Apple is one of those companies that values loyalty, and routinely rewards it with various exclusive perks and features that can only be accessed from an iPhone or some other kind of Apple device. But if you're not an Apple user, or dare to prefer one of the best Android phones, Apple tends to try and ignore your very existence. The same is true for Windows PCs.
There are occasions where Apple will get a little generous, and throw a bone to the people that don't actively buy its products. Sometimes that involves giving them access to Apple services, like Apple Music or Apple TV, and others it means access to features that Apple had previously kept locked inside the walled garden for its own users.
Here's the good news: iOS 27 will give Android and Windows users the ability to take full advantage of iCloud Shared Albums without needing an Apple device.
Shared Albums for everyone
iCloud Shared albums are exactly what they sound like. They are albums, stored within iCloud, that allow multiple people to share photos and videos together. Each album can store up to 5,000 photos and videos, and previously anything added to those albums didn't count towards your iCloud storage limits.
That'll stop being the case in iOS 27 and macOS 27, but we will get to that annoying piece of small print a little later.
Shared Albums, previously referred to as iCloud Photo Sharing, have existed in some form for a long time. The idea is that you can easily share photos and videos with up to five other people, giving everyone the ability to add and edit photos as they see fit. Better still, Apple Photos didn't cordon off those files into their own separate albums, and instead shows them in your main feed alongside everything else you've shot.
Sadly, Apple kept unlimited access to those shared albums exclusive to its own devices. So you needed an iPhone, iPad or Mac to be able to get the full shared album experience. Windows users could get limited viewing privileges via the iCloud app, while Android users could view them in their web browser.
But Apple is changing that with the next wave of OS upgrades. Once you have access to iOS 27 and macOS 27, you'll be able to "upgrade" your shared albums and bring Android and Windows users into the fold — and let them add their own photos just as they would if they owned an iPhone. These upgrade albums also let everyone share full-resolution, uncompressed files for the first time.
The downside is that these new upgraded shared albums are apparently no longer exempt from iCloud storage limits. Instead, it appears that the person who upgrades the album is responsible for everything that gets stored — which is going to be a real pain if your friends insist on posting large video files to the shared album.
It's not clear why, though my guess would be that Apple doesn't want non-Apple users taking advantage of free iCloud storage when they don't directly contribute to its bottom line. Android phones have no ability to pay for an iCloud subscription, after all, and they don't buy iPhones.
There are temporary shared albums that remain free for 30 days, but any permanent option is going to cost you money.
Apple should be more mindful of Android and Windows users
I get why Apple focuses on its own users over everyone else. These are the people who have iPhones, Apple Watches, and probably an iPad or Mac as well, and it's just good business to keep these people happy with a constant string of features and upgrades that make their devices more useful.
But at the same time there are plenty of things Apple could be doing to try and appeal to non-Apple users as well. I don't expect Apple to start unlocking exclusive AirPods features, or offering unrestricted Apple Watch access to Android users. It would just be nice if Apple realized that there are ways it can benefit from opening up to those people as well.
This could be as simple as adding a remote control feature to the Apple TV app on Android. I recently bought an Apple TV 4K, switching over from Roku despite the fact I knew there wasn't an official virtual remote. Naturally,
Having an official remote on my Pixel 10 Pro would be a massive quality of life improvement for watching TV during those occasions when I can't find or reach the actual remote.
It would also be nice for Apple to offer access to some of its other services, like iCloud, to paying customers off platform. Not because I have any major desire to switch all my cloud storage needs to Apple servers, versus Google's, but because it's nice to have extra options.
I know what people will say. Having access to Apple services is a selling point for Apple devices, with the cost of entry being the few hundred dollars you spend on your device. Offering too much without that paywall would only devalue Apple's ecosystem — which is not something Apple wants to happen.
Cross platform interaction is a work in progress
We also have to remember that iPhone and Mac users don't exist in a vacuum, and they do interact with Android and Windows users on a regular basis. Ensuring better methods of communication between those groups benefits everyone, including Apple's own users.
The recent push to add AirDrop support to Android's QuickShare is a great example of this, and while Apple could have shut down Google's attempts to make it happen without discussion, it makes sense to allow Android and iPhone users to be able to share files easily and seamlessly — even though they're on opposing platforms.
The same is true for the addition of RCS messaging support. iMessage only works on iPhones, and messaging Android defaulted to SMS which is unencrypted and compressed shared files within an inch of their life.
Some have claimed that Apple was forced to add RCS support by the Chinese government, but it doesn't change the fact that messaging Android users from an iPhone is far more user-friendly and secure than it was in the past. And that's better for everyone.
Bottom line
There's never going to be true parity between Apple products and those running on other platforms. Apple has invested too much in keeping users tied to the Apple ecosystem and offering too much to people who don't buy iPhones or Macs is just going to make their own platform less appealing.
This would devalue the Apple experience, and harm the company's bottom line. That means it's never going to happen, and Apple will continue to try and ignore Android, Windows and any other rival platform out there for as long as humanly possible.
But this doesn't change the fact that there are benefits to allowing better connectivity between Apple devices and those same rivals. It could be a way to draw some extra revenue from people who wouldn't otherwise be Apple customers, or to improve the cross-platform experience for people who are.
The tides have been turning for this, and iCloud Shared Albums are the latest example of how Apple has figured out that it needs to be more mindful of Android and Windows users. But, as ever, there's always more that can be done.
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