waitedHow do you share photos without social media?
Updated
In short To share photos without posting them, pick the tool for what you want to do with them: an end-to-end encrypted messenger (Signal, WhatsApp) to send them to a few people, a shared album (iCloud Photos, Google Photos) to keep them together, or a friends-only photo app (Locket, BeReal, waited) to swap photos with no audience. None of these puts your photos on a public feed, but they don’t all protect them equally.
Which option for what you want to do
| What you want | The right option |
|---|---|
| Send a photo to one person, or a few friends | An end-to-end encrypted messenger, with view once for a sensitive photo: Signal or WhatsApp. Or waited, if the photo can make them wait. |
| Keep the photos from a party or a trip, together | A shared album: Shared Albums in iCloud Photos (created from an Apple device, also open in a browser) or Google Photos albums (Android and iPhone). |
| Share your everyday life with a small circle | A friends-only photo app: Locket (photos show up on your friends’ home screen) or BeReal (one photo a day, at the same time for everyone). |
| Make a surprise, or play a game | waited: the photo arrives locked by a countdown, and your challenges let them unlock it sooner. |
| Give photos to someone next to you | AirDrop (Apple) or Quick Share (Android): straight from phone to phone, nothing posted. |
Encrypted messengers, to send to a few people
A photo sent through an end-to-end encrypted messenger can only be read by its recipients, not by the service carrying it. Signal and WhatsApp encrypt every chat this way, and offer view once for a sensitive photo. Telegram, on the other hand, only end-to-end encrypts its “secret chats”. The shared limit: depending on settings, a received photo can be saved to the recipient’s gallery and end up in their backups. To compare: which app to use to send a private photo.
Shared albums, to keep the memories
A shared album gathers several people’s photos in one place, and keeps them: the right choice for a party, a trip or the family. iCloud Photos and Google Photos offer them for free. Two precautions: check who has access (an album opened by a link can be seen by anyone who gets the link), and remember these photos stay online, without end-to-end encryption by default.
Friends-only photo apps, to share with no audience
Some apps have no followers and no public feed to scroll: Locket puts your photos on a few close friends’ home screens, BeReal asks everyone to post at the same moment, once a day, and waited makes your friends wait, or take on your challenges, before they see your photo. You only share with friends you chose. How they differ, in detail: waited or Locket, waited or BeReal.
Good habits, whatever you use
- Be wary of public links: a photo or an album open to “anyone with the link” can be passed on with a copy-paste.
- Think about automatic backups: a photo saved to the gallery can go to an online backup, yours and your friends’.
- Remove the location if needed: a photo can keep the place where it was taken. On iPhone, the share sheet lets you remove it (“Options”).
- Only send what you’d be OK seeing passed around: no app can stop someone from photographing the screen with another phone. See can you stop someone from screenshotting a photo?
Frequently asked questions
How do I share photos with family without Facebook?
With a shared album, in iCloud Photos (Apple devices) or Google Photos (Android and iPhone): everyone adds their photos, and everyone can see and keep them. To send a photo to one person, an end-to-end encrypted messenger is enough.
How do I make a private photo album with friends?
Create a shared album in iCloud Photos or Google Photos and invite only your friends, rather than sharing a link open to anyone. waited isn’t made for that: its photos delete themselves, after 7 days by default.
Can I send a photo to someone who doesn’t have the app?
Yes, through a link, with most services. With waited, the link shows your friend that you sent them a photo and the countdown; the photo, end-to-end encrypted, opens once they install the app. Only send it to the right person: whoever opens it in the app first gets the photo.
Want to try it?
waited is free, on iPhone and Android.