap No Location. Apple's iOS 27 guide describes Adjust Info > Adjust Location for changing a place, and Revert for going back to the original, but does not name No Location (Apple's iOS 27 photo information guide), so check the wording on your own phone. This changes the photo in your library too; Revert brings the original place back. Product

Leave it out of one share. Apple's iOS 26 guide and the September 2026 Personal Safety guide both say: select the photos, tap Share, tap Options, and turn off Location; "Location Not Included" then shows above Options (Apple's iOS 26 sharing guide). Apple's iOS 27 guide lists Keywords, the file format and All Photos Data under Options, and no Location switch. We could not confirm the switch in iOS 27 from any Apple page on 2026-10-30. So open Options on your own phone: if you see a Location switch, turn it off and look for "Location Not Included" before you send. If you do not, remove the location from the photo or stop the camera recording it. Test

On Android and in Google Photos

Google says that if your camera added a location, you cannot update or remove it in Google Photos; only locations Google estimated, or that you added, can be changed (Google's photo locations page). What Google gives you is control at the share. Each shared album has a Share photo locations switch under Share Options, set when you make the album or later. New conversations leave location off by default. Partner sharing includes location on every photo. And a photo you download and email carries the location the phone saved, whatever you changed in Google Photos. To stop location at the source, use the Camera app's settings, which Google says vary by phone maker. Product

Our default

Check location on every share that goes outside your household, and remove it from photos that show your home, a child's school or a child's daily routine before they go to anyone outside the household or onto social media. Preference The NSPCC, a UK children's charity, advises organizations to make sure location data is removed before uploading children's images (NSPCC Learning's photographing and filming children); that is guidance for schools and clubs in the UK, not a rule for families, and we cite it as a careful reference. Then test one photo: open it as the other person sees it, or ask them to, and look for a place in its information. Test

Asking first: other people and children

A photo of someone else is partly about them. The FTC's advice to young people is to ask the people in a photo before posting it, and not to post it if they say no; it adds that a deleted or expiring post can still be saved, shared and kept online (FTC's Heads Up). Its page for parents says that once you post something online, you cannot take it back (FTC's Kids and Cell Phones). This manual's rule follows them: ask before you post or share a photo of another person beyond the people who were there. Convention

Children

Sharenting is parents posting photos, videos and information about their children online. Children and Screens, a research institute that says it takes no technology industry funding, names the risks: limited control even with privacy settings, identity fraud, images reaching exploitation sites, AI tools altering photos into explicit content, and children left out of decisions about their own image (Children and Screens, What is Sharenting?, December 2025). It reports that child advocacy groups recommend asking children's permission before posting about them, sharing as little personal information as possible, and using privacy settings, and it says there is "no such thing as risk-free posting". It gives no age at which to start asking. Convention

The NSPCC's guidance names what makes a child findable: a name with the image, a location tag, and details such as a school uniform. Keep names and schools out of captions on anything that leaves the family. The sharing sheet's checklist carries that line.

For another family's child, ask the parents. Schools sometimes ask families not to post photos that show other children; follow that where it applies. Ask

Other adults, and people who have died

We found no source that says what is acceptable to post about another adult, or about someone who has died. So we do not say. Ask the person. For someone who has died, ask the people closest to them before you post their photos publicly. Ask

Who owns a photo

Copyright is the legal right to copy, publish and distribute a creative work such as a photograph. The U.S. Copyright Office says that if you take a photograph, you own its copyright, whether or not you are a professional, and that protection starts when the photo is taken, without registration (Copyright Office handout M-313, Photography and Copyright). Its photographers page puts the general rule as the person who shoots the photo being its author and first owner, with an exception for a work made for hire, such as a photo an employee takes as part of the job (What Photographers Should Know about Copyright). Product

Three points from the handout matter to families:

• Being in a photo is not owning it. If you own a photo someone else took, you do not own its copyright, even if it is a photo of you.
• Owning a print is not owning the copyright. You can give the print away or sell it, but the handout says you do not have the right to distribute copies or publish it.
• Inherited photos may still be protected. Whether they are depends on when they were taken and the copyright term at the time; the Office points to its own site for researching that.

