Apple's iOS 27 Enhances Shared Albums for Full-Resolution Photo and Video Sharing
New update allows iPhone users to share images and videos at their original quality, while Android devices leverage Quick Share for similar functionality.
Apple's latest operating system update, iOS 27, introduces a significant enhancement to its Shared Albums feature, enabling users to share photos and videos at their original, full resolution. This change addresses a long-standing issue where previously shared media would be compressed, leading to a loss of quality.
Full-Resolution Sharing in iOS 27
Previously, Apple's Shared Albums limited photos to 2,048 pixels on the longest edge and videos to 720p. With iOS 27, newly added photos and videos in upgraded Shared Albums are now stored in iCloud at their original formats and full resolution. This means that images and videos will retain the detail captured by the camera, offering a significant improvement for users who value image fidelity.
However, this enhanced sharing comes with a caveat: new items added to an upgraded Shared Album, including contributions from other participants, count towards the album owner's iCloud storage. Media that was already in an album before the upgrade, or media in temporary Shared Albums, does not count towards this storage limit.
Enabling and Creating Shared Albums
To utilize the new full-resolution sharing, users must ensure iCloud Photos is enabled in their iPhone's settings. From there, they can turn on the Shared Albums feature. Any new Shared Album created in iOS 27 will automatically use the upgraded experience. Users can create these albums by opening the Photos app, navigating to Collections, selecting Shared Albums, tapping the '+' button, naming the album, and choosing the desired photos or videos.
Users can also allow others to join Shared Albums through a link, providing access to friends and family who may not have Apple devices or accounts. These shared albums can be accessed and contributed to via the web.
Upgrading Existing Shared Albums
Albums created before iOS 27 retain their older format unless explicitly upgraded. The owner of a Shared Album can upgrade it to the new experience, allowing newly added content to be stored at full resolution. It is important to note that upgrading an album does not restore the original resolution of photos or videos that were already uploaded under the older system.
Saving Full-Resolution Media
When a photo or video is shared through an upgraded Shared Album, recipients can save it to their own library. By opening the shared album in the Photos app, selecting the media, tapping the Share button, and choosing 'Save Image' or 'Save Video,' users can download the content. While Shared Albums are now much better at preserving image quality, the source notes that saved content may not retain every piece of metadata from the original file, suggesting that keeping the original file might be preferable for archival purposes.
Android Alternatives: Quick Share
For users of Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel devices, the Quick Share feature offers a similar capability to send files without compression. Quick Share allows for direct transfer of photos, videos, and other files to nearby devices, preserving the original quality. On Samsung Galaxy phones, users can access this through the Gallery app by selecting media, tapping Share, and then Quick Share. Pixel phones utilize Quick Share through the Google Photos app.
Quick Share has expanded its compatibility, now allowing certain Android phones, including Pixel 8a and later models, to share with compatible Apple devices via AirDrop. For this to work, the iPhone, iPad, or Mac user must set their AirDrop settings to 'Everyone for 10 Minutes.' Files shared via QR code through Quick Share are end-to-end encrypted and remain available for 24 hours.
Storage Considerations
Sharing full-resolution photos and videos consumes more storage space. A single smartphone photo can range from several megabytes upwards, and high-resolution videos can be significantly larger. In iOS 27, newly added full-resolution content in Shared Albums counts against the owner's iCloud storage, necessitating regular checks of available storage. Similarly, while Quick Share is efficient, large files still require adequate storage on both the sending and receiving devices.