How to share photos with grandparents automatically

Grandparents never get enough photos. Parents mean to send them, then the week gets busy, and the photos stay on one phone. The fix is to stop relying on memory: set something up once so new photos of the children reach the grandparents on their own. This article compares the main ways to do that, from what's already on your phone to sharing by face with the Photohawk app.

What grandparents actually want

Before choosing a method, think about the person receiving:

• It arrives by itself. No "check the album" message, no link to open on a computer.
• It's on the phone they already use. Not every grandparent has an iPhone.
• It's just the good ones. Forty near-identical shots of a birthday cake are tiring. A few of the best are a joy.
• It's private. Not on a public social feed, not visible to their friends' friends.

Option 1: a shared album

Most photo apps let you create a shared album and invite people to it. On iPhone, Photos has Shared Albums. Add photos and invited people see them.

Good: simple, and free to set up. Less good: you still have to add photos each time, and the album fills with whatever you remember to put there.

Option 2: a shared photo library

iCloud Shared Photo Library lets up to six people share one library, with settings to add photos automatically. It suits a household of adults who all use iPhones and want everything in one place.

Good: automatic, and everyone adds to it. Less good: it's built for sharing whole libraries, it needs everyone on Apple devices, and grandparents may not want every screenshot and receipt from the household.

Option 3: a family group chat

Many families use a WhatsApp group for photos. It's familiar and works on any phone.

Good: everyone already has it. Less good: photos are compressed, buried among messages and hard to find again later. On iPhone they don't reach the photo library unless someone saves them, which our guide to saving WhatsApp photos to your camera roll explains.

Option 4: automatic sharing by face

The newest approach is to let an app recognise who is in each photo and send it to the right people. That's how Photohawk Family works. Our app for your family's photos is coming soon to iPhone, and it:

• Groups the faces in your camera roll into people, once you turn on face grouping. You name the children once.
• Sends new photos automatically. Set it up once ("new photos of Maya go to Grandma from now on") and each new photo of Maya is sent as you take it.
• Sends the best of similar shots. Of a burst of near-identical photos, only the best goes.
• Lets you check first. You can ask to check new photos for an hour before they're sent.
• Is free to receive. Grandparents get an invite on iPhone or Android and tap Accept. Receiving photos is always free, and they can stop at any time.

You can also share one time: a whole day of photos, or just the ones you pick.

Keeping it private

Photos of children are personal. With the Photohawk app:

• Photos leave your phone only when you share them, and only the people you share with can see them.
• Sharing is end-to-end encrypted, so photos travel and are stored in a form only the people you share with can open.
• Faces are found on your phone, and face grouping is off until you turn it on.
• Children are never recipients. Photos of children go to the adults you choose; a child can't be invited or sent photos.

More in keeping family photos private.

Setting it up with grandparents

However you share, a little preparation saves a lot of phone calls:

1. Do it together, in person or on a video call. Install whatever they need while you're there.
2. Send a test photo and check it arrives.
3. Agree what they'll get: every photo, or just the best.
4. Show them how to save a favourite, so they can print it or set it as their background.

Which should you choose?

If everyone uses iPhones and wants one shared library, Apple's Shared Photo Library is hard to beat. If you'd rather each grandparent gets just the photos of their grandchildren, automatically, on whatever phone they have, sharing by face is the better fit. Our article on sharing photos with the people in them covers the same idea for friends and wider family.

Photohawk Family is coming soon to iPhone, with Android to follow. Keep an eye on photohawk.com for the launch.