Have you ever gone on a trip with an Android-using friend, only to discover you can't create a shared album for all the photos you took together? Now, you can upgrade shared albums you created so you can share them with friends and family who don't have Apple devices. No more texting photos back and forth!

Why You'll Love This Tip

Share photo albums with Android users.
Upgrading a shared album stores the album in full resolution. (Keep in mind this does take up more storage.)

How to Upgrade a Shared Album on Your iPhone & iPad

System Requirements

This tip was performed on an iPhone 17 Pro running iOS 27. These steps do not work for users running iOS 26. Find out how to update to the latest version of iOS.

When you upgrade your photo album, you'll now be able to share it with any Android-using friend. You can't upgrade all your shared albums at once, so follow the steps below to upgrade them one at a time. This may be improved in a future operating system. You can also only upgrade shared albums you created.

Note: If you upgrade your album, group album members with devices that don't have the latest software will only be able to see the album on the iCloud website.

Open the Photos app.
Tap the Collections tab.
Tap Albums.
Tap Shared.
Touch and hold a shared album you created.
Tap Upgrade Shared Album.
Tap Get Started.
Tap Start Upgrade.

Once you've upgraded your album, you can now share it with Android users. Now you know how to upgrade a shared album on your iPhone and iPad. Be sure to check out our free Tip of the Day for more shared photo album tutorials.