The App Makes or Breaks It
The difference between a photo frame that actually runs and one that crashes every few hours comes down to the app. You need something that plays a slideshow continuously, pulls from a cloud album, and doesn’t eat through memory on a device that doesn’t have much to spare.
I’ve tested a bunch. Some are clearly built for newer devices and just don’t hold up on an older iPad. Here’s what actually works.
The Quick Setup: No App Needed
If you just want a slideshow right now, your iPad already has one built in.
- Open Photos
- Go to Albums — pick the one you want (or “Favorites”)
- Tap the first photo → tap … → Slideshow
- Set transition to “Dissolve” and speed to 5 seconds
Done. It works. The problem: it stops after cycling through the album once, and it won’t pull new photos from a shared album in real time.
For an always-on, auto-updating frame, you need an app.
iPad Apps
Google Photos (Free) — Best for Most People
If your family uses Google Photos — and most families do, even Apple households — this is the path of least resistance.
There’s no dedicated “frame mode,” but you don’t need one. Open Google Photos, go to your shared album, start a slideshow (swipe up on any photo → cast or slideshow option depending on your version). Combine this with setting Auto-Lock to Never, and it just runs.
What I like: Automatic — new photos from shared albums appear without anyone doing anything. Works across Apple and Android devices in the same family.
What I don’t: The slideshow controls are basic. No weather overlay, no clock, no motion detection. And on really old iPads (iPad Air 1), it can be sluggish.
Smart Photo Widget + Photo Slideshow (Free)
A lightweight slideshow app that does exactly one thing well: rotate through photos from your camera roll or selected albums. It runs continuously without crashing on older iPads.
What I like: Dead simple. Doesn’t try to do more than it should. Reliable on low-memory devices.
What I don’t: Only pulls from local photos. If you want cloud sync, you’ll need to make sure your iCloud or Google Photos downloads to the device first.
Fotoo (Free / $5 Premium) — Best Dedicated App
Fotoo was built specifically for this use case. It connects to Google Photos, Dropbox, OneDrive, or local storage, and turns your tablet into a proper photo frame with extras.
The free version includes continuous slideshow, clock and weather overlay, and a motion sensor (the screen dims when nobody’s nearby and wakes up when you walk past). Premium ($5 one-time) removes the logo and adds scheduling.
What I like: Motion detection is genuinely useful — it dims the display overnight without you setting a schedule. Cloud album sync works reliably. Feels like a proper photo frame app, not a repurposed slideshow.
What I don’t: The interface is a little cluttered with settings. Worth the five minutes to configure, though.
Note: Fotoo is primarily an Android app. On iPad, it may not be available or may have limited features. Check the App Store before planning around it.
DAKboard (Free / $6/month Premium)
DAKboard is a web-based dashboard that shows photos alongside a calendar, weather, and custom widgets. You open it in Safari and set it to full-screen — it runs as a web app, not a native app.
What I like: The hybrid approach. Your photo frame also shows you the weather and today’s calendar. For a kitchen or hallway, this is useful.
What I don’t: The free tier limits customization. And since it runs in Safari, it uses more memory than a native app — on an iPad Air 1 or iPad mini 2, it can be slow.
Best for: People who want a dashboard and a photo frame in one screen.
Android Apps
Fotoo (Free / $5 Premium)
Same app, better on Android. This is where Fotoo really shines — full cloud integration, motion detection, clock overlay, and it handles the always-on display behavior that Android supports natively.
If you’re using an Android tablet for this, install Fotoo and spend 5 minutes configuring it. It’s the best option.
Google Photos Ambient Mode
On some Android tablets, you can set Google Photos as the screen saver (Settings → Display → Screen saver → Google Photos). It cycles through your selected albums whenever the tablet is docked or charging.
What I like: Zero-app solution. Just works with what’s already on the device.
What I don’t: Not all tablets support ambient mode. And the screen saver only activates when the device is idle, not immediately.
The Settings That Matter
Whichever app you choose, change these settings on the tablet itself:
Auto-Lock / Screen Timeout → Never. This is the single most important setting. Without it, the screen turns off after a few minutes.
- iPad: Settings → Display & Brightness → Auto-Lock → Never
- Android: Settings → Display → Screen timeout → 30 minutes (or install a “Stay Alive” app for truly never)
Turn off all notifications. Nothing ruins a sunset photo like a spam email banner.
- iPad: Settings → Notifications → turn off for everything
- Android: Settings → Apps → Notifications → disable for all apps
Enable Night Shift / Blue Light Filter. Photos look better in warm tones, and the screen won’t blast you with blue light at 2 AM.
- iPad: Settings → Display & Brightness → Night Shift → Scheduled
- Android: Settings → Display → Night Light → Scheduled
Turn on Do Not Disturb on a schedule. Dim the screen at night even if you forget to set Night Shift.
My Recommendation
For most people: Google Photos shared album + setting Auto-Lock to Never. It’s free, it syncs automatically, and it works on both iPad and Android.
If you want something more polished with motion detection and weather: Fotoo (especially on Android).
If you want a photo frame and a dashboard: DAKboard, but only on tablets with enough RAM (iPad Air 2 or newer, or any Android tablet from the last 4-5 years).