Ask HN: Apple Photo Alternatives?

4 points by fishbotics 4y ago ↗ HN

Is there any open source alternative to Apple Photos? I have run out of room on my iCloud and don't want to be stuck with paying forever. But, the organization of photos is so nice. I tried to download my data but they use separate files to track metadata. Is there some open source solution (or even a closed-source, non-cloud based one) that will be able to read the metadata files that Apple produced so that I can keep all of my photo info intact?

3 comments

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lctnstn 4y ago ↗

Facing a similar problem, I opted to buy a Synology and leverage the Synology Photos app in their 7.0+ OS release. This was the best solution for me for a few reasons: - Reach feature set in the app - No subscription fees to Synology after initial purchase - Tons of storage (I’ve got 2x 6TB drives in a RAID1 configuration) - Self-hosted, but not “too” self-hosted - Mobile apps with auto-backup like Apple Photos - Support for automatic offsite backups (I use AWS Glacier)

mackatsol 4y ago ↗

Have a look at https://www.digikam.org

I've no idea if it can import a Photos library though.

mceachen 4y ago ↗

I'm the author of PhotoStructure, which doesn't _currently_ import the iPhoto SQLite db, but I've got family members, friends, and enthusiastic users that have asked for this feature, so I _will_ get to it (I need to build out face detection, geo, and multi user auth beforehand though, so it may not be until later this year)