Frequently asked questions

Yes. A common setup is an old iPad propped up at home or work: add a stand, plug in a charger, set Auto-Lock to Never, and the app keeps playing your photos with the transitions, music, and on-screen widgets you choose. The same works on iPhone, Mac, and Apple TV.

Yes. The app runs on:

• iPhone and iPad: iOS 12 or later
• Mac: macOS 11 or later
• Apple TV: tvOS

Every platform has the full slideshow feature set.

Yes, it's a native Apple TV app, not screen mirroring. To set up:

1. Open the App Store on your Apple TV and search "Digital Photo Frame".
2. Install and sign in with the same Apple ID as on your iPhone or iPad.
3. Your saved slideshows show up automatically.

The Siri Remote and Apple TV Remote both work, and the layout is designed for the big screen.

Yes, the app is fully translated into 13 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Catalan, and Traditional Chinese. If yours isn't on the list, let me know and I'll prioritize it.

Yes, and I love hearing them. Most features in the app today started as a user suggestion. Send your idea through the contact form below (or info@digitalphotoframeapp.com). A line or two on what you're trying to achieve helps me figure out the best way to build it.

Plenty of options. Add any of these from Settings, Sources:

• Photo Library: camera roll, albums, smart collections, folders, moments, shared albums, iCloud and shared photo streams
• Cloud accounts: Google Photos, iCloud Drive / Dropbox / OneDrive / Google Drive (via the Files source)
• Public: Flickr, Unsplash, Curated Collections

If you'd like another source, send me an email.

A digital photo frame only works when it can reach all the photos you might want to show, and keep up with new ones over time. Full access is what makes that possible:

• Every album and source shows up: your albums, smart collections, moments, shared albums, and iCloud photos all appear so you can build slideshows from any of them.
• New photos are added automatically: a frame should stay fresh on its own. With full access, pictures you take later flow into your slideshows without you re-picking them each time.
• Live updates and features work: location, dates, captions, Live Photos, and offline downloads all rely on reading the full photo, not just a one-time thumbnail.

With limited access you hand-pick a fixed set of photos, and that set never changes unless you open the picker again. Albums and smart collections stay hidden, new pictures never appear, and an unattended frame slowly shows the same handful of images forever, which defeats the purpose of a frame.

Your photos stay on your device. The app does not upload your photo library, copy it to any server, or share it with anyone. Photos are read only to display them on your own screens, and the connections to sources like iCloud, Google Photos, or Dropbox run directly between your device and those services. You can change or revoke access at any time in the iOS Settings app under Privacy, Photos.

Yes. Your iCloud albums appear under Albums and you can browse photos from any iCloud album or shared photo stream. If you only want iCloud shared albums (photos contributed by friends and family), enable the dedicated Shared Albums source in content sources settings.

Yes. Add the Files source and pick any folder you've connected in the iOS Files app. That includes iCloud Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, and any other cloud provider set up there. You can sort and filter the folder, and use Make Available Offline so the slideshow plays without a network connection.

A lot. Three categories of on-screen widgets are available:

1. Weather: current temperature, daily min/max, humidity, air quality, UV index.
2. Date & time: current date and time, with a Huge text size on iPad, Apple TV, and Mac.
3. Photo info (when available): location (Full, Medium, or Short format, leading with the place name), creation date, IPTC caption, filename, camera, lens, and device.

Each box has style presets and can be customized live from the slideshow screen by long-pressing it.

Yes. From the slideshow settings you can pick a soundtrack from your own Apple Music or iTunes library, or from the built-in songs. When a Live Photo or video plays the music ducks automatically so the clip's original audio can be heard. When you export the slideshow as a video the music is included too, with one exception: DRM-protected Apple Music tracks can't be embedded in the exported file.

Yes. In the slideshow Schedule settings you can set start and end times, add multiple timers for different parts of the day, and choose which days of the week each one runs. There's also an auto-exit option so the app stops (and won't restart until you open it) when the schedule ends.

Save any slideshow from the action bar before starting it. Then in the Slideshows menu, long-press a saved slideshow and pick Auto-Play on launch. The same context menu lets you rename or delete it. You can also start a saved slideshow with Siri or a Shortcut, see Shortcuts & Widgets below.

Yes, great for trips or kiosk setups with spotty Wi-Fi. Save the slideshow first, then open its content menu and tap Make Available Offline. The app downloads photos at a size matched to your screen, shows the progress and storage used as it goes, and after that the slideshow plays without any network connection.

On Mac, and on iPad or iPhone with a Bluetooth keyboard, press Space to play or pause, the left and right arrow keys to move between slides, and Esc to close the slideshow. On Apple TV, use the Siri Remote: swipe left/right for previous/next slide, click to play/pause, Menu to exit.

While the slideshow is playing, tap the more button (top right) and select Export as a video. The export includes your transitions, on-screen widgets, music (Apple Music DRM-protected tracks excepted), real video clips, and Live Photos with their original audio. Save the file to your camera roll or share it.

Yes. Tap the AirPlay button in the slideshow player controls and pick any AirPlay-compatible TV, Apple TV, or receiver. For an always-on TV setup, the dedicated Apple TV app is a more reliable option than AirPlay.

The app keeps the screen awake automatically. If your screen still dims, set Auto-Lock to Never in iOS Settings, Display & Brightness, Auto-Lock. Note: managed work email accounts can force a lock policy that overrides this, you may need to remove that account. There's also an in-app Auto Screen Dimming toggle in Settings if you want the opposite (lower brightness at night).

Use Apple's Guided Access, it locks the iPad to a single app until you enter a passcode. Turn it on in iOS Settings, Accessibility, Guided Access, then triple-click the side button to start a session in the slideshow. Apple's guide. For a softer lock that only stops people exiting the slideshow (not other apps), see Can I lock the app so others can't exit the slideshow? below.

Yes. Go to App Settings, Slideshow Authentication, turn it on, and pick a PIN code or biometric (Face ID / Touch ID) lock. The app then asks for it before anyone can stop the slideshow or open settings, perfect for kiosks, public displays, or letting family enjoy a slideshow without changing anything. Combine it with Apple's Guided Access for a full kiosk lockdown.

Yes, on iOS 16 or later. Try voice commands like "Hey Siri, start slideshow in PhotoFrame", "pause slideshow", "next slide", "previous slide", or "stop slideshow". In the Shortcuts app, every saved slideshow shows up as a Start [Name] Slideshow action, plus a generic Start Random Slideshow action that picks one of your saved slideshows at random. Add any of these to the Home Screen for one-tap access or chain them into automations.

Yep! On iPhone or iPad, long-press the Home Screen, tap the + button, search for Digital Photo Frame, and add the widget in your preferred size. Pick which saved slideshow it should display, and the widget will rotate through that slideshow's photos. Tap it and the app opens straight into playback. Small, medium, and large sizes are available.