I am setting up a Family between myself as the owner and my family members. One of these family members has a very extensive photo library. Can this library be set as the 'master' and then share it to all other family members will full access to it, or does the owner have to do the sharing and give full access to the other members?
Yes, the family member with the extensive library can set up and host the shared library themselves, but that person must initiate the sharing process from their own account.
Setting It Up with the Family Member's Library
Yes, the family member with the extensive library can set up and host the shared library themselves, but that person must initiate the sharing process from their own account.
Setting It Up with the Family Member's Library
There are things to consider, before doing this.
As WheelieNick explained, it can be done, but it will have severe implications for all subscribers.
The Shared iCloud Photo Library can only be set up for our iCloud Photo Library. When we set up the shared iCloud Photo Library, all photos and videos we share will be removed from our personal library to the shared library. We will still see or photos in the albums, but the subscribers will not see the albums,. They will receive a flat set of photos and videos without any structure. And it will appear on all their devices where they are using iCloud Photos, if they have an iPhone or iPad without much storage, their Photos.app may no longer be able to work properly. Before you set up the shared library ask everyone how large the shared library can be, so it will be small enough for all devices.
And when you share photos in the shared library, all other members can edit the photos and change the titles etc. I would not risk that after investing a lot of work into tagging and adjusting my photos.
Personally, I am only sharing a small, curated amount of my best photos in the shared iCloud Photos Library, and only duplicates, so my personal versions of the shared photos will remain unchanged. Before I share a photo, I add the name of the album as a keyword. This way the albums can be recreated by creating smart albums with there "keyword is ...". And I am sharing the items with one album at a time.
I wrote this user tip when the Shared library just came out, but it might still get some ideas what to consider: Things to consider when setting up the Shared iCloud Photos Library in Photo 8 on Ventura
Thanks you the additional information and the link to the user tip.
I am not too concerned about users in the group being able to have full access, as they equally own the data.
I'll have to look at the loss of structure for the group, but as you have suggested, using smart albums as they work around and would be quite easy to set up.
This information has helped me understand the advantages and compromises better, thanks.
One other thought here….
I assume that if a user has their device set to optimise photos, then they will only see the thumbnail images of the shared library, in a similar manner to their own library and therefore only download the images when selected.
This would then potentially allow them access to a large library even when their device may not have the local storage available.
Thanks for your detailed reply.
I will give that a try.
You are welcome. Good luck!😊
Master photo library in Family Sharing?
