How do I share photos with my family?
Sharing photos with family is one of the most enjoyable things to do on your iPhone or iPad. There are several easy ways to do it. The simplest is to send a photo directly in a message — iMessage (blue bubbles) lets you send photos for free when you both have iPhones. You can also email photos to anyone, regardless of what phone they have. For sharing many photos at once, iCloud Shared Albums is excellent — you create one album and family members can view it on their own devices. Google Photos is another popular free option that works on iPhones, Androids, and computers, so it is great for mixed families. You can share with as many people as you like and they can add their own photos too. The photos stay in the shared album permanently until you remove them.
How to share a photo from your iPhone or iPad
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Find the photo you want to share.
- Tap the Share button (the square with an upward arrow).
- Choose how to share: tap "Message" to send by iMessage, "Mail" to send by email, or "Add to Shared Album" for iCloud sharing.
- Type the name or number of the person you want to share with and tap Send.
The 3-Second Rule
Before sharing a photo, ask: "Am I comfortable with this person having a permanent copy?" Photos shared by message or email cannot easily be taken back.