Apple’s iCloud Shared Photo Library auto-shares your photos with family

As part of changes to Family Sharing, Apple has made it easy to set up a separate photo library that up to five people use. The iCloud Shared Photo Library will be available with iOS 16 on iPhone and other Apple devices.

The family members in the library will be able to share photos on iCloud as they are taken, a feature that can be easily turned on or off through a toggle in the camera app. Users can keep sharing turned off and have it automatically turn on whenever they are near another family member, making sharing photos during trips or family get-togethers a breeze.

When sharing photos to the library, users can either share their entire photo library, send photos starting on a specific date, automatically share pictures to the library when family members are nearby, or manually select which pictures to share.

All participants will have equal permissions within the library, allowing them to add, favorite, edit and delete photos. Users will also get intelligent suggestions to send a photo to the library based on who is in the picture.

The iCloud Shared Photo Library’s ultimate purpose is to help families share pictures in one place. Other changes to Family Sharing will feature Quick Start, which makes it easier to manage kids’ accounts; parental controls; and Family Checklist, which allows users to update a child’s settings, location sharing, and more.