How to organize photos in shared libraries using albums and folders?

Hi Gus_J,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. We understand that you're having an issue with organizing photos in a shared library. We'd like to help.

Can you tell us more about what you're trying to replicate between your personal library and your shared library? This will help us get a better understanding of the issue.

Then, see if this resource helps: Organize and find your photos on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

This may also provide some guidance: Share photos and videos and keep them up to date with iCloud - Apple Support

Let us know more about what you're trying to do and we'll continue to help.

Cheers!

This answer links to documentation that does not include how Shared Albums and Shared Library work together, or how to create Folders and Albums that are in the Shared Library.

Shared Library is missing Folder and Album organization.

Why would each member want to re-curate the library?

I have over 100K photos in folders that I want to publish as Shared Library to Family members and those users should not have to reorganize them.

I have same issue. Without folders or albums in shared library or ability to move the albums and pictures to shared library keeping the albums, than this shared library isn’t going to be useful. I don’t understand how apple could have missed this important use case. How else can you organize events in your life without the folders or albums? I was really looking forward to this feature until I discovered this limitation.

Indeed. I cannot believe how messy and complicated sharing photos with apple became. Using "shared albums" has severe limitations such as resolution reduction etc. My girlfriend wants print a photo book from our shared album. To have better print solution it would be necessary to identify and manually send photos I took; Incredible!!!

Now they offer a even more complicated, yet limited approach: Simultaneous private and shared library without any way to share and synchronize your organization of photos. Who came up with this!?! Plus, this function is limited to the rather latest generation of devices.

Way to go Apple, keep an eye on your competitors, for the moment they outperform you in this manner!

The shared library has only the photos we are sharing, but in full resolution, with all metadata we are adding. The albums and folders are not shared. This is confusing, as the we are seeing still the photos we share in their original albums, but the recipients are just seeing a flat stream of photos.

What I am doing is to add keywords with the name of the album to the photos I am sharing.

The subscribers can search for the keywords and recreate the albums easily with a smart album with the rule "keyword is ...".

I have same issue. Without folders or albums in shared library or ability to move the albums and pictures to shared library keeping the albums, than this shared library isn’t going to be useful. I don’t understand how apple could have missed this important use case. How else can you organize events in your life without the folders or albums? I was really looking forward to this feature until I discovered this limitation.