Six ways to share photos
| Good when | Price | Worth knowing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| iCloud shared album | Everyone or most people have an iPhone or iPad. | Free, but new albums use the iCloud storage of the album owner, except temporary albums. (source 1) | Up to 100 participants. From iOS 27, people without an Apple device can join and add photos on the web. (sources 1, 2) |
| Google Photos shared album | The family has both iPhone and Android. | Free, and each Google Account has up to 15 GB of storage. (source 4) | Anyone with the link can see the photos and add new ones. (source 3) |
| Family chat in Messenger, WhatsApp or Signal | You write to each other every day. | Free. | The photos end up between the messages. By default, WhatsApp sends video at up to 720p. (source 5) |
| Digital photo frame | Someone should see the photos without tapping anything. | You buy the frame once. The Frameo app is free, and Frameo+ costs $1.99 a month. (source 6) | The frame sits on the shelf and shows the photos on its own. |
| Someone in the family uses neither a chat nor an album. | Free. | If a file is larger than 25 MB, Gmail adds a link instead. (source 7) | |
| A separate photo app for the family | You want the photos from the whole family in one place, on iPhone and Android. | It differs from app to app. | Everyone has to get the app and sign in. |
What suits your family?
- Does everyone have an iPhone or iPad? Then an iCloud shared album is the easiest, because the Photos app is already on the phone.
- Do you have both iPhone and Android? Then a Google Photos shared album works, and so does an iCloud shared album with a link. Read how to make a shared album for iPhone and Android.
- Should someone see the photos without tapping anything? Then a photo frame suits, or an iPad with a slideshow. Read how to use an iPad as a photo frame.
- Do the photos look blurry in the chat? Read how to send photos and video in full quality.
- Do you want to leave the big American companies? Read about European alternatives to Facebook, Messenger and Google Photos.
- Is someone else’s child in the photo? Ask the parents first. Read about posting photos of other people’s children.
The family chat is made for talking
In the chat, you plan Sunday dinner. A photo arrives between the messages, and when the talk moves on, you have to scroll back to find it.
In a shared album or a photo app, the photos stay together, with no messages in between. You can use both, the chat for plans and the album for photos.
It is a good idea to give the photos a place of their own when
- you have to scroll far back to find the photo from Constitution Day
- someone has muted the chat because of all the messages, and so they miss the photos too
- the photos end up spread across several chats
You do not need Facebook to share photos
Not everyone in the family is on Facebook. A shared album, a photo frame, email and a chat in WhatsApp or Signal work without a Facebook account.
If you share in a Facebook group, you can limit who sees the photos. Datatilsynet, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority, writes that “the settings can change, so check them now and then” (source 8).
The consent rules apply in closed groups too (source 9), so a closed group does not allow more than an open one. The difference is who can get in.
How to do it with skokk
We make skokk, an app where the whole family posts photos and short videos to the same group. It works on iPhone, Android and iPad, and only the people the family invites can see the photos.
Photos are free. Video, “Like” and comments cost NOK 200 a month per group, and only the person who unlocks the group pays.
For each photo, you choose whether it stays for 2 days, 5 days or forever. When the time is up, we delete the photo from our servers.
Many free apps make money by knowing as much as possible about you. We make money when you pay for comments and likes, not from ads or your data.
If everyone in the family has an iPhone, an iCloud shared album is free and already on the phone, so you do not need skokk. The app is also not in the App Store or Google Play yet.
Read how skokk worksThe app is coming soon to the App Store and Google Play.
Get skokkSources
We checked the sources in October 2026.
- Apple: Shared Albums limits. support.apple.com/en-us/148868
- Apple: How to use Shared Albums in Photos on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro. support.apple.com/en-us/108314
- Google Photos Help: Share photos & videos. support.google.com/photos/answer/6131416
- Google Photos Help: Choose the backup quality of photos & videos. support.google.com/photos/answer/6220791
- WhatsApp Help Center: Can’t send longer videos. faq.whatsapp.com/545917406122452
- Frameo: Plus & Premium. frameo.com/plus
- Gmail Help: Send attachments with your Gmail message. support.google.com/mail/answer/6584
- Datatilsynet: Vurder kanalvalg (in Norwegian). datatilsynet.no/…/bilder-av-barn-pa-nett/vurder-kanalvalg
- Datatilsynet: Deling av bilder (in Norwegian). datatilsynet.no/personvern-pa-ulike-omrader/internett-og-apper/bilder-pa-nett
