Using what you already have
How to share baby photos with grandparents using Amazon Photos — and what you give up
If the household pays for Prime, the originals are already stored for free and a shared group takes a few taps. What you give up is on Amazon's own pages: image recognition and face records on by default, shopping suggestions from the photos, and an Amazon account for anyone you invite.
For a Prime household, Amazon Photos is the free archive that keeps the full-resolution file, and its shared groups reach relatives with a link. Amazon’s help pages describe how, and what its systems do with the photos once they are there.
The steps, from Amazon’s help pages
- Open Sharing and make or open a group. In the app, “select the Sharing icon in the top-right of your screen” and choose the group; on the web, “select Sharing” and choose it.
- Add people. On the group’s page, “select the i button” (the settings cog on the web) and “select Add people”; relatives you invite need an Amazon account.
- Decide about the link. With link sharing on, anyone who has the group’s link can open it. “To only allow people you invited to the group to view photos in the group, switch off Link sharing”; then “only you and people you invite can access photos in a group.”
- Keep adding. Photos you add to the group reach everyone in it, and members can add their own.
What Grandma needs
A link, while link sharing is on: it opens in a browser with nothing to install. To be invited to the group, or to add her own photos, an Amazon account — Amazon says non-members “need to create an Amazon account”.
What you give up
| Criterion | Amazon Photos |
|---|---|
| Can family look without installing an app? | Yes — group link while link sharing is on[1] |
| Do viewers need an account? | Partly Not for a link; members need one[2][1] |
| Can family add their own photos? | Yes — group members[1][2] |
| Photos kept at full quality? | Yes — full resolution (Prime)[3] |
| Video limits | 5 GB allowance; no length limit stated[3] |
| AI or face recognition run on your photos? | Yes — tags, face grouping, shopping; switchable[4][5] |
| Can the company open your photos? | Yes — servers analyse the photos[4] |
| App Store label: data used to track you | Partly Label has no tracking section; marketing data linked to you[6] |
Amazon’s systems read the photos, and say so. Image recognition tags objects, actions and scenes; “People grouping” keeps “records of individual faces”; and Amazon “may also scan your photos to show shopping recommendations based on the content of your images”. All of it is on by default and can be switched off in account settings.
A link is a door. While link sharing is on, the group is open to anyone the link reaches. Switching it off means every relative needs an Amazon account.
Video is not free. Photos are unlimited at full resolution with Prime; video counts against 5 GB for everyone, then a storage plan from $1.99 a month.
It is tied to Prime. Cancel Prime and you keep 5 GB and must remove the rest.
If that is more fiddly than you hoped
The grandparents ranking compares every app on whether a relative can look with no app, no account, or by email alone, and the new-baby ranking weighs what happens to the files. Both include Amazon Photos, so you can see what a dedicated album adds and what it costs. Kin Album, which is made by the company that runs this site, is one of the dedicated albums there; it is held to the same criteria as Amazon Photos.
Sources
- Amazon Photos — Amazon Help: Manage access to shared groups in Amazon Photos, checked 2026-09-12
To only allow people you invited to the group to view photos in the group, switch off Link sharing … When link sharing is switched off, only you and people you invite can access photos in a group.
- Amazon Photos — Amazon Help: Sharing your Amazon Photos storage allowance with Amazon Family, checked 2026-09-12
You can share your Amazon Photos storage allowance with up to 5 other family members … Non-members need to create an Amazon account … Photos and videos uploaded by members of a family group are private and can only be accessed by the person who uploaded them.
- Amazon Photos — Amazon Help: How much storage do I have available?, checked 2026-09-12
Photos: free and unlimited at full resolution for Amazon Prime members. Non-Prime customers get 5 GB shared across photos and videos. Videos: count toward your storage limit for everyone, including Prime members … If you cancel Prime … You keep 5 GB of free storage.
- Amazon Photos — Amazon Help: Learn more about image recognition in Amazon Photos, checked 2026-09-12
We use image recognition technology to analyze and apply tags to your photos and videos … We may also scan your photos to show shopping recommendations based on the content of your images … Amazon will collect, store, and use records of individual faces to enable these and similar features … You may enable or disable the tagging features any time through your account settings.
- Amazon Photos — Amazon Help: What is Amazon Photos?, checked 2026-09-12
5 GB of free storage for all Amazon customers. Unlimited full-resolution photo storage, plus 5 GB of video storage, for Amazon Prime members … Image recognition for people, places, and things … Prints, photo books, and digital greeting cards.
- Amazon Photos — App Store listing: Amazon Photos — App Privacy, checked 2026-09-12
Data Linked to You — Developer's Advertising or Marketing: Purchase History, Physical Address, Email Address, Name, Phone Number, User ID, Device ID, Product Interaction … In-App Purchases: 100 GB Monthly Plan $1.99 · 1 TB Monthly Plan $6.99 · 2 TB Monthly Plan $11.99.
Questions people ask
Does Grandma need an Amazon account for Amazon Photos?
To be invited to a group, yes: Amazon says non-members ‘need to create an Amazon account’. While link sharing is on, anyone with the group’s link can view it without one; switch link sharing off and ‘only you and people you invite can access photos in a group’.
Are Amazon Photos originals?
Yes for Prime members: photos are stored ‘free and unlimited at full resolution’. Video counts against 5 GB for everyone, Prime or not, and needs a storage plan beyond that.
Does Amazon scan the photos in a shared group?
Amazon’s image recognition ‘analyzes and applies tags’ to photos and videos, ‘People grouping’ stores ‘records of individual faces’, and Amazon ‘may also scan your photos to show shopping recommendations based on the content of your images’. The tagging features can be switched off in account settings.