Apple Photos - Family Library

[spidertaker23]

Now that Apple supports iCloud Family Storage Sharing. Does anyone think that Apple will eventually support a single family photos library with Apple Photos - both in iCloud and iOS and MacOS.

I would love for them to make a windows 10 app for Apple Photos, but I know that will never happen.

Side note - I have been considering getting an iMac so I can use Apple Photos. I have heard that if you have multiple MacOS users in order for you to share a single Apple Photos libraries across multiple MacOS users you need to have the Photos library on an external drive due to permissions? Is this true...? I wonder if Apple will fix this in 2018 perhaps related to the above questions...

Why does Apple and Google assume that everyone in the entire family wants separate photo libraries. I just want a single photo library between my wife and I.

 

[casperes1996]

Side note - I have been considering getting an iMac so I can use Apple Photos. I have heard that if you have multiple MacOS users in order for you to share a single Apple Photos libraries across multiple MacOS users you need to have the Photos library on an external drive due to permissions? Is this true...? I wonder if Apple will fix this in 2018 perhaps related to the above questions...

Pretty sure that isn't true. I mean, probably it's the default, but permission settings can be changed. And each user has a DropBox folder that is accessible by other users on the computer

 

[spidertaker23]

Pretty sure that isn't true. I mean, probably it's the default, but permission settings can be changed. And each user has a DropBox folder that is accessible by other users on the computer

Do you have or know of any instructions on how you would setup a single photo library for use with Apple Photos using multiple MacOS users? I assume you wouldn't be able to use / sync with iCloud Photo library if you did this ....
[doublepost=1524087571][/doublepost]Right now I have a custom Windows 10 desktop PC. I used / still use Picasa which Google has discontinued supporting. They want everyone to use Google Photos. Google Photos supports sharing libraries, but not storage space so the cost for that would be stupid expensive.

My wife and currently have iPhone's and she also has an iPad. Honestly, because Windows doesn't support slow motion video, live photos etc. I have stopped importing pictures and videos to my PC. We share iCloud storage space and they just perceptually get uploaded to our iCloud storage, but they are separate from each other and separate from the library I have on my PC now.

Trying to figure out the best solution for this, but Apple supports iCloud Family Storage Sharing, but not library sharing. Google supports library sharing, but not space sharing. Also, google doesn't make a desktop app for managing your pictures and videos and I don't like using a web app only. Too slow and annoying overall.

Maybe Apple or Google will solve this issue for me this year. Waiting for WWDC and Google IO to hopefully have some new features come out.

My custom Windows 10 PC is getting old and needs to be replaced. If Apple could support shared libraries so that I could have a single library across all our devices and users I would buy an 27" 5K iMac this year.

Wouldn't be upset with Apple came out with Apple Photos for Windows 10, but that is never going to happen.

I'm kinda stuck in limbo on this at the moment. I would think there are other people out there that wants one library across multiple people and devices.

 

[casperes1996]

Do you have or know of any instructions on how you would setup a single photo library for use with Apple Photos using multiple MacOS users? I assume you wouldn't be able to use / sync with iCloud Photo library if you did this ....

I think you would be able to do so, but only with a single iCloud account.

My assumption of how you'd do so; Not something I've tried.

Place the Photos library in a location accessible by all users.
Go into the Get Info pane and via an admin account, set its permissions to "read&write" for all"

In the Photos app for each user, go to Preferences, and select the Library as the Photos library.

 

[BigMcGuire]

My wife and I take a lot of photos. I would never want our library combined. Google Photos has this option and ability. We do share our photo libraries with each other. I can with one click select photos from her library and put them in my library, and she from mine. But I don't think I'd want one library littered with both of our photos.

Google does allow automatic syncing of photo libraries between two people. Try it out! It bugs me to do this every now and then.

 

[spidertaker23]

My wife and I take a lot of photos. I would never want our library combined. Google Photos has this option and ability. We do share our photo libraries with each other. I can with one click select photos from her library and put them in my library, and she from mine. But I don't think I'd want one library littered with both of our photos.

Google does allow automatic syncing of photo libraries between two people. Try it out! It bugs me to do this every now and then.

Yea it's definitely to each his / her own for sure. 90% of all the pictures we take are of our kids, trips we take, other things. But, we really just share pictures between us. I can't see any reason to have separate photo libraries in my life. I wanted to have a single iTunes library back before we subscribed to Apple music too, but her music library was too disorganized to ever combine them lol. I spent 2 years trying to clean hers up with apps like TuneUp and now we have 3 kids so I don't have time for that lol. Photos / videos on the other hand badly want to combine everything. Cloud syncing and features like slow mo and live photos have put a wrench in everything. Doesn't help that Google discontinued picasa on me.

Google Photos has this feature, but it really isn't using a single library. It syncs the pictures between 2 separate libraries. It doesn't allow you to share storage space which causes you to essentially have 2 separate libraries that are synced between each other, but they charge you for storage separately. Seems like a stupid way to do it that costs me alot more money. Also, Google Photos doesn't have a desktop app ... their site is ok ... but, a desktop app would be better.
[doublepost=1524088495][/doublepost]

My wife and I take a lot of photos. I would never want our library combined. Google Photos has this option and ability. We do share our photo libraries with each other. I can with one click select photos from her library and put them in my library, and she from mine. But I don't think I'd want one library littered with both of our photos.

Google does allow automatic syncing of photo libraries between two people. Try it out! It bugs me to do this every now and then.

This is basically what I do currently on windows 10 to share a single "photos" folder between my wife and I and then view / organize the photos with Picasa.

I could have swore this article from Apple in the past had a statement that you have to follow this to share libraries between multiple users on MacOS. Maybe that has changed with MacOS updates https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201517

Would be nice if it was this simple now. I'd imagine if you did this you would have to sync to one iCloud account for iCloud Photos since it would be connecting the same Apple Photos database.

I don't think I can do that since we have separate iCloud accounts setup in family sharing for syncing other things...

 

[spidertaker23]

Arg! Another year without family libraries for Apple Photo's!

Just watched WWDC 2018 and can't believe that Apple hasn't done this or anything with iCloud for that matter.

 

[spidertaker23]

Just watched wwdc 2019. How in gods name is this still not fixed. I think Apple hates me.

What is everyone else doing? Using separate libraries or using google photos?