weddingEvery shared album has one setting that decides whether other people can add photos or only look. Below is that exact setting for iCloud, Google Photos and Dropbox, plus a QR album where guests add photos with no account at all.
Try Pix free, no guest account neededMake the album, then switch on contributions. In Google Photos that is Collaborate in the album Options. In an iCloud Shared Album it is Can Add Photos for each participant on iOS 27, or Participants Can Add Photos on iOS 26. In Dropbox you send a file request link instead of a normal share link.
If the people adding photos are guests you cannot walk through a setting, skip the switches: a QR album lets anyone scan and upload from the phone browser without an app or an account.
iCloud Shared Album
Can Add Photos
Manage Shared Album, then a participant (iOS 27). iOS 26: Participants Can Add Photos.
Google Photos
Collaborate
Album, More, Options, under Sharing.
Dropbox
File request
File requests, New request, then share the link.
Pix QR album
The album QR code
Nothing to switch on. Guests scan and upload.
A shared album that works for five friends can hit a wall at a party. These are the limits Apple and Google publish, straight from their own help pages.
100
People in an iCloud Shared Album, counting the owner, on iOS 27 or later. Older albums also allow 100 subscribers.
Source: Apple Support5,000
Items in a temporary iCloud Shared Album, and in albums still on iOS 26 or earlier. New permanent albums are limited by the owner's iCloud storage.
Source: Apple Support16 MP
The size Google Photos Storage Saver shrinks larger photos to. Original quality keeps full resolution. Both count toward Google Account storage.
Source: Google Photos HelpiOS 27 changed shared albums: new and upgraded albums keep original resolution and let people add from a web browser. The steps below cover iOS 27 first and note the iOS 26 names.
Open Photos, go to Collections, scroll to Shared Albums and tap Add. On iOS 27, name the album and pick the photos you want to start with. On iOS 26, name it, choose the people to invite, tap Done, then Create.
On iOS 27, tap Sharing Options, then invite participants or copy the album link, and tap Done. You can add more people later from Manage Shared Album, Invite Participants.
On iOS 27, open Manage Shared Album, tap a participant and turn on Can Add Photos. On iOS 26, tap More, tap the album name and turn on Participants Can Add Photos.
Apple says upgraded and new iOS 27 albums let friends and family join and add photos on the web, even without an Apple Account or Apple device. Open the album, tap More, then Upgrade Shared Album. Apple notes that not every feature is available in every country or region.
In new and upgraded albums, items keep their original resolution and count toward the album owner's iCloud storage. Make sure the owner has room before 100 people start adding.
You do not have to scroll through years of photos. Search your library in Photos by a person, place or date, tap Select on the results and pick what you want (Apple guide). Then tap the Share button, tap Add to Shared Album, choose the album and tap Done. On iOS 26 the last button is Post.
Older albums: an album made on iOS 26 or earlier can still use a Public Website link, but that link is for viewing only. Upgrading keeps a copy of the old album available for 6 months.
Steps checked September 2026 on Apple Support: Use Shared Albums in Photos, Upgrade your shared albums and Shared Albums limits.
Max Dalton walks through creating a shared album on iPhone or iPad. The video predates iOS 27, so use the permission names and limits above where they differ.
Video by Max Dalton on YouTube.
A Google Photos shared album is view-only until Collaborate is on. Once it is, anyone with the link can add photos, so treat that link like a key.
On a computer, go to photos.google.com, select the photos you want to start with, click Add to or create new, choose Shared album, then New shared album. On Android, tap Create, then Album, add photos, and tap Share.
Open the album, click More, then Options. Under Sharing, turn on Collaborate. Google's help says that with Collaborate on, anyone who has the link to your shared album can add photos.
In the same Options panel, turn on link sharing, copy the link and send it by text, email or a printed QR code. You can also share straight to Google contacts, who do not need the Google Photos app to see it.
Google's help pages do not say whether someone with no Google Account can add photos through the link. Open it in a private browser window on a second phone before you send it to a big group, so nobody finds out at the event.
Each person's backup setting decides what lands in your album. Storage Saver compresses photos and resizes anything over 16 MP down to 16 MP. Original quality keeps the resolution they shot at.
Link leaked? Google lets you reset the album link, which kills the old one. Turn Collaborate off any time to stop new additions without removing what is already there.
