Turn an iPad into a photo frame

Setup

Install DailyAlbum on the iPad (iPadOS 17 or later) and sign in to the same iCloud account as your iPhone, or accept a family invitation from the person whose days you want to see.

Open Frame Mode. The photo hangs in a frame on a plain wall; the date and note sit directly under it. Set how often the picture changes.

Stand the iPad in landscape on a charger. Turn on Guided Access (Settings > Accessibility) so a stray tap can't leave the frame.

Why an iPad rather than a bought frame

Hardware frames cost money up front and need their own app and account. The iPad you already have has a better screen than most of them, and DailyAlbum changes the picture once a day rather than every few seconds, so it reads as a photograph instead of a slideshow.

If the iPad is the family's shared device, the same app also shows the calendar and the day's photo when someone picks it up.

Compared with the Photos app and slideshow apps

The built-in Photos app can play a slideshow of an album, and apps like LiveFrame cycle through many pictures. Both are good if you want motion. DailyAlbum shows one chosen photo for the whole day, framed, with your note. It is a different feeling: a print on the wall, not a screen playing.

Guided Access is worth using either way; it is what keeps a frame a frame.

Sending photos to an iPad in another house

With DailyAlbum Family (first month free) your days appear in your parents' or grandparents' app on their own iPad. They install the free app, tap your invitation once, and nothing else is needed. Photos move through your own iCloud's shared area; the developer never sees them.