Using an iCloud Shared Album for wedding photos.
If you and your partner use iPhones, an iCloud Shared Album feels like the natural way to collect wedding photos. Before you print invitations or table signs, here are the official Apple limits—especially for Android guests, guest counts over 100, and photo resolution.
1. Only Apple devices can upload
You can turn on Public Website in iCloud Shared Album settings so anyone on Android or Windows can view the album in a browser. However, only people invited with an Apple Account on an iPhone, iPad or Mac can actually add photos and videos. Every Android guest at your wedding is locked out of uploading.
2. Maximum 100 subscribers per shared album
Apple caps a Shared Album at 100 subscribers (and at most 200 invites sent per day). For a 120–150 guest wedding, not everyone can join the album, and you have to invite people by email or phone number rather than letting anyone scan a table QR code and upload immediately.
3. Resolution and storage rules (legacy vs newer iOS)
- Legacy Shared Albums (created on iOS/macOS 26 or earlier): Don’t count against your iCloud storage and hold up to 5,000 photos and videos combined, but Apple shrinks photos to 2048 pixels on the long edge and caps videos at 720p (up to 15 minutes).
- Upgraded Shared Albums (version 27 or later): Keep original full-resolution files, but every guest’s upload counts against the album owner’s iCloud storage (unless created as a Temporary Shared Album, which caps at 5,000 items and 100 participants).
Create a QR album for iPhone & Android
When an iCloud Shared Album works well
Intimate weddings (under 80 guests), elopements, or bridal/hen parties where everyone in the group uses an iPhone and you’re happy to invite them from your contacts list.
When a table QR code is better
When your guest list mixes iPhone and Android users, has more than 100 people, or you don’t want to type 120 phone numbers into an invite list. With Toast Roll, you print a QR card for each table: any guest on iPhone or Android scans it and uploads original-quality photos and videos in their browser, with no app and no Apple Account needed ($39 once).
Google Photos shared album guide · Google Drive wedding photos guide · Compare wedding photo apps
iCloud Shared Albums limits checked November 5, 2026, from Apple Support (support.apple.com/en-us/108916).