Steps checked September 2026 on Google Photos Help: Share photos and videos, Stop sharing an album and manage settings, Shared album controls and Backup quality.
This is our product, so read it with that in mind. It exists for the case the built-in albums handle worst: a room full of people on different phones, most of whom you will never walk through a setting.
The host signs in at pix.wedding and creates the album. Up to 20 guests can upload before you pay anything, enough to run the whole flow past a few friends first.
Every album gets its own QR code and link. Print the code on table cards or a sign, or drop the link in a group chat. Paid plans include 24 ready-made QR poster designs you can download as PNG or PDF.
The phone camera opens the album in the browser on iPhone or Android. Guests pick photos and videos from their camera roll and upload. No app, no account, no password.
On a paid plan there is no cap on photos or videos and nothing gets compressed. Uploads stay open 3 months on Starter, 6 months on Standard and 1 year on Pro, counted from the event date, so late guests can still add.
Each paid plan lets you download the full album as one ZIP file. Storage runs 6 months on Starter, 1 year on Standard and 2 years on Pro.
The real Pix demo album, what a guest sees after scanning the QR code.
Past the basics: Standard and Pro add up to 6 sub-albums (ceremony, reception), a live slideshow at the venue and a private upload link for your photographer, whose shots land in their own album inside the same gallery.
First dance
You guys!!
No Collaborate toggle, no Can Add Photos per person. Guests scan, pick photos from the camera roll and send them from the browser. The first 20 guest uploads cost nothing and need no card.
From Mom
Scan to join the album
No app, no account
UPLOADING
THE ALBUM
June 21, 2026
647 photos · 95 guests
SCAN TO TRY
pix.wedding/
your-wedding
A normal Dropbox share link lets people look. A file request lets them send. It is the right tool when you want originals in a folder and nobody needs to browse.
Sign in at dropbox.com, click File requests in the left sidebar, then New request.
Add a title and an optional description, then pick the folder the uploads should land in. You can add a password, and some paid plans can set a deadline.
Click Create, then enter email addresses or copy the link, and click Share. Dropbox says people do not need a Dropbox account, or to be signed in, to upload.
Uploaders may be asked for their name and email so you know who sent what. Tell your group ahead of time so it does not feel like a sign-up form.
The request link opens an upload page, not a gallery. Uploads use your own Dropbox storage, and on the Basic, Plus and Family plans a single upload can be as large as 2 GB.
Steps checked September 2026 on Dropbox Help: Create a file request and Upload to a file request.
The switches are covered above. This table answers what comes after: what the person adding needs, what happens to quality, and how you close the album to new photos.
Pix is our product. The other rows link to each company's own help page.
| Method | What the person adding needs | Quality kept | Can they browse? | How adding ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Pix QR AlbumOur pick | Nothing. Phone browser, no app, no account | Full resolution on paid plans, nothing resized | Yes, in the browser | The upload window closes 3, 6 or 12 months after the event date, by plan |
| iCloud Shared Album | An invite or the album link. New and upgraded albums accept web uploads without an Apple Account where available | Original resolution in new and upgraded albums. Albums on iOS 26 or earlier resize photos to 2048 px | Yes | Turn off Can Add Photos, or remove the participant in Manage Shared Album |
| Google Photos | The album link with Collaborate on. Test it signed out before a big event | Set by each uploader's backup setting, so some copies arrive resized | Yes | Turn off Collaborate. Stopping sharing altogether also removes the photos other people added |
| Dropbox File Request | Nothing. No Dropbox account and no sign-in; may ask for name and email | Files arrive as uploaded | No, the link is an upload page. Share the folder separately | Close the request, or let a deadline end it on plans that offer one |
Swipe to compare
Apple, Google and Dropbox cells were rechecked against their own help pages in September 2026. The Pix row reflects our plans today.
Start from the people who will add photos, not from the app you already use. One mismatch (an Android cousin, a guest with no Google Account) is enough to lose their photos.
Everyone is on iPhone
Nobody installs anything or learns a new app. The album shows up next to their own photos, which is where people remember to add.
Mixed phones, everyone already uses Google
One link covers both kinds of phone. The risk is the one friend who backs up in Storage Saver, so mention quality in the invite message.
