Turn an old iPad into a digital photo frame
The iPad in your drawer still has one of the nicest screens in the house. Instead of buying a dedicated photo frame, stand the iPad on a shelf, open a browser, and let it play the photos of the people you love - all day, every day. Here is the whole setup, with nothing to install and no subscription.
What you need
Any iPad whose Safari can still load modern websites, a charger (the frame stays plugged in), and somewhere for it to stand - a shelf, a cheap stand, or a smart-cover fold. Your photos stay where they already live: Google Photos or a public iCloud shared album.
Set it up in five minutes
- Plug the iPad in and stand it where you'll see it across the room.
- Open Safari, go to myframes.app, and sign in with Google. Signing in only identifies you - it grants no photo access by itself.
- Pick your photos. Google's own photo picker opens and you choose exactly which photos the frame may show; or paste a public iCloud shared album link.
- Name the frame and start it: a full-screen slideshow with a clock overlay begins playing.
- Keep the screen awake. In the iPad's Settings, open Display & Brightness → Auto-Lock and set it to Never.
Make it feel like a real frame
Add it to the Home Screen.In Safari's Share menu, choose "Add to Home Screen". MyFrames is a web app, so it gets its own icon and opens without browser chrome.
Lock the iPad to the frame.If curious fingers are a concern, iPadOS's Guided Access (in Accessibility settings) pins the iPad to a single app until you unlock it.
Dim it for the room.Turn brightness down in the evening, or leave Auto-Brightness on and let the iPad follow the light. The slideshow's letterbox blur fill means portrait photos still look intentional on the landscape screen.
Why a browser beats a photo-frame app
Photo-frame apps for old iPads tend to want your photos uploaded to someone's cloud, a subscription, or both. MyFrames does neither: it plays photos straight from Google Photos or iCloud, caches them only on the iPad itself, and never stores your photos on its servers. If the iPad can open a web page, it can be a frame - the same is true of a retired smart display or the living-room TV.
Common questions
Do I need to install an app?
No. MyFrames runs entirely in Safari. If you'd like it to feel like an app, use Safari's Share menu and choose "Add to Home Screen" - MyFrames installs as a web app with its own icon.
Will the slideshow drain the battery?
A photo frame is an always-on display, so plan to leave the iPad plugged in. Old iPad batteries are often tired anyway; on power, that stops mattering.
How old is too old?
If the iPad's version of Safari can still load modern websites, it can be a frame. Very old iPads stuck on early iOS versions may not load the page at all - the honest test is simply to open the site and try.
Are my photos uploaded to MyFrames?
No. Photos are relayed to the iPad when the slideshow plays and cached only on that device. MyFrames servers never store your photo files.
No new hardware to buy. Works with Google Photos and iCloud shared albums.