A shared album is not a private folder with a password. On both Apple and Google, the person who creates it decides who gets in, and a link can travel farther than the people you named. This page separates three different tools so a family can close the one they actually opened. Checked September 24, 2026 against Apple and Google’s help pages. Menus move.
Three different things
- Apple Shared Album. You invite people. You can also turn on a public website, which is a different choice.
- Apple Shared Photo Library. Up to five other people. Photos you contribute leave your Personal Library. Everyone in it can add, edit, and delete.
- Google Photos shared album. People you add can view and add photos. A link is a third door: anyone who has the link can view, and they can pass that link on.
Apple Shared Album
Apple’s iCloud help says the creator controls who can access a Shared Album. Two switches are easy to miss:
- Subscribers Can Post. If this is on, people you invited can add their own photos, videos, and comments.
- Public Website. If this is on, anyone can view the album on iCloud.com. That is not the same as “only the relatives I invited.”
If the goal is a private family album, leave Public Website off. If it was turned on for a reunion and the link was texted around, turn it off. I did not click through every iPhone menu on September 24, 2026. The names above are the ones on Apple’s help page.
Apple Shared Photo Library
This is the one that surprises people. Apple says photos and videos you contribute move out of your Personal Library and into the Shared Library. You can join only one Shared Library. Every participant can add, edit, and delete. The person who created it pays for the iCloud storage. Everyone else can see the library without it counting against their storage.
A child under 13 can only join or create a Shared Library with members of their Family Sharing group. You need iOS 16.1, iPadOS 16.1, or macOS Ventura or later, with iCloud Photos on. An older phone will not show photos that were moved into the Shared Library.
Do not use Shared Library for a folder you still want to own alone. Use a Shared Album with Public Website off if you only want a few people to look.
Google Photos
Google’s help page says that when you share an album, anyone with access can view the photos and add to the album. A link is broader. Google says anyone with the link can view the photos, and after a link is created it can be shared by others. The link is a URL people cannot guess, but it is not a secret once it is forwarded.
To kill an old link, Google says turn link sharing off and then back on. The old link stops working. Only the album owner can change link sharing. To make the album private, remove all collaborators and turn link sharing off. Google says that also removes comments, and collaborators lose access.
On a phone, the path Google prints is: open the album, tap More, tap Sharing, then turn Link sharing on or off. There is also a QR code for the same link. A QR code on a printed card is the same door as the URL.
What to check tonight
- Open the album you shared, not your main camera roll.
- On Apple, look for Public Website and Subscribers Can Post. Turn Public Website off unless you mean for strangers with the address to see it.
- On Google, open Sharing and see if Link sharing is on. If the link was sent to a group chat, turn it off and on again so the old link dies.
- If you joined an Apple Shared Library, remember those photos are no longer only yours, and other members can delete them.
What this means for you
A family album is safe only for the people who currently have access, and only while the public link is off. Shared Library is a shared household pile, not a copy you still control. Location sharing is a separate setting: what family location sharing shows.
If I delete a photo, does it leave everyone else’s phone?
On an Apple Shared Library, participants can delete content in the shared library. That is not the same as deleting a copy someone already saved to their own camera roll. Apple’s page opened for this review does not promise that a saved copy disappears from another person’s device.
Can a child start a shared library with friends?
Apple says someone under 13 can only join or create a Shared Library with members of their Family Sharing group. That limit is about Shared Library, not about every photo they text to a friend.
This is not legal advice. The Apple and Google help pages were opened on September 24, 2026. Recheck the share screen before you rely on a switch name.
Sources
- Apple: Create and manage shared albums
- Apple: iCloud Shared Photo Library, updated September 16, 2026
- Google Photos: Share photos and videos
- Google Photos: Shared album privacy controls
Next: stop scam calls on a parent’s phone, or Google Family Link.