A family album that runs for years
Grandparents, cousins and kids keep adding across birthdays and holidays. You want something that lives in an account the family already pays for.
You only need the files, not a gallery
A photographer handing over edits, or a teacher collecting class photos. What matters is a clean folder, not a gallery people scroll.
A party or wedding full of people you barely know
You cannot collect 80 emails or walk a stranger through a menu. A code on each table asks one thing of them: point the camera.
Relatives who will not sign in to anything
The relative who never remembers a password is often the one with the best photos. Pick the option where they never see a login screen.
Nearly every "I cannot upload" message comes down to one switch or one old link. Match the symptom, then apply the fix.
Symptom
Friends open the Google Photos link but cannot add anything
Cause: Collaborate is off for that album.
Fix: Open the album, More, Options, and turn on Collaborate. The same link starts accepting photos.
Symptom
An iCloud participant can see the album but not post to it
Cause: Adding is switched off for that person.
Fix: On iOS 27, Manage Shared Album, tap the person, turn on Can Add Photos. On iOS 26, More, album name, Participants Can Add Photos.
Symptom
Android friends only get a view-only iCloud page
Cause: The album was made on iOS 26 or earlier, where the Public Website link is for viewing.
Fix: Upgrade the album on iOS 27 (More, Upgrade Shared Album) so people can join and add on the web.
Symptom
Photos in the Google album look softer than the originals
Cause: The uploader backs up in Storage Saver, which resizes photos over 16 MP.
Fix: Ask them to switch backup quality to Original quality before they add to the album.
Symptom
People uploaded to Dropbox and ask where the album is
Cause: A file request is an upload page, not a gallery.
Fix: Share the destination folder with view access once the uploads are in, or pick a method with a gallery.
The setting gets the door open. These get people through it.
Run it with your first 20 guest uploads before any card comes out. After that, a single $49, $59 or $89 payment lifts the cap, and nothing renews.
For collecting every original
Most couples pick this
One-time payment, no subscription
For big guest lists
One payment. Yours to keep. No subscription. No renewals. No surprise charges.
Secure checkout. Polar, Apple Pay, Google Pay.
Money-back guarantee: if your guests never upload a single photo, you get 100% back. See how it works
Picking a method for a whole group, or planning a wedding collection? These go deeper.
Letting people add is one permission. The others, like deleting and removing people, stay with whoever made the album, and they work differently on each platform. Knowing them up front saves an awkward message later.
In an iCloud Shared Album the owner can delete any photo, video or comment from anyone, while each person can delete only what they added. Participants get a notification when new photos land. In Google Photos only the owner can remove people, and if the album was shared by link, link sharing has to go off too or removed people can rejoin.
Every iCloud, Google Photos and Dropbox step here was checked against Apple Support, Google Photos Help and Dropbox Help in September 2026. Menus move between versions, so if a label on your phone reads differently, the linked help page is the one to trust.
Pix details reflect the plans as they stand today, listed in the pricing section above.
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Switch on contributions for the album: Collaborate in Google Photos, Can Add Photos for each person in iCloud. Dropbox needs a file request link instead of a share link, and a Pix QR album is open to anyone who scans the code.
Search your library in Photos (by person, place or date), tap Select on the results and pick the photos. Then tap the Share button, tap Add to Shared Album, choose the album and tap Done (on iOS 26, tap Post).
Not with the four methods on this page. iCloud Shared Albums, Google Photos, Dropbox file requests and Pix all take photos through the app, the album link or a QR code. A guest who only uses email can send the photo to the host, who adds it to the album.
Only through an album that is new or upgraded on iOS 27, with Can Add Photos on for them. Those albums take contributions on the web without an Apple Account or Apple device, where Apple offers the feature. An album left on iOS 26 or earlier gives Android friends a page they can look at but not add to.
In Google Photos, open the album Options and turn off Collaborate, or reset the album link so the old one stops working. In iCloud, turn off Can Add Photos for each participant. In Dropbox, close the file request. In Pix, the upload window ends with your plan, 3 months, 6 months or 1 year from the event date on paid plans.
Yes. With Pix, only the host has an account; everyone else points a phone camera at the code and picks photos to send. Dropbox file requests also take uploads without an account, but the link is an upload page, not a gallery. Upgraded iCloud albums accept web uploads without an Apple Account where Apple offers it.
