Your Old iPad Is a Better Photo Frame Than Anything You Can Buy
Somewhere in a drawer, your old iPad is gathering dust. Meanwhile, companies are selling dedicated digital photo frames for $100-200 with screens half as sharp as what you already own.
Your old iPad has a Retina display. It connects to Wi-Fi. It can pull new photos automatically from your family’s shared albums — no SD cards, no USB transfers, no asking grandma to figure out a companion app.
And the setup takes about 10 minutes.
What This Guide Covers
This is a four-part series that walks you through everything — from why an old iPad beats a dedicated frame to setting up shared albums so the whole family’s photos appear automatically.
- Why Your iPad Beats a Dedicated Frame — Screen quality, cost, and the cloud advantage. Plus which tablets are good enough.
- Best Photo Frame Apps and Services — The apps worth installing, from dead-simple to full-featured. Free and paid, iPad and Android.
- Shared Family Albums: The Real Magic — How to set up iCloud or Google Photos so everyone’s pictures appear on the frame automatically. Including the grandparent setup.
- Mounting and Display Tips — Making it look like furniture, not a gadget. Stands, cases, wall mounts, and the settings that matter.
What You’ll Need
- An old iPad (any model running iOS 12+) or Android tablet (Android 8+)
- A charging cable
- Wi-Fi
- 10 minutes
That’s the full list. No special hardware. No subscriptions. No apps to buy (though a couple of good ones cost $5).
Already Have the Basics?
If you just want the quick version — charge the tablet, download a slideshow app, point it at a photo album — we have a shorter article that covers the essentials. This guide goes deeper into getting the most out of the setup.