I don't want photos shared across all my families' devices

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Level 1

24 points

I don't want photos shared across all my families' devices

I have an iPhone and my oldest child also does while my youngest two have iPod touches. We use family sharing and all the kids have their own kids' apple ID. My oldest, who has the iPhone, is using my iCloud storage that I pay for to back up her phone and under her Photo settings, iCloud Photo Library is turned on. She doesn't see any of my pictures on her phone and I don't see any of her pictures on my phone.

One of my younger kids had that same Photos setting turned on on their iPod (iCloud Photo Library) but all the pictures I take with my phone were showing up in his Photo Library. So were all 37k pictures in my iCloud library. So I turned off that setting (my other younger child had that setting turned off on their phone; no idea why their settings were different).

I want both my younger kids to have the iCloud Photo Library option turned on so that their photos are backed up to iCloud, but I don't want any of our photos shared across devices. I have googled trying to find an answer, looked at settings on all our devices and my computer, and cannot figure out why my son has access to my photos! Help?

MacBook Pro with Retina display

Posted on Jul 27, 2018 2:40 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

veganfreak Author

Level 1

24 points

Jul 29, 2018 1:54 PM in response to Joseph_S.

Thank you. I have already done all of those things. I am not signed in to his Apple ID and he is not signed into mine. I've done all the basic troubleshooting, looked at every setting I know how to look at, but our pictures are still getting mixed up (I discovered yesterday that I have all of my kid's pictures on my phone as well).

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Answer 2

veganfreak Author

Level 1

24 points

Jul 28, 2018 2:45 PM in response to alma1090

I've already done/checked all that information. My OP pretty stated that everything you indicated was already set up. However, somehow my child is still seeing my photos on their iPod when the iCloud Photo Library is turned on. But my other child does not see my photos even though iCloud Photo Library is turned on on their phone.

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Answer 3

alma1090

Community Specialist

Jul 28, 2018 8:24 AM in response to veganfreak

Hello and welcome to Apple Support Communities, veganfreak!

I understand you're trying to figure out a way that your children can use the iCloud storage you pay for, and also stop photos from being shared across your devices. I'd be happy to provide information that may help you resolve this issue.

Make sure in Settings > [Your Name] your children are each signed in to their own Apple ID and not yours. If they are signed in to yours, that would prompt the photos being shared across all devices with that account linked in iCloud.

Once you've checked that your children aren't signed in to your account, you can use these options to enable sharing of your iCloud storage: Share an iCloud storage plan with your family

Share a storage plan with your existing family

If you already use Family Sharing, you can set up shared storage for your existing family members from your device Settings or System Preferences.

On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Go to Settings > [your name].

Tap Family Sharing.

Tap iCloud Storage.

Follow the steps to share your existing plan, or if necessary, upgrade to a 200GB or 2TB plan.

Use Messages to let any family members with an existing paid storage plan know that they can now switch to your shared storage plan.

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Have a great weekend!

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Answer 4

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Jul 29, 2018 1:15 PM in response to veganfreak

Hey, veganfreak!

The only way your child would see your photos is if they are signed in to your Apple ID, or you're signed in to theirs within iCloud Settings.

Check out the iCloud Photo Library guide: Get help with your iCloud Photo Library

How do I turn off iCloud Photo Library on only one device?

You can turn off iCloud Photo Library on a single device when you follow these steps:

On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:

If you use iOS 10.3 or later, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos, then turn off iCloud Photo Library.

If you use iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud > Photos and turn off iCloud Photo Library.

On your Mac, go to System Preferences > iCloud > Options next to Photos, then deselect iCloud Photo Library.

On your Apple TV 4K or Apple TV (4th generation), go to Settings > Accounts > iCloud. Under Photos, press Select to turn off iCloud Photo Library.

If you have Optimize Storage turned on, you might not have all of your original photos and videos on your device. To download the original photos and videos on your iOS device, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos and select Download and Keep Originals. On your Mac, open Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then select Download Originals to this Mac. Then you can turn off iCloud Photo Library. You can also select the photos and videos that you want to download from iCloud.com.

Before you turn off iCloud Photo Library, you might want to make a copy of your photos and videos.

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Have a great weekend!

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