Computers & Electronics

iPhone Photo Backup Solutions (to NAS)

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  • Nov 26th, 2020 4:36 pm
Member
Jul 15, 2019
222 posts
177 upvotes
Vancouver, BC

iPhone Photo Backup Solutions (to NAS)

Now that Google Photos isn't going to be free for unlimited storage, I'm thinking of a new solution. I liked Google Photos because of its automatic backup and easy access to the library, but had to sacrifice two key things: 1) "high" quality instead of original quality, and 2) manual transfer to PC

So I'm looking for a solution, perhaps with a NAS, that does all of that. My Google research leads me to Synology NAS apps (Moments seems to be what I'm looking for) but would like to see what else is out there.

Thanks!
19 replies
Jr. Member
Apr 20, 2018
155 posts
102 upvotes
Was thinking the same. But reading the reviews of Synology apps on App Store made me concerned.
Sr. Member
Oct 1, 2009
662 posts
325 upvotes
West coast
Wouldn't it be better to back it up with photos (if you have a Mac) and then just copy it to a hd? I know it's tedious, but this is pretty much what I do.
Deal Addict
Sep 12, 2007
2952 posts
1061 upvotes
Interesting thread, I too would be interested, but this will likely go nowhere. Even if there is an app developed it will never make the app store since this would take away revenue from the iCloud service.

Would be great to find something similar for Android, I am constantly having to manage that now, I'm at 14GB and every few days, pics and videos push me over 15... Likely you will be able to find an app for Android that will push photo/vid to a NAS even if not in the playstore.
Jr. Member
Apr 18, 2012
175 posts
53 upvotes
Saint-Jean-Sur-Riche…
I have a Samsung phone and an iPad, so tagging this interesting thread as I am also looking for a Synology home solution...
Member
Jul 15, 2019
222 posts
177 upvotes
Vancouver, BC
Aelanord wrote: Was thinking the same. But reading the reviews of Synology apps on App Store made me concerned.
Big yikes! That's no good. Most reviews are from 1 year+ so hopefully things have gotten better by then.
doradxplorer wrote: Wouldn't it be better to back it up with photos (if you have a Mac) and then just copy it to a hd? I know it's tedious, but this is pretty much what I do.
I don't use a Mac. And unless I'm mistaken, that wouldn't allow you do see the photos remotely? Unless you meant iCloud. But yeah the manual step is what I'm trying to avoid.
vodka wrote: Interesting thread, I too would be interested, but this will likely go nowhere. Even if there is an app developed it will never make the app store since this would take away revenue from the iCloud service.

Would be great to find something similar for Android, I am constantly having to manage that now, I'm at 14GB and every few days, pics and videos push me over 15... Likely you will be able to find an app for Android that will push photo/vid to a NAS even if not in the playstore.
Any file sharing / backup / cloud service is a competitor to iCloud (ie. Google Photos, Dropbox, Onedrive, etc.) and they all have iOS apps so that's not necessarily true. Though I did find some Android-app only solutions when browsing for a solution but didn't pay much attention to them since I don't use Android.

*

If I just suck it up and back up my photos manually, I could just pay the $28/year for 100GB for Google and it'll take over 10 years to make up the price of a NAS + HDD. LOL.
Member
User avatar
Jan 11, 2004
381 posts
259 upvotes
I’m looking at using either Plex photo or the app PhotoSync to auto copy photos from my\family devices to my Nas. Then run scheduled backups from there.
I’m interested in hearing what other people are doing as I’m not a big fan of plex photo and I’ve never used the other app.
Deal Addict
Jan 29, 2006
1942 posts
1746 upvotes
Center of the univer…
johnas wrote: I’m looking at using either Plex photo or the app PhotoSync to auto copy photos from my\family devices to my Nas. Then run scheduled backups from there.
I’m interested in hearing what other people are doing as I’m not a big fan of plex photo and I’ve never used the other app.
Yea I've been looking as well, for now I used my old PC and started using Plex ... It's been working well, I just miss the facial recognition but do enjoy seeing my videos and pictures in full quality
Newbie
Sep 12, 2018
68 posts
88 upvotes
I’am testing xpenology on an old dell laptop, i want it mainly to automatically backup my photos (from iOS devices). If it’s working well, i will consider buying a real synology.
Deal Addict
May 23, 2017
4196 posts
3204 upvotes
toronto
watching this too. i have just been updating manually 4-5 external drives and keeping one off site. it takes forever but I cant afford a nas system, so just doing this for now
Got that FIDO account!
Sr. Member
Jan 15, 2010
568 posts
199 upvotes
Toronto
I've been some what looking at options since the announcement. There are a lot of suggestions on the selfhost reddit forum if you want to go that way.