Posting a photo also gives the platform rights. A DC Public Library class deck on saving photos describes Facebook's license as non-exclusive and royalty-free; each platform's terms of service say what it can do with what you post. Read them before you post a collection. Ask

None of this is legal advice, and the handout does not cover posting a relative's photos privately or using them in a family history. Those questions go to a lawyer, or to the Copyright Office's own pages. Ask

See it: Nadia, and Grace and Daniel See it

• Apple's Manage location metadata in Photos: the three iPhone controls for location, with Mac steps.
• Apple's How to use Shared Albums: making, inviting and deleting, with iOS 27 and iOS 26 steps.
• Google's Understand, find and edit your photos' locations: what can and can't be removed, and the album switch.
• FTC's Heads Up: Stop. Think. Connect.: location on the camera and asking before posting, written for young people.

Practice: one share, checked and recorded Practice

Minimum: make one shared album for one person, check location on one photo in it, and write one row on the sharing sheet. Time: about 30 to 45 minutes. Materials: your phone, the photos you want to share (your favorites are a good start: Choosing what to keep), the person's email address or phone number, and the sharing sheet.

1. Name the group and what they need. Who, which photos, and whether they will print or keep them. Write it in the sheet's notes column.
2. Choose the way. Use the table in shared albums. For printing or keeping, choose a way that sends originals.
3. Make the album. On an iPhone in iOS 27: Photos > Collections > Shared Albums > Add, then Sharing Options. In Google Photos: create the album, then Share Options. Invite the person rather than posting a link.
4. Check location. Use the controls in location, then open one photo as the other person sees it, or ask them to, and look for a place.
5. Run the checklist. Tick each line of Before you share: location, people asked, children's names and schools out of captions, full size decided, the right people able to add or delete, and your own copy outside the share.
6. Write the row. Album, service, with whom, full size or smaller, who can add or delete, location (off, on or not checked), and an expiry date for a temporary album.

Your photos Your photos

Check your work Check your work

Criteria

• Does each group you share with have one way of sharing, chosen on purpose?
• Do you know whether that way sends full-size copies, from the maker's page or from a test?
• Has location been checked on at least one photo in the share, with the result written down?
• Were the people in the photos asked, and the parents of other people's children?
• Are the people who can add or delete the ones you meant?
• Is every photo in the share also in your own library and its copies?
• Is the share on the sharing sheet?

Worked example

Nadia's row reads: "Theo for Lila; iCloud shared album, made in iOS 27; Lila; full size; Nadia can delete anything, Lila adds and deletes her own; location checked on one photo, none shown; no expiry; notes: 60 photos for prints, counts toward my iCloud storage." Her Before you share list has every line ticked. It passes. It does not say how much storage the album will use by next year, because Lila's additions also count; that waits for the yearly check.

Common mistakes

• Treating a shared album as a backup. The owner's delete removes it for everyone.
• Sending photos for printing through a chat app. The study above found chat sends compressed.
• Assuming an old album is full size. An album made in iOS 26 or earlier stays at 2048 pixels.
• Posting a link album where anyone can forward it. With a link, whoever has it can join or ask to.
• Relying on a share-sheet switch you have not seen. Look for it on your phone before you count on it.
• Forgetting partner sharing sends location. Google says every partner-shared photo includes it.

What is still unresolved

Whether the iOS 27 share sheet keeps a Location switch is settled by your own phone, since Apple's iOS 27 guide does not list it. What size a Google shared album or iMessage delivers is settled by a test, since the makers do not say. What to post about other people is settled by asking them. Copyright and privacy questions go to a lawyer. Who can reach your shared albums and libraries after you die is in Routines and handing on.

Knowledge check and scenario

Checklist

• One shared album or library exists, its location setting is checked, and it is on the sharing sheet.
• I know whether that share sends full-size copies or smaller ones.
• I asked the people in the photos, and the parents of any child who is not mine.
• Every photo in the share is also in my own library and its copies.
• I tested a copy the other person saved, for size, date and location. (Go deeper; optional)