You can now send photos directly to Aura’s digital photo frames

It’s now easier for friends and family who aren’t tech-savvy or app-fatigued to share photos via Aura digital photo frame. As the name of the new “Text to Frame” feature suggests, photos in an Aura frame can now be shared via text message, and they’ll automatically be added to your library — but only from people you approve.

Allowing others to share photos that automatically appear on your digital photo frames is a feature that Aura already offers, but previously, it was handled through the company’s mobile app. Setup, including approving who has sharing privileges, is relatively easy, but it requires others to download the Aura app and create a free account before they can share photos, even if they don’t have a photo frame of their own.

This can be a challenge for some people who have photos to share but don’t have a comprehensive understanding of smartphones, or just annoying enough to discourage others.

By placing text in the frame, you can connect your smartphone number to your Aura account using the mobile app during setup, or later in the account settings, and then create a list of approved contacts, using their phone numbers, who are sent invitations to contribute. Only photos from pre-approved contact numbers will be automatically added to your library, and you can limit where to display them with a single frame or a specific group of frames.

The feature is free to use for both the Aura Framework owner and authorized contributors, assuming picture messaging is included in the sender’s mobile plan. However, it is only available for iOS and Android users who have a US phone number.