It was a long time coming but earlier this week the Google Photos team updated the app and service so you can share photo albums with others. The idea is that if I share an album with you, you will be able to see the photos without having to be a user of the service or even an Android user. It also gives you the ability to allow people you share with to add their photos to the album which are uploaded to your photos library. When Google previewed this back in September, it was a feature that I personally had keen interest in seeing as I use Google Photos and Android while my wife is an iPhone user. Now we can share albums of our events without having to do the USB stick drive swap.
To share an album in Google Photos for web, just open up the album you want to share and tap the Share icon in the upper right corner. There you can select those you want to share it with anyone by getting a link to the album (so you could send it via email) but I can also share that album with Google+, Facebook and Twitter too. You can also select if those you are sharing with can upload photos to the album.
Sharing on Google Photos for Android is just as easy.
Google Photos for Android Makes Sharing Easy
If you are using the Photos app on your Android phone or tablet, to share all you need to do is go to the menu and
Google Photos Album Sharing
then select sharing options. There you will get a full page menu of options that allow you to share the album, turn on collaboration so others can add to the album and get the link to share that album. Again, just as easy as doing it on the web so you are not required to go to the site. Just pick up your phone and share.
For those you do share with, they will get a link which they can click and open up the album on their PC or Mac. If you have given them collaboration rights then they can upload their photos to that album. Otherwise they can view and can save photos from the album to their PC or Mac locally.
For more How To’s, be sure to check out the How To Pages
