Is it possible to use Albums with a shared library?

This is quite possible the largest missed opportunity for Apple. While I am thankful I can now share an album with my wife, it is ridiculous to expect both of us to maintain the same albums, albeit separately, on separate devices. If a person creates an album, while in the shared library, then there should be an option to share that album with other users of the library. We have over 15,000 photos, and 150 albums, and we would have to create each album separately on each account. Come on!

Calling the new feature a "Shared Library" is raising expectations, that we can share our work we invested in structuring the library, the albums and folders, the structure of the library. I am still hoping it is just the first step towards a true shared library and it will be improved over time.

This is the expected behaviour. Right now, we can can share the photos, as a flat list, but without any structure like albums or folders.

I am adding keywords with the album name to the shared photos. Then we can easily collect the shared photos in a smart album with the rule "Keyword is ...". I am also adding the name of the person as a keyword to all photos in a People album, so the names will be transferred to the Shared Library.

It is the same problem as when importing photos directly from another library into our library. The photos will be imported, but not the albums and folders, not even the keywords.

I just created an iCloud Shared Library which I shared with my spouse. Two HUGE problems:

1. All my spouse's photos are now also in the photo library on my iPhone - and vice-versa. And our Personal Libraries include only a handful of photos that cannot be moved into the Shared Library, such as screen shots. So now we are duplicating storage two ways and creating lots of confusion as to which photos were taken by whom. This duplication makes no sense. Is there any way to have only my photos stored on my iPhone and only my spouse's stored on her iPhone while using the Shared iCloud Library?
2. Moving selected photos in the iCloud Shared Library into an album is "...not currently supported....". The primary reason for switching to a Shared Library in iCloud is that the Shared Album I'd created for a trip didn't upload to the iCloud. Unfortunately Apple didn't bother to warn me that a perfectly rational use of the Shared Library can't be used. When is Apple going to make this capability available? The inability to use albums renders the Shared Library useless.
3. Is there anyway to undo the nonsense resulting from my (very) ill-advised decision to adopt a Shared iCloud Library?

Thanks much.

David

You are right, for a large iCloud Photos Library we need to be able to preserve the albums, when we share the library. Sharing 90000 photos without any organisation and dumping them into the iCloud Photos Library of unsuspecting subscribers is a hugh imposition. We should not do that.

But Apple simply does not offer to share the library structure, we can just share the photos, see: How to use iCloud Shared Photo Library - Apple Support

"iCloud Shared Photo Library lets you share photos and videos seamlessly with up to five other people, so everyone can collaborate on the collection and enjoy more complete memories."

You will still be seeing the shared photos in the original albums and folders, but not the other people you invite to view the library. They have to create their on albums in their own iCloud Photos Library.

Try the following in order as needed:

1 - As a test launch Photos with the Option key held down and create a new, test library.  Import some photos and test to see if the same problem persists. Does it? This tells us if the problem is limited to your current library or is more wide spread. Then open your original library and test there again.

2 - Create and log into a new, basic, admin user account, Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac,  and see if the problem persists. This tells us if the problem is limited to your user account or is system wide.

Note:  do not launch any 3rd party apps in the account so as to not install any of the supporting files that most create.

If the problem persists then your original account probably has software installed that is causing the problem.  

3 - boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

Apple has left the market for professional photo software to third party vendors, when it discontinued Aperture in 2015. Since then, we have the Photos.app, included with the system for on all Apple devices for free. It is offering the bare necessities to archive photos and touch them up and sync them between the devices; this is already a daunting task for the developers, as Photos need to be compatible with a plethora of device models and system versions, as not all features of Photos are supported on all devices and systems. Any additional more elaborate tools will add to the complexity. I don't expect Apple to add new features lightheartedly.

As to the People album: The named faces are syncing between my Macs, my iphone and the iPad, as long as the system versions are the most recent ones. I am seeing slight differences on the devices with older system versions.

Re: undoing a shared library - yes, it can be undone. Search on “undo shared photo library”. But it appears that those invited into the shared library must opt out within 7 days….while the owner doesn’t face that restriction.

My spouse and I have backed out of the Shared Library I had created two days ago. I don’t know what would have happened if we’d waited more than 7 days from when she joined the SL to undo her joining. However, I can tell you that the “undo” process worked fine for us.

I have a few Shared Albums. One is supposed to contain both hers and my photos from a trip. Before I created the SL, it did. Now it doesn’t…not sure why but perhaps this was caused by the SL debacle. Once I sort it out, I’ll try to remember to post back here!!

When you start to identify the face of a person who's in your Contacts do you not get their name popping up like this next to the name field?