Space Albums
Space Albums let you bring whole albums into a Shared Space. Instead of adding photos one by one, you link an existing album (or create a new one inside the space) and all of its photos appear in the space for every member — organised on a dedicated Albums tab, just like the main Albums page.
Like the rest of Shared Spaces, album actions are governed by the space's three roles — Owner, Editor, and Viewer. Owners and Editors manage albums; Viewers browse them read-only. See Roles and Permissions below.
How it works
- Linked by reference. Linking an album doesn't copy anything — the album stays in its owner's library and simply becomes visible inside the space. Unlinking it later removes it from the space without touching the original album.
- A space can hold many albums. Each space has its own Albums tab listing every album linked into it, with the same search / sort / group / view controls as your personal Albums page.
- Two ways photos land in a space album:
- Owner-added photos — the album owner (or an editor of the album) adds their own photos to the album, exactly like a normal album.
- Cross-owner contributions — a space Editor or Owner can add photos they don't own into a linked space album. These become contributions: they show up in the album for all members, but they never leave their real owner's library. See Contributions.
- Independent timeline control. Each linked album has its own "show in the space timeline" switch, separate from each member's personal timeline preference. See Showing album photos in the timeline.
Roles and Permissions
| Permission | Owner | Editor | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browse the Albums tab | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Search / sort / group / switch album views | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open a space album and view its photos | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Download photos from a space album | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Link an existing album into the space * | Yes | Yes | No |
| Create a new album inside the space | Yes | Yes | No |
| Unlink an album from the space | Yes | Yes | No |
| Add / remove photos in a space album | Yes | Yes | No |
| Contribute photos you don't own (cross-owner) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Toggle "show in space timeline" for an album | Yes | Yes | No |
* Linking also requires that you are the owner or an editor of the album itself — you can only link albums you are allowed to manage.
The Albums tab
Open a space and select the Albums tab to see every album linked into it. The toolbar mirrors your personal Albums page:
- Search albums by name or description.
- Sort by title, item count, date created/modified, or newest/oldest photo.
- Group by — None, Year, Linked by (which member linked the album), or Owner, with expand/collapse per group. Albums whose linker is unknown fall into an "Unassigned" group.
- Cover ↔ List view — switch between album-style cover cards and a compact list.
Viewers get the full toolbar (search, sort, group, view) but no create/link/edit buttons — the tab is read-only for them.
Linking and creating albums
Owners and Editors can add albums to a space in two ways.
Link an existing album
- Open the space and go to the Albums tab.
- Click Link album.
- Pick one of your albums from the list and confirm.
The album's photos immediately appear in the space for all members. You can only link albums you own or have editor access to.
Create a new album in the space
- On the Albums tab, click Create album.
- Give it a name.
The album is created, automatically linked into the space, and opened so you can start adding photos right away.
Contributions
When you (as an Owner or Editor) add photos to a linked space album that you don't own, those photos become contributions. This is how members collaborate on a shared album across libraries:
- Contributions appear in the album's grid and counts for every member, and members can view and download them — the same access they get for any space photo.
- The photos never leave their real owner's library; a contribution is just a reference into the space.
- Contributions are tied to the album's link. If the album is unlinked from the space, contributions are withdrawn; re-linking the album restores them.
You can't remove an asset from a space directly if it's only present through a linked album — remove it from the album instead. The app will point you to the album(s) responsible when this happens.
Showing album photos in the timeline
Whether a linked album's photos show up in the space's aggregated timeline is controlled by two independent switches:
- Per-album (set by Editors/Owners). Each linked album has a "show in the space timeline" toggle. Turn it off to keep an album browsable on the Albums tab without adding its photos to the space timeline.
- Per-member (set by each member). Every member independently chooses whether that space appears in their own timeline (the space's timeline-integration preference).
An album's photos appear in a given member's timeline only when both switches are on. This lets an editor curate which albums belong in the shared timeline, while each member still controls whether the space shows up in their personal timeline at all.
Editing a space album
The space album page behaves like a regular album for Owners and Editors — you can rename it, add or remove photos, and set its cover. Changes are reflected for all members, and album activity (created, renamed, photos added/removed) is recorded in the space's activity log. Viewers see the album read-only.
Removing and unlinking
- Unlink an album (Editor/Owner) from the Albums tab to remove it — and its photos and contributions — from the space. The original album is untouched.
- Removing individual photos from a space album is done on the album itself. A photo that's in the space only because of a linked album can't be removed from the space's main view directly.
Notes and limitations
- A photo can be in the space's direct pool or contributed through an album, never counted twice — the space de-duplicates across all sources.
- Member contribution counts on the Members tab include photos brought in through linked albums and libraries, not just directly-added photos.
- Space albums are available on both web and the mobile app; some album-management actions on mobile require a recent server version.