How to react to photos with emojis in iCloud shared albums

Find out how to quickly react to a shared photo with your preferred emoji in the new and upgraded iCloud shared albums in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27 Golden Gate, and iCloud beta.

iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 have made changes to shared iCloud albums, like counting the space used by shared albums against your allocated iCloud space, the option to create temporary albums that auto-delete after 30 days, the removal of shareable iCloud photo links, filtering photos by members, and the ability to share photos in full resolution. You can learn more here: iOS 27: Shared iCloud photo albums will now take up your iCloud space

Another handy feature added to the iCloud shared album is the option to use a specific emoji to react to a photo. This ensures you aren’t limited to just the thumbs-up button or to sharing your thoughts in the comments. You can now use the smiling face, heart, thumbs down, fire, or any of the hundreds of emojis.

Before the latest update, if you wanted to share your view about a photo in a shared iCloud album, your options were to leave a comment or hit the like button, as shown in the screenshot below from my wife’s iPhone running iOS 26.

Important: The emoji reaction is only visible on the member’s device if it’s updated to iOS/iPadOS/macOS 27.

React to a shared iCloud photo with emoji

1) Update your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 Golden Gate (all three are currently in beta).

2) Open the Photos app and go to the Shared Album, as shown in the screenshot below.

3) Tap or double-click to open a single picture or video in full-screen.

4) Hit the emoji icon, as shown in the screenshot, and select a suggested emoji. Or, tap the plus button (+) to select from hundreds of emojis.

Here’s how it looks in macOS 27 Photos app.

See reactions to your shared photos

Open a photo in the shared album and tap the same emoji button to see who all have reacted to that image.

Change or remove the emoji reaction

Tap the selected emoji to open the reactions pane, and then tap the currently selected emoji to remove it.

You can also pick another emoji to replace it (other members of the shared album receive a new notification if you react with a different emoji).

React to a shared phone with an emoji on iCloud web

You can also use emoji reactions in shared albums on iCloud.com.

Plus, if you have shared a new/upgraded shared album with people whose devices haven’t been updated to OS 27, they will have to view your shared album in iCloud (instead of their device’s Photos app), and they can react with emoji there.

1) Visit beta.icloud.com/photos (not just iCloud.com) and sign in with the same Apple Account you generally use.

2) Expand the ‘Sharing Albums’ section.

3) View a picture and then click the emoji icon to react, as shown in the screenshot below.

If you don’t see the emoji react button…

You can’t react to a shared iCloud photo with custom emojis if:

• Your iPhone, iPad, or Mac isn’t updated to iOS 27, iPadOS 27, or macOS 27 Golden Gate.
• The shared album was created before iOS, iPadOS, or macOS 27, and you have not upgraded it. To upgrade, just go to this shared album, start editing it, and tap Upgrade Shared Album. But note that upgraded iCloud albums count towards your iCloud space.

Can people with non-OS 27 devices view your emoji reaction or add their own?

Not in the Photos app, but in iCloud Web.

You can create a new shared album in iOS 27 and add participants to it. However, this new album will not appear in the participant’s Photos app if their device is still running iOS 26 or earlier. When they click your invitation to join the album, it will take them to beta.icloud.com in their browser, where they can sign in with their Apple Account to view the album and share their photo reactions.

Also, check out: How to save a slideshow as a video on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2026/07/06/emoji-reaction-icloud-shared-albums/