I have a unraid server setup and there are a few dockers available for self hosting but just to find the time to figure out which will work for me is another issue. I think ownphotos right now is looking good due to the face recognition feature being built in.

For my phone I have it auto backup my photos to my nas using an app called photosync. Its a great app and can backup to many different services.

I'll keep my eye on this thread for other recommendations.
Deal Addict
Sep 12, 2007
2952 posts
1061 upvotes
That's a good point on face recognition, as ai becomes more mainstream this will be a default feature. By chance, do you know of any software that has the capability of face recognition and then append the recognized face name to the file itself?
Member
User avatar
Jan 11, 2004
381 posts
259 upvotes
GavinCampbell wrote: I've been some what looking at options since the announcement. There are a lot of suggestions on the selfhost reddit forum if you want to go that way.

I have a unraid server setup and there are a few dockers available for self hosting but just to find the time to figure out which will work for me is another issue. I think ownphotos right now is looking good due to the face recognition feature being built in.

For my phone I have it auto backup my photos to my nas using an app called photosync. Its a great app and can backup to many different services.

I'll keep my eye on this thread for other recommendations.
I was looking at Ownphotos too but it appears to be a abandoned by the developer. Other than Synology Moments I don't know of any other software that has face recognition. I've installed Photoprism and while it doesn't have face recognition it is looking promising so far.
Member
Jul 15, 2019
222 posts
177 upvotes
Vancouver, BC
Synology 1-bay (DS120j) and 2-bay (DS220j) NAS units are on sale on Newegg. $180 for 2-bay and $130 for 1-bay. Really tempting!!!

newegg-synology-ds220j-nas-180-2422902/

Does anyone know if these models are sufficient for my needs (as mentioned in OP)? Will I run into limitations besides no mirroring with 1-bay?
Member
User avatar
Jan 11, 2004
381 posts
259 upvotes
ChrisE45532 wrote: Synology 1-bay and 2-bay NAS units are on sale on Newegg. $180 for 2-bay and $130 for 1-bay. Really tempting!!!

newegg-synology-ds220j-nas-180-2422902/
This is mentioned in the linked thread, but worth mentioning here- these two NAS support Moments facial recognition. But not the other Moments AI features (subject recognition, Auto Color & Rotate, and Moments Select).
Member
Jul 15, 2019
222 posts
177 upvotes
Vancouver, BC
johnas wrote: This is mentioned in the linked thread, but worth mentioning here- these two NAS support Moments facial recognition. But not the other Moments AI features (subject recognition, Auto Color & Rotate, and Moments Select).
Thanks for that. I think facial recognition is good enough, I don't see myself missing the other features.
Member
Jul 15, 2019
222 posts
177 upvotes
Vancouver, BC
Another option taken from the Newegg sale thread...the QNAP TS-230 is on sale for the same price as the DS220j ($180) - https://www.newegg.ca/qnap-ts-230/p/14P ... LdTDwYdyHw

Most sites are saying the QNAP is better because it has 4x more RAM (2GB vs 512MB). Also real time transcoding and other features...

However the Moments app seems to look much cleaner and polished vs. the QNAP equivalent. Not a big deal for me but my wife who's less tech-savvy will be using this too so looking for something close to the Google Photos app...anyone with experience with one of both apps, please chime in :)
Deal Addict
Jan 29, 2006
1942 posts
1746 upvotes
Center of the univer…
ChrisE45532 wrote: Another option taken from the Newegg sale thread...the QNAP TS-230 is on sale for the same price as the DS220j ($180) - https://www.newegg.ca/qnap-ts-230/p/14P ... LdTDwYdyHw

Most sites are saying the QNAP is better because it has 4x more RAM (2GB vs 512MB). Also real time transcoding and other features...

However the Moments app seems to look much cleaner and polished vs. the QNAP equivalent. Not a big deal for me but my wife who's less tech-savvy will be using this too so looking for something close to the Google Photos app...anyone with experience with one of both apps, please chime in :)
Good comparison here:
Member
User avatar
Jan 11, 2004
381 posts
259 upvotes
ChrisE45532 wrote:
Most sites are saying the QNAP is better because it has 4x more RAM (2GB vs 512MB). Also real time transcoding and other features...

However the Moments app seems to look much cleaner and polished vs. the QNAP equivalent. Not a big deal for me but my wife who's less tech-savvy will be using this too so looking for something close to the Google Photos app...anyone with experience with one of both apps, please chime in :)
I've read that Moments is really slow on the J series NAS, something to consider.

I have Photoprism installed via Docker and scanning my photos/videos, so far so good.

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