Following the November update that allowed iCloud users to upload their photos to a dedicated section on iCloud.com, Apple this week commissioned another set of enhancements, offering a zoom-in / zoom-out slider, and instant email sharing.

Accessible by signing into your account at icloud.com, the Photos web app is currently in Beta, and labeled as such with a yellow sign stuck on the icon’s top left corner. Accessing it is a one-click affair. Once inside, users can choose between two distinct view modes – Moments and Albums. A photo selector at the top right area of the UI allows users to pick specific images to take further actions, such as downloading to the computer’s drive, or bulk email.
Zoom, and fast email sharing

The newest features were added this week. When viewing a particular image, users can employ a new slider (placed at the top left side of the screen) which allows them to zoom in or zoom out of the photo to see crisp details.

On the right-hand side, there’s a download button (shaped like a cloud with an arrow pointing downwards springing out), an email button (shaped like a traditional envelope icon) and a trash bin, for deleting the image. The email feature is particularly handy, as it opens a small browser window that looks a lot like the OS X built-in Mail app.

The advantage is that you don’t need to launch an actual email app to share / bulk share your iCloud photos. Unfortunately, the annotation functions found in Apple’s Mail app are not replicated in the web mail interface.