Yes, except iOS 27 full-resolution albums

Does an iCloud shared album reduce quality?

Yes, for albums created on iOS 26 or earlier and not upgraded: photos are reduced to 2048 pixels on the long edge, panoramas can be up to 5400 pixels wide, and videos are delivered at up to 720p. Albums created or upgraded on iOS 27, iPadOS 27 or macOS 27 store newly shared photos and videos in their original format at full resolution.

Last updated 26 October 2026

Shared album quality and limits

From Apple Support, checked 1 October 2026.

Detail	Album from iOS 26 or earlier	iOS 27 album, or new items after upgrading
Photos	Reduced to 2048 px on the long edge	Original format at full resolution
Panoramas	Up to 5400 px wide	Original format at full resolution
Videos	Up to 15 minutes, delivered at up to 720p	Original format at full resolution
iCloud storage	Does not count	Counts toward the owner's storage, including what participants add. Temporary albums don't count.
People	Up to 100 subscribers	Up to 100 participants, owner included
Photos and videos per album	Up to 5000	No limit beyond the owner's iCloud storage. Up to 5000 in a temporary album.

Upgrading an older album

On iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27, new shared albums use full-resolution sharing, while older albums stay as they are until you upgrade them. After an upgrade, newly shared photos and videos are kept at their original resolution; the items already in the album don't count toward your storage, and new items count toward the owner's.

Upgraded albums open on iOS 27 or later and on iCloud.com, so people on older software need to update or use iCloud.com. Friends and family can also join and add photos on the web without an Apple Account or an Apple device. Apple notes that not every feature is available in every country or region.

Getting the full file out

For an album from iOS 26 or earlier, Apple is direct: shared albums upload a copy of your data, and downloaded content may not contain the same information as the original. iCloud Photos itself stores your photos and videos in their original formats at full resolution. Another way to share from it is an iCloud Link, which lets anyone with the link view the photos you pick and expires after 30 days; iCloud Links aren't available in every country or region.

If you are delivering finished photos to clients, a gallery link keeps the files intact: shoots.page delivers JPEG, PNG, HEIC, TIFF and WebP originals byte for byte, and clients need no account.

RAW, HEIC and other formats

Albums on iOS 27 accept every file type and format iCloud Photos supports. Albums from iOS 26 or earlier accept HEIF, JPEG, RAW, PNG, GIF and TIFF photos, with two catches: you can't upload RAW photos to them on iCloud.com, and from a Windows PC you can't upload HEIF images, HEVC videos or RAW photos.

Google Photos shared albums

Google's sharing help doesn't state a quality for shared albums. What Google documents is the backup quality photos are stored at: Original quality keeps the resolution the photo was taken with, Storage saver resizes photos over 16 MP to 16 MP, and Express resizes photos over 3 MP to 3 MP. Anyone with access to a shared album can view the photos and add to it, anyone with a shared link can view them, and photos you save from someone else's album count toward your own storage. To see what you actually received, download a photo and read its pixel dimensions with the photo file checker.

Common questions

Does an iCloud shared album reduce video quality?

In an album from iOS 26 or earlier, yes: videos can be up to 15 minutes long and are delivered at up to 720p. Albums created or upgraded on iOS 27 store newly shared videos in their original format at full resolution.

What changes when I upgrade a shared album?

Newly shared photos and videos keep their original resolution and count toward the owner's iCloud storage, while items already in the album don't. Upgraded albums open on iOS 27 or later and on iCloud.com.

Do shared albums count against iCloud storage?

Albums from iOS 26 or earlier don't. Albums created on iOS 27 count toward the owner's iCloud storage, including the photos and videos participants add; temporary shared albums don't count.

Can I put RAW photos in an iCloud shared album?

Yes. Albums on iOS 27 accept every format iCloud Photos supports, RAW included, at full resolution. In an album from iOS 26 or earlier, RAW is supported but shared photos are reduced to 2048 px on the long edge, and you can't upload RAW to it on iCloud.com or from a Windows PC.

Does a Google Photos shared album reduce quality?

Google's sharing help doesn't say. It documents quality per backup setting instead: Original quality keeps full resolution, Storage saver resizes photos over 16 MP to 16 MP, and Express resizes photos over 3 MP to 3 MP. Download a photo and check its pixel dimensions to see what you received.

How long does an iCloud Link last?

30 days. iCloud Links expire automatically after 30 days, and you can stop sharing sooner.

Deliver a finished shoot at full size

Upload JPEG, PNG, HEIC, TIFF or WebP files, share one gallery link, and clients can download the files you uploaded, byte for byte, with no account. Free up to 2 GB.

Prepare a gallery

Sources

Apple Support: Upgrade your shared albums, File types that you can use in Shared Albums, Shared Albums limits, How to use Shared Albums in Photos on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, Set up and use iCloud Photos, Share photos and videos with an iCloud Link on iCloud.com. Google Photos Help: Choose the backup quality of your photos and videos, Share photos and videos. Checked on 1 October 2026.