Managing Shared Folder Permissions in iOS 15 Notes

Apple’s iOS 15 introduced significant enhancements to collaboration and permission management within the Notes app, giving users greater visibility and control over shared content. This update refined how folder owners delegate access, track edits, and manage participants across devices, turning Notes into a more robust tool for collaborative workflows.

Granular Access Levels: Edit vs. View-Only

With iOS 15, folder owners can designate specific access levels that apply across every note within a shared folder:

  • Can make changes: Grants invited participants full editing rights, enabling them to create new notes, edit existing text, add attachments, and delete items within the folder.
  • View only: Restricts participants to read-only access. Users with this permission cannot edit content, move notes, or alter folder structures.

Owners can change these permissions universally or update individual participant access at any time via the "Manage Shared Folder" menu.

Control Over Adding New Participants

To prevent unauthorized access, iOS 15 offers a toggle to control who can extend invitations:

  • Only people you invite: Restricts the ability to add new members strictly to the folder owner.
  • Anyone with the link: Allows any current participant with editing privileges to invite additional users to the folder.

Activity View and Highlights

While not a direct permission toggle, iOS 15 introduced transparency tools that directly impact how shared permissions are monitored:

  • Activity View: Owners and collaborators can view a complete breakdown of recent edits, showing a day-by-day log of modifications made by each participant.
  • Highlights: Swiping right anywhere in a note reveals edit histories, exact timestamps, and color-coded collaborator names corresponding to who made specific changes.

Direct Mentions

iOS 15 introduced the ability to tag participants using the @ symbol followed by their name within any shared note inside a folder. This immediately sends a notification to the mentioned user, alerting them to important updates without requiring the owner to share an external link or change access settings.

How to Manage Folder Permissions in iOS 15

  1. Open the Notes app on iOS 15.
  2. In the folder list, swipe left on the shared folder and tap the Collaborate icon, or open the folder, tap the More (three dots) icon, and select Manage Shared Folder.
  3. Tap Share Options to change the default permissions between "Can make changes" and "View only," or to toggle who can add new members.
  4. To modify an individual’s access, tap their name in the participant list to adjust their specific permissions or select Remove Access to revoke their rights entirely.