Apple Delays iCloud Shared Photo Library Feature for iOS 16 - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Delays iCloud Shared Photo Library Feature for iOS 16

Apple appears to have delayed its new iCloud Shared Photo Library feature for iOS 16, which is scheduled to be officially released on Monday, September 12.

iOS 16 iCloud Photos Guide Feature
In iOS 16, currently still in beta, Apple has introduced an ‌iCloud‌ Shared Photo Library that aims to make it easer to share photos with your friends and family.

With the new ‌‌iCloud‌‌ Shared Photo Library in ‌iOS 16‌, a new option in the Photos app lets you create a shared library and then invite anyone with an Apple device to view the photos, contribute photos to the library, and edit the photos contained within it, including favoriting images and adding captions. There are no limitations, and all participants have the same permissions.

However, in a footnote at the bottom of its iPhone 14 press release, Apple says "‌iCloud‌ Shared Photo Library will be available in a future software update." It therefore looks like the new ‌Photos‌ ‌iCloud‌ feature will not make it to the first official version of iOS 16. We'll update this article if we learn more.

Popular Stories

imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
ios 26 4 pastel

iOS 26.4: Top 10 New Features Coming to Your iPhone

Friday March 20, 2026 2:44 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 isn't the major update with new Siri features that we hoped for, but there are some useful quality of life improvements, and a little bit of fun with an AI playlist generator and new emoji characters. Playlist Playground - Apple Music has a Playlist Playground option that lets you generate playlists from text-based descriptions. You can include moods, feelings, activities, or...
iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Wednesday March 18, 2026 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another six months or so, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component...

Top Rated Comments

46 months ago
My guess is it’ll be released once iPadOS 16.1 and macOS Ventura is released. Otherwise you’ll have a shared library on your iPhone that you can’t access anywhere else.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bowens Avatar
46 months ago

I still don't understand what this is for!
I've been waiting on this feature for years. Never understood why it wasn't available before.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
46 months ago

There is Shared Albums you can use for that. Been using said feature for years to share vacation photos with my family.
That feature is a mess. Shared albums is a long list of albums, some shared with family, some with friends and you can’t make any subfolders. It is difficult to organize.

I just want a nice album called Vacations and have a subalbum for all the trips I’ve made. So that I can find the photos of one specific trip.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
46 months ago
Honestly iCloud Shared Photo Library could have been a great feature. But for some insane reason they don’t support albums in the shared library.

Why is it so hard for Apple to come up with a solution to share my vacation photos with my family? I don’t one long stream of photos or a random folder list that I individually share. Just albums!

My solution now is Google Photos, but I’d prefer to have it all on Apple
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
46 months ago

crazy people... can you imagine if you accidentally sent something you shouldn't send... to your KIDS.

stuff happens...

nope.
Can you imagine that they let you limit the shared library to just you and your partner?!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jambon Avatar
46 months ago

only if the user had used the feature during the betas (at least it seems that way so far)
Ooh ok. Confusing. I deleted the shared library in advance of the install of RC. Upgraded and option to setup is still there. Photos are safe anyway!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Related Apple News: Play Sound Airtag | Airtag | Culture | Use Text Shortcuts On Apple Devices | World News