The essentials
Shared Albums changed in iOS 27. An album created on version 27 or later keeps photos and videos at their original resolution, and guests can join and add to it from a link on any device, including Android, without an Apple Account. Two limits still decide it for a wedding: 100 participants including the couple, and everything guests add counts against the couple's own iCloud storage. Albums made on earlier versions keep the old behaviour, 2,048-pixel photos and 720p video, until you upgrade them.
At a glance
- Photo quality (version 27+)
- Original format, full resolution
- Android and Windows guests
- Can join and add, by link
- Participants
- 100, including the owner
- Storage
- Counts against the owner's iCloud plan
- Albums made before version 27
- 2,048 px until upgraded
- Guests on older software
- Update, or use iCloud.com
What changed in iOS 27
For years the honest advice about Shared Albums was that they were a preview, not an archive: everything was downscaled, and only Apple users could contribute. Apple has since removed both limits. Albums created in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27 or on iCloud.com store photos and videos in their original formats at full resolution, and Apple's own wording is that friends and family can join and contribute their own photos on the web, even without an Apple Account or Apple device.
The change is per album, not per account. Albums you created earlier stay exactly as they were until you upgrade them, so a shared album started before the update still downscales to 2,048 pixels on the long edge and delivers video at up to 720p. If you set one up for an engagement party last year, it is still the old kind today.
Two conditions come with the new experience. Participants need iOS, iPadOS or macOS 27 or later to open an upgraded album on their device; anyone on older software has to update or view it on iCloud.com in a browser. And Apple notes that not all features are available in all countries or regions, so confirm what you get where your guests are before you build the wedding around it.
The two limits that still decide a wedding
The participant cap survived the update. A shared album holds 100 participants including the owner, which a 120-guest wedding reaches before the dancing starts. There is no way to raise it, so a large guest list needs either a second album or a different destination.
The storage trade has reversed. Old shared albums did not count against your iCloud storage, which was the quiet reason the downscaling existed. In the new experience there is no limit on the number of albums or items beyond the owner's available iCloud storage, and photos and videos that participants add count against the owner's plan too. Full-resolution photos and video from a hundred people is the kind of volume that ends a 200 GB plan during the reception, so check what plan you are on before the day rather than after.
One exception is worth knowing: a temporary shared album, which deletes itself after 30 days, does not count against your storage, and caps at 5,000 combined items. That suits a party you intend to clear out, and not a wedding you intend to keep.
| Limit | Created on version 27 or later | Created on version 26 or earlier |
|---|---|---|
| Photo resolution | Original format, full resolution | 2,048 px long edge (panoramas to 5,400 px wide) |
| Video | Original format, full resolution | Up to 15 minutes, delivered at up to 720p |
| Items per album | No limit beyond the owner's iCloud storage | 5,000 from all contributors |
| People | 100 participants, including the owner | 100 subscribers per album |
| iCloud storage | Counts against the owner's plan | Does not count against your storage |
| Who can add | Anyone with the link, no Apple Account needed | Apple Account holders you invited |
Setting one up for a wedding
In Photos on iOS 27 or later, go to Collections, scroll to Shared Albums, tap Shared Albums, then the Add button. Name it after the wedding and add a few photos so it is not empty. Tap Sharing Options and make the decision that matters most: invite and approve each participant, or share the album with a link that anyone can open.
For a wedding, the link is what makes this work at a venue, because it is the only route that reaches guests who are not on Apple devices. Turn on Access Requests if you want to approve each person who opens the link rather than letting anyone in; requests arrive as notifications, and you approve or decline from Invitations and Access Requests in Photos. Per participant you can also control whether they Can Add Photos, and you can remove a participant at any time.
Before you send the link, know what deleting does. Apple's warning is explicit: deleting a shared album permanently deletes all of its photos, on your devices and on your participants' devices, so anything you want to keep has to be saved out first. Saving is per item, which is the part that gets tedious when the collection is large. Apple also notes that Shared Albums upload a copy of your data and that downloaded content may not contain the same information as the original.
Upgrading an album you already made
If you started an album before the update, open it in Photos, tap the More button, then Upgrade Shared Album. From then on, newly shared photos and videos arrive at their original resolution, and you can invite people with a link and let participants manage the album.
The storage rule on an upgraded album is split in a way that is easy to misread: items already in the album do not count against your iCloud storage, but everything added after the upgrade does. Upgrading the week of the wedding therefore puts the entire guest collection on your plan.
Apple keeps a copy of the pre-upgrade album in Shared Albums settings for six months and then deletes it permanently. If you recover that copy it sits alongside the upgraded album in Photos, and you can resend invitations to everyone who was in it.
Where a dedicated event gallery still differs
The gap Shared Albums closed was quality and platform, and it is genuinely closed. What is left is the shape of the event rather than the shape of the file: the 100-participant cap, the storage coming out of the couple's own iCloud plan, and the requirement that guests either run version 27 or fall back to iCloud.com.
The other difference is host control over what appears. Apple gives the owner per-participant permission, access requests and the ability to delete anything after the fact. Capture is built the other way round: uploads can wait for the host's approval before anyone sees them, the whole gallery can stay locked until a time the couple chooses, and the collection comes back as one ZIP of originals rather than photos saved one at a time. Guests upload from a browser with no account and no minimum OS version, which is the same reach an iOS 27 link gives you without asking anyone to update their phone first.
If the guest list is under a hundred, everyone is reasonably current, and the couple has iCloud storage to spare, a Shared Album is now a reasonable answer for a wedding in a way it was not a year ago. Above that, or when approval and a scheduled reveal matter, it is the wrong tool rather than a cheaper one.
Questions & answers
Do iCloud Shared Albums keep full resolution?
In an album created on iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27 or later, or one you have upgraded, yes: Apple stores photos and videos in their original formats at full resolution. An album created on version 26 or earlier still reduces photos to 2,048 pixels on the long edge and delivers video at up to 720p until you upgrade it.
Can Android guests add photos to an iCloud Shared Album?
Yes, for albums on the new experience. Apple says friends and family can join and contribute their own photos on the web, even without an Apple Account or Apple device, by opening the album link. Older albums only offer a view-only Public Website, which does not accept uploads.
How many people can join a shared album?
100 participants including the owner. That cap applies to the new experience as well, so a guest list above about a hundred needs a second album or a different destination.
Does a wedding shared album use up our iCloud storage?
In an album created on version 27 or later, yes. Photos and videos count against the owner's iCloud storage, including everything participants add. Items that were already in an album before you upgraded it do not count; anything added afterwards does. Temporary shared albums do not count against storage.
What happens if we delete the shared album afterwards?
Deleting it permanently deletes every photo in it, from your devices and your participants' devices. Save anything you want to keep before deleting, one item at a time.
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