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Apple Photos in iOS 27 upgrades one of my favorite features in a big way

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Why This Matters

The updates to Apple Photos in iOS 27 significantly enhance the user experience by making shared albums more versatile, accessible, and user-friendly. These improvements not only benefit individual consumers by simplifying photo sharing and collaboration but also strengthen Apple's ecosystem by enabling cross-platform contributions, fostering greater engagement and connectivity among users.

Key Takeaways

Apple Photos is full of exciting updates in iOS 27, including for one of my favorite features in the app: iCloud Shared Albums.

iOS 27 gives Shared Albums in Apple Photos several exciting upgrades

Apple’s Photos app is one of my most-used apps, as I suspect it is for many iPhone users. It’s where all of the photos and videos I capture live, plus screenshots, pictures shared by friends, and more.

But did you know that the Photos app also has a social media-style feature?

I’m not big on social media, but I do enjoy having a private, social-lite way to share memories with loved ones. And iCloud Shared Albums offers exactly that.

With iCloud Shared Albums, you can create an album that’s shared with only the people you choose. Anyone invited can add their own photos and videos, and you’ll get notified when they do. You can also ‘like’ shared photos and comment on them—just like a proper social network.

I’ve used and enjoyed Shared Albums for a long time, but the feature has felt in need of some upgrades. Fortunately, iOS 27 provides them.

In iOS 27, Shared Albums now support full-resolution photos and videos. That’s a huge item checked off my wish list.

Additionally, iOS 27 expands how you can react to a photo or video. Now you can use any emoji of your choosing as a reaction—you’re not limited to just ‘likes.’

For the first time, Android and Windows users can contribute to the album via the web. Previously, they could only view content shared by Apple users.

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