No app needed: Aura now lets you text your favorite photos directly to its frames

One of my favorite features of Aura's photo frames is how they easily allow multiple users to upload images via a user-friendly app, even allowing images to be pre-loaded onto frames for gifting. It's why Aura frames feature heavily in my buying guide to the best digital photo frames. However, 'user-friendly' is a relative term. It still requires downloading an app and linking it to a frame, which may be enough to put the less technically minded among us off in the first place.

Now Aura has made uploading images to a frame as easy as sending a text. The company's new "text-to-frame" feature lets friends and family send their shots directly to an Aura frame via a text message, eliminating the need for contributors to download a dedicated app.

With text-to-frame, the frame owner still manages the device via the Aura app, but they can now invite specific contacts to contribute via text. Once invited, these contacts simply send a picture message to a designated number, and the image automatically appears in the frame's library. To prevent spam or unwanted images from appearing on your frame, only contacts explicitly invited by the frame owner can contribute.

The core appeal of the new feature is accessibility. While digital frames are popular for displaying family photos, requiring every contributor to create an account and download an app can be a barrier, particularly for friends or extended family members who may not be as tech-savvy.

According to Ashley Phillips, Director of Product at Aura, the feature was born out of a desire to capture "quick snaps" and "everyday moments" that often get buried in group chats or text threads. While messaging apps are a primary way families stay connected, those digital memories rarely make it off the phone screen.

"If they can text, they can share," said Phillips.

The process is designed to be frictionless for the sender. The frame owner attaches a phone number to their Aura account and invites contacts. Invited users can then text a photo (or multiple images) to the frame. The photos are securely uploaded to the Aura cloud and appear on the designated frame instantly.

The text-to-frame feature is available immediately for iOS and Android users with a US phone number within the United States, and Aura says it will explore market availability in other territories in due course.