For your parents
How to set up a family album for your parents.
To set up a family photo album for your parents, start the album yourself, invite your brothers and sisters and add this year’s photos first. Then, on a visit or over a video call, put Lumo on your parents’ phone or tablet, sign them in with an invite link or your 4-digit family code, and turn on notifications. It takes about ten minutes, it’s free, and after that new photos simply arrive.
Lumo is a free, private family album for iPhone, iPad and Android. Send one link and the whole family can join.
Invited to a Lumo album? Open it in any web browser: app.lumomagic.com
Before you see them
The setup goes best when there are already photos waiting the first time your parents open the album. So do the work on your own phone a week or two before the visit.
- Get Lumo free on your phone and start a family album. Give it a name your parents will recognize, like your family name.
- In the Family tab, tap Invite someone and send the link to your brothers and sisters.
- Ask everyone to add a few favorite photos from this year, and a video or two.
- Note your 4-digit family code, also in the Family tab. You’ll use it on the day.
On the day: about ten minutes on their phone
Sit next to your parent, with their phone or tablet in their hands rather than yours, so they learn where things are:
- Install Lumo from the App Store or Google Play. It’s free.
- Sign in with the account their phone already uses: Continue with Apple on an iPhone or iPad, Continue with Google on Android. There’s no new password to remember.
- Tap Enter a family code and type your 4 digits. A request comes to your phone; tap to let them in. Or open your invite link on their phone, and they’re in straight away.
- Allow notifications when Lumo asks, so new photos come to them.
- Open a photo together, tap the heart, and write a short comment. That’s all they need to know.
Not visiting? Do it over a video call
If you live far away, set it up on a video call. Ask your parent to install Lumo and sign in while you talk them through it, then read out your 4-digit family code. They type it in, you let them in from your phone, and you can both watch the first photos appear.
Without a smartphone, a tablet or a computer works too: they open app.lumomagic.com in the browser and sign in the same way.
Photo sharing for families far apartWhat your parents see and do
Every photo and video the family adds, newest first, large and clear, with the name of whoever added it. There’s no feed to scroll, no ads and no strangers, and nothing is public: it isn’t social media, just the family’s own album.
They reply with a heart or a comment, and the family sees it right beside the photo. They can add their own photos too, including old family photos from the cupboard.
- New-photo notifications, at most once an hour for each person
- Hearts and comments, nothing to post
- In the language their phone uses
A present for the holidays
Looking for a gift for parents who have everything? A family album makes a thoughtful one at Christmas, for a birthday, or on Mother’s or Father’s Day. Unlike a digital frame, there’s nothing to buy or plug in, it works on the phone they already carry, and it lets them answer back.
Make it feel like a present: fill an album inside the family album with this year’s photos, and open it together on the day.
An alternative to a digital photo frameAfter the visit
Keep adding photos as they happen, and ask your brothers and sisters to do the same; a full album is what keeps your parents opening it. If a new phone or a logged-out app ever gets in the way, the 4-digit family code gets them back in, and anyone in the family can let them in.
Only the people you invite can open the album, and you can remove anyone at any time.
Sharing photos with grandparentsHow to set up the album for your parents
- Start the album on your phoneFree, on iPhone, iPad or Android.
- Invite the family and add photosBrothers, sisters and this year’s favorites, before the visit.
- Sign your parents in on their phoneWith Apple or Google, then your 4-digit family code.
- Turn on notifications and show the heartNew photos come to them from then on.
Questions
Do my parents need a new phone or tablet?
No. Lumo works on any iPhone, iPad, or Android phone or tablet, and in a web browser at app.lumomagic.com on a computer.
Can I set it up for them without being there?
Yes, over a video call. They install Lumo and sign in, you read them your 4-digit family code, and you let them in from your phone while you’re still talking.
Will they see posts from strangers or ads?
No. Lumo has no feed, no followers and no ads. They see only the photos the family adds to your album.
What if they forget how to get back in?
Give them the 4-digit family code again. They type it into Lumo to ask to join, and anyone in the family can let them in.
Who can see our photos?
Only the people in your family album. Nothing is public, there are no followers, and photos are never shown to anyone outside your family.
Is Lumo really free?
Yes. The album, unlimited photos and videos, inviting family, hearts and comments are all free. Lumo Pass is optional, for unlimited magic, full-length videos and saving originals. Unlimited means unlimited for everyday family use, under fair use.
Start your family album.
Free. Private to your family. No ads, ever.