Google Adds New Family Sharing Features to Calendar, Keep, and Photos

Google expanded the range of family sharing features across a handful of its digital services on Tuesday. The new additions rolled out to Google Calendar, Google Keep, and Google Photos.

Setting up a family group in Google Calendar now automatically generates a "Family Calendar" for users to keep track of group activities like picnics, movie nights, and reunions, all in one place.

The new feature in Google Keep works similarly. Users add a family group as a collaborator for any note, which allows everyone to edit and make changes to shopping lists, to-dos, and the like. A family group icon (a house with a heart at its center) appears next to any note that is shared in this way.

Lastly, in Google Photos, a new "Family Group" option in the Share menu lets users share selected photos with family members.

To use the new family sharing features, a Google Play Family Library needs to be set up. This can be done at https://families.google.com/families or via the Android Play Store app: tap the top-left menu icon and select Account -> Family -> Sign up for Family Library.

Users can share apps, games, movies, TV shows, and books purchased from Google Play with up to 5 family members using Google Play Family Library. Each member of the family has to follow the same steps to activate their membership in the group.