Albums and circles

How photos are organised, and how you show them to people beyond your household.

Albums are what. Circles are who.

An album holds photos. A circle is a named group of people — "grandparents", "cousins", "school friends" — that you share particular albums with. The album stays yours and stays on your storage; the circle just decides who can see it.

Circles are optional. If you've set up a Family Hub with the people you live with, you already have a working archive. Circles are for showing things to people beyond that: the grandparents who want the school play, the friends who were on the holiday.

These pages cover both, plus the practical business of getting people in — invitations, what each kind of access lets someone do, and the list of everyone you're connected to.

Albums

Where photos live. The one decision that matters is where the album itself lives.

Circles

Named groups you share albums with — one for each part of your life.

Sharing an album with a circle

Choose the circle, choose what they can do. View-only by default.

Who can do what in an album

Owner, contributor, viewer, circle member, hub member — what each can actually do.

Invitations

Four kinds, depending on what you're inviting someone to. They expire; you can revoke them.

Connections

Everyone you share with, and exactly where you overlap with each of them.