You can keep adding photos and videos after you set up or join an iCloud Shared Photo Library in the Photos app. Keep in mind that content you move there leaves your personal library and becomes visible to all participants. There are several ways to add more:
- Manually move photos from your personal library
- Save photos and videos you take directly to the shared library from Camera
- Share photos you take when other members of the shared library are nearby
- Share photos and videos you take at home
Note: iCloud Shared Photo Library needs iOS 16.1, iPadOS 16.1, macOS 13, or later. If a device runs an earlier version of the software, it won’t have the photos and videos added to a shared library.
Manually add photos and videos to an iCloud Shared Photo Library
From your personal library, you can add individual photos and videos to the iCloud Shared Photo Library.
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Tap the photo or video you want to add. Or to add multiple photos and videos at the same time, tap Select. Tap the thumbnails you want to add.
- Tap the More button. Then tap Move to Shared Library.
Quick tip: The Photos app can suggest photos and videos for your Shared Library. To see them, tap Collections , tap your account in the top-right corner, and then tap For Your Shared Library.
After content is moved to the shared library, it’s no longer in your personal library and it’s visible to all of the shared library participants. To move content from the shared library back to your personal library, follow the steps above, but tap Move to Personal Library instead of Move to Shared Library.
Add photos and videos to an iCloud Shared Photo Library directly from Camera
Camera saves to your personal library by default. Once you set up or join an iCloud Shared Photo Library, though, a Shared Library button appears at the top of the screen when you open Camera, so you can switch between saving photos and videos to your personal library or to the shared library.
To switch, tap the Personal Library button to save to the shared library; tap the Shared Library button to switch back to your personal library.
To turn the feature on or off after you complete the setup process, go to Settings > Apps > Photos > Shared Library > Sharing from Camera, then turn Sharing from Camera on or off.
Add photos and videos to an iCloud Shared Photo Library when participants are nearby
There’s an option to automatically add photos you take when you’re near other shared library participants. You can choose it when you set up or join an iCloud Shared Photo Library.
To allow iPhone to detect when participants of your shared library are nearby, participants need to be signed in to their Apple Account on their device, and have Bluetooth® turned on in Settings > Bluetooth.
To turn the feature on or off after you complete the setup process, do the following:
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Tap Collections.
- Tap your account in the top-right corner.
- Tap Shared Library, then tap Sharing from Camera.
- Tap Share Automatically.
Automatically add photos and videos taken at home to an iCloud Shared Photo Library
Photos and videos you take at home can land in the shared library automatically, too. Choose that option when you set up or join an iCloud Shared Photo Library.
To turn the feature on or off after you complete the setup process, do the following:
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Tap Collections.
- Tap your account in the top-right corner.
- Tap Shared Library, then tap Sharing from Camera.
- Turn Share When At Home on or off.
Turn iCloud Shared Photo Library sharing suggestions on or off
Sharing suggestions recommends photos you might want to add to your iCloud Shared Photo Library, such as photos you took when participants of the shared library were nearby, or photos of people you indicated interest in during the setup process. iPhone sends a notification to review sharing suggestions. To turn suggestions on or off, follow these steps:
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Tap Collections.
- Tap your account in the top-right corner.
- Tap Shared Library, then turn Shared Library Suggestions on or off.
If you want to get sharing suggestions for additional people, tap Add People, tap a person, then tap Add. The person doesn’t have to be a member of the shared library.
