It shouldn't be a luxury, but it unfortunately is due to various big players refusing to play nice together.
If everyone has only apple devices (iphones + macbooks), then you can use a shared iCloud sync'd folder.
Except that doesn't actually work because the majority of iOS apps are incapable of using a shared iCloud folder correctly (including apple's notes app, most of apple's apps) because apple tries to hide the filesystem so much, that even saving a file into a folder is basically impossible for most apps.
That also doesn't work if anyone uses linux or windows because apple refuses to play nice with other ecosystems.
If everyone _doesn't_ use iOS devices, there are dozens of solutions that work well, from a shared google drive folder, to syncthing, but if even one person uses an iOS device, then suddenly none of the shared folders work, because apple has made it so creating a shared folder on iOS is bad for iCloud, but even worse for any third party app (be it google drive, syncthing, an FTP based solution, etc etc).
I guess what I'm saying is that apple tried to kill the filesystem, and in doing so has made it so the very idea of just sharing a folder of files securely seems like a per-app luxury.
Instead you need a shared photo album for photos, a shared notes folder for notes, a shared "apple invites invite" for a calendar event, etc etc. Apple has a lot to pay for, and a hatred for folders that has caused the entire industry to move away from simple secure app-independent sharing is one of them.
Instead, we have a jumble of apps being forced to implement their own sharing concepts poorly and often insecurely.
FWIW, Apple has had at least two partners in crime here - both Google and Microsoft had, and still are, trying to kill the filesystem in this way, too.
The trio mostly succeeded, which is a big part of why modern computing sucks so badly, and is more confusing for non-tech people than what came before, rather than less.
If everyone has only apple devices (iphones + macbooks), then you can use a shared iCloud sync'd folder.
Except that doesn't actually work because the majority of iOS apps are incapable of using a shared iCloud folder correctly (including apple's notes app, most of apple's apps) because apple tries to hide the filesystem so much, that even saving a file into a folder is basically impossible for most apps.
That also doesn't work if anyone uses linux or windows because apple refuses to play nice with other ecosystems.
If everyone _doesn't_ use iOS devices, there are dozens of solutions that work well, from a shared google drive folder, to syncthing, but if even one person uses an iOS device, then suddenly none of the shared folders work, because apple has made it so creating a shared folder on iOS is bad for iCloud, but even worse for any third party app (be it google drive, syncthing, an FTP based solution, etc etc).
I guess what I'm saying is that apple tried to kill the filesystem, and in doing so has made it so the very idea of just sharing a folder of files securely seems like a per-app luxury.
Instead you need a shared photo album for photos, a shared notes folder for notes, a shared "apple invites invite" for a calendar event, etc etc. Apple has a lot to pay for, and a hatred for folders that has caused the entire industry to move away from simple secure app-independent sharing is one of them.
Instead, we have a jumble of apps being forced to implement their own sharing concepts poorly and often insecurely.