No one likes multi-megabyte attachments. That’s why iOS 12 and later lets you quickly share iPhone pictures and videos from your Photos app by generating Dropbox-style links that anyone, including non-Apple users, can open to view and download the items. In this tutorial, we show you how to make it happen.
Takeaways:
Photos for Mac currently lacks this link-generation feature.
No one likes multi-megabyte attachments
To see the stuff you shared, your recipient simply opens a shared link. This should be especially useful when sharing multiple photos and videos with non-Apple devices. Your device uploads the shared items to iCloud, but these don’t count against your storage allotment quota. You’ll save a bunch of bandwidth if you share media this way because all you’re sending is a link.
When tapped on iOS, the link opens in Photos.
On the desktop, clicking an iCloud sharing link received through Messages, email, or other means opens a preview at iCloud.com. The shared link is accessible to anyone that has it for up to a month before it expires.
Any edits made to a shared item on your device will not reflect on the recipient(s) devices. What recipients see and download is a version of the image at the time of sharing.
Related:How to easily turn an iPhone photo album into a public website
Prerequisites
This is what you’ll need to generate iCloud.com sharing links:
Folks you send the media links to don’t need to have iCloud Photos enabled on their end.
How to share iPhone photos and videos via a link
Do the following to generate a sharing link for one or more items in your Photos library:
1)Open thePhotosapp on your iPhone or iPad.
2)Go toAlbumsorLibraryto see your pictures.
3)TapSelectin the upper-right corner and pickone or more media itemsyou’d like to send to someone.
4)Select theSharebutton.
5)ChooseCopy iCloud Link.
A message pops up to inform you that your photos and videos are being prepared for sharing, which may take a while, depending on their size and number.
6)Once it’s prepared, a link is automatically copied to the system clipboard. Go to Messages, Mail, WhatsApp, or any other app of your choice and paste this iCloud link to send it to friends or family.
How to open iCloud media links
you’re able to access shared iCloud photos and videos via a computer, iPhone, or iPad. iOS customers are treated to the most frictionless sharing experience due to the deep integration with the Photos app.
A badged icon in theFor Youtab indicates new content, like shared media
You don’t need to manually open a link, thanks to iOS’s enhanced Siri intelligence which detects it and automatically creates a preview in Photos. Don’t worry, nothing will be added to your image library unless you specifically choose to.
Pasting a link into Messages generates a rich preview
Receiving a link in an email on iOS may create a preview page in Photos, too. Opening a link on non-iOS devices, like an Android smartphone or tablet, takes you to an underlying download page on iCloud.com.
Accessing an iCloud shared photo link in your favorite desktop browser opens a nicely designed download page on iCloud.com with the same grid of thumbnails as the preview page in Photos.
The media is shared with full EXIF data, including camera model and location.
How to copy shared media to your library
To retain the items before a link expires or the sender stops sharing, add them to your Photos library or download them to a computer through the web interface. Nothing gets added to the Photos library unless you specifically cherry-pick the shared photos and videos you’d like to keep.
You can copy everything at once to Photos, choose multiple items to keep, or add just a single image to the library. No matter what you choose to keep, a preview page remains present in Photos and on iCloud.com until sharing is revoked or the sharing link expires automatically 30 days after you created it.
To add everything that was shared with you through a link, do the following:
1)Open thePhotos appon your iPhone or iPad with iOS 12 or later.
2)Tap the icon labeledFor Youin the tab area found alongside the bottom.
3)Tap apreviewof the share underneath theRecently Sharedheadline.
4)Tap theAdd Allbutton.
All of the shared media items get downloaded to your device in their original resolution. Find them in the Photos tab, positioned in accordance with their original creation date.
Single item
Do the following if you’d like to quickly add a single shared item to your library.
2)Select the iconFor Youin the tab area found alongside the bottom.
3)Choose apreviewof the share underneath theRecently Sharedheadline.
4)In the lower half of the interface, tap athumbnailto see the underlying photo or video.
- Tap the buttonAdd to Librarycentered at the bottom of the interface.
The current item is downloaded and saved to the Photos library on your device.
Multiple items
To copy an arbitrary selection of the shared items to your device, do the following:
4)ChooseSelectnear the top-right corner of the thumbnail section.
5)Tick thecheckmarkin the top-right corner of each photo or video you’d like to keep.
6)Tap theAddorAdd Allbutton.
The selected items will be downloaded straight to the Photos library on your iOS device.
You can download the shared media with any web browser for Mac or Windows.
1)Open adesktop browserof your choosing (we’ll use Safari).
2)Click theURL fieldat the top of the window,pastethe iCloud.com link copied from a friend’s iMessage or email, and hitEnterorReturnon the keyboard.
3)You’ll see a simple webpage with a grid of thumbnails. Pick the items you’d like to keep by ticking the circle in their top-right corner, then hit theDownloadbutton.
4)Once the ZIP file has been downloaded to your computer, go to your default Downloads folder anddouble-click the archiveto unpack it.
Tap Show More in the Finder’s new Gallery view to reveal metadata
The web interface at iCloud.com allows anyone to access shared media via a browser, even if they’re not on one of Apple’s platforms, like Linux customers.
iCloud Photos disabled?
iCloud Photos must be on before you are permitted to create a link.
If you attempt to share media but iCloud Photos is off, you’ll not see theCopy iCloud Linkoption in the iOS Share Sheet. In old iOS versions, you may see a message cautioning you that these sharing suggestions and iCloud.com sharing links require iCloud Photos to be toggled on in the sender’s Settings app.
Tap the linkUse iCloud Photos, then tap the buttonUse iCloud Photosto quickly enable this feature. Or, venture intoSettings>Photosand enableiCloud Photos.
How to stop sharing iPhone photos
You can stop sharing items at any time. Here’s how:
3)Tap apreviewof the share underneath theiCloud Linksheadline.
4)ChooseStop Sharingfrom thethree-dotted menuin the top-right corner.
5)Confirm the operation by selectingStop Sharingfrom the popup menu.
Access to your shared media will get removed from iCloud immediately.
A preview of the shared items disappears from Photos for everyone and the associated iCloud.com download webpage is pulled permanently. Any shared photos or videos that people with your link have chosen to download to their device shall remain in their Photos app.
How to stop receiving shared iPhone photos
A shared link expires after 30 days, but you may opt out anytime you want:
2)Tap the icon labeledFor Youin the tab area alongside the bottom.
4)ChooseRemoveorDeclinefrom thethree-dotted menuin the top-right corner.
“Access to these shared photos will not be available anymore,” reads the warning message.
Previews of any shared photos and videos are automatically pulled from the For You tab in your Photos app. The items you’ve kept on the device won’t be removed.
Want to share the media you received through a link with other folks? SelectCopy Linkfrom the three-dotted menu to grab the original sharing link, then paste it into a message.
