How to Add Photos to Your Digital Calendar (6 Ways)

Applies to: Apolosign Digital Calendar

There is more than one way to get photos onto your calendar. Pick the method that matches your situation, then follow the steps for that method only.

Start here: which method should I use?

Important: Apple Photos cannot be installed on this device

Our calendar runs on Android. "Apple Photos" is part of Apple's closed ecosystem and is not available for Android devices, so photos cannot be synced directly from the iPhone Photos app the way they sync between Apple devices.

This is not unique to Apolosign; most Android-based smart displays work the same way.

If you use an iPhone, choose Google Photos, iCloud, or Bluetooth instead. All three are covered below.

Method 1: USB drive (best for large batches)

• Copy the photos to a USB drive from your computer.

• Plug the drive into the calendar. If the drive has a standard USB-A plug, use a USB-A to Type-C adapter.

• On the calendar, open Files (or Files by Google).

• Select the photos and copy them to the device's local storage.

• The photos are now available under Local Album.

No internet connection is needed. This is the fastest method for a large number of photos.

Method 2: Google Photos (best for ongoing sync)

• Sign in to your Google account on the calendar.

• Open Google Photos on the device.

• Select the photos or videos you want to use.

• Download them to the device's local storage.

• The downloaded items appear under Local Album.

Videos must be downloaded to the device first. They cannot be streamed from Google Photos directly.

To display an album rather than single photos, see How to Set a Google Photos Album as a Screensaver in the related articles below.

Method 3: iCloud, via the Chrome browser (for iPhone users)

• Open the Chrome browser on the calendar and sign in to icloud.com.

• Select the photos and download them to the device.

• If the download arrives as a compressed archive, extract it first.

• Import the extracted photos through Local Album.

Method 4: Bluetooth (for a few photos from your phone)

• Turn on Bluetooth on both your phone and the calendar, and make the calendar discoverable.

• Pair the two devices.

• Send the photos from your phone and accept the transfer on the calendar.

Method 5: Email (for one or two photos)

• Attach the photos to an email draft on your phone or computer.

• Sign in to the same email account on the calendar.

• Open the email and download the attachments.

Method 6: SD card reader (for camera photos)

• Insert the SD card into a Type-C card reader and plug it into the calendar.

• The device recognizes the card automatically.

• Either play a slideshow directly from the card, or copy the files to internal storage.

Uploading a photo does not automatically make it appear on screen. Set the screen saver style to Picture and its source to Local Gallery (or Local Album).

Full steps, including layout and preview, are in How to Set Up Your Screen Saver.

Photos uploaded but not showing?