Why Don't My iPhone Shared Albums Back Up to iCloud Like My Other Albums?

Have you ever noticed that your iPhone shared albums don’t back up to iCloud like your regular albums do? This can be confusing and frustrating for many users. In this article, we will explore why this may happen and how you can ensure that your shared albums are backed up correctly.

Understanding Apple’s Backup Process

Apple has designed its photo-sharing system in a way that shared albums are not automatically included in the iCloud backup process. This is due to how the iCloud Photos system works. When you link your iPhone to iCloud Photos, all the photos and videos in your Camera Roll are backed up to iCloud. However, shared albums are separate and not part of this default backup process.

Why Are Shared Albums Not Backed Up by Default?

Apple chose not to back up shared albums by default for a few reasons:

Privacy Concerns: Shared albums often contain media that you might not want to share with your iCloud contacts. By not backing them up, Apple keeps your privacy protected. Storage Management: Shared albums can be quite large, and backing them up by default could quickly consume your iCloud storage. Apple wants to give users control over their storage usage.

How to Back Up Your iPhone Shared Albums to iCloud

If you want your shared albums to be backed up to iCloud, you have a few options. Let's explore them:

Option 1: Manually Backup Each Shared Album

One straightforward method is to manually back up each shared album to iCloud. Here’s how you can do it:

Open the Photos App on your iPhone. Tap on the Albums tab. Find the shared album you want to back up and tap on it. Long-press the album to bring up the options. Select Share and then Save to Albums. Select the album you want to save the shared media to.

By saving the shared media to an album that you have backing up to iCloud, you ensure that it is also backed up to your iCloud storage.

Option 2: Use iCloud Photos

Another option is to enable iCloud Photos. This will back up all your photos and videos, including shared ones, to iCloud. Here's how you can do it:

Go to Settings. Tap on your Apple ID. Select iCloud. Scroll down and tap on Photos. Turn on Photos.

Keep in mind that enabling iCloud Photos will take up more storage space. Consider the trade-offs before making this change.

Option 3: Use the Photos Mac/iOS App

If you use the Photos app on your Mac or another iOS device, you can back up shared albums directly. Here’s how:

Open the Photos App on your Mac or another iOS device. Tap on the Albums tab. Find the shared album you want to back up. Long-press the album to bring up the options. Select Share and then Save to Albums. Select the album you want to save the shared media to.

By doing this on another device, you can ensure that the shared albums are backed up to iCloud.

Conclusion

While Apple’s design decision not to back up shared albums by default may seem limiting, it provides a layer of privacy and storage management. If you want to back up shared albums, there are several methods you can use. Whether it’s manually saving them to a backup album, using iCloud Photos, or backing them up on another device, you have options to ensure that your shared media is safely stored in iCloud.

Understanding and utilizing these methods can help you better manage your photos and videos in iCloud, ensuring that everything is backed up as needed. Happy backing up!