With a newborn, our picture count is skyrocketing. A little person that looks like you is an exciting subject to photography.

We want to share those picture with our friends and family, but we don’t want to go overboard on social networks and we want to have a sense of privacy as well.

We’ve been using iCloud Photo Sharing, which is built into the iPhone and iPad operating system, and it feels like the perfect solution for us.

  1. We don’t have to text the pictures to grandparents individually each day.
  2. We can add (or remove) people at will.
  3. People can still like and comment on photos, as long as they are an Apple user.
  4. You don’t need an Apple device to view the photos.

Here’s how to set up a photo stream to share with your family and best buds.

  1. Head to the Photos app and click Shared at the bottom.
  2. Press the + in the top left corner or New Shared Album at the bottom.
  3. Name your album and click Next.
  4. Choose who you want to share it with by typing their name, email address, or phone number and then clicking on that person. You can add multiple people this way. (Note: only Apple device owners can gain access through this link.)
  5. Tap Create.
  6. Open your album and click the + in the gray box to add photos.

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If there are (sadly) some windows or Android users in your life whom you still love in spite of their device choices, you can send them a public link to view the photos.

  1. In the shared album, click People in the top right corner.
  2. Scroll down to the Public Website option and click the button so it is green or enabled.
  3. Click the Share Link button that appears after enabling the public website and email or message it to whoever you please.

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Anyone who has that link can see the photos, so make sure you only share it with those you want to see it. Make sure they also understand anyone with the link can see it so they don’t post it publicly.

You can turn off the public website in the same area where you turned it on. As the album creator you can also continue to add or remove people.

If you turn the public link off and decide to turn it back on later, it appears the link stays the same, so once it is public there is no way to get a new link–you’d have to start a new album.

You can also unsubscribe from an album that has been shared with you.