Immich: Open Source Self-Hosted Google Photos Alternative

📸 Why Immich:? Don’t trust your personal photos to a cloud service? Immich is a complete private photo backup solution. It offers unlimited free storage, AI object recognition, end-to-end encryption compared to Google Photos/Apple iCloud, and can be hosted anywhere on Docker.

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🔍 Immich Core Features

1. **AI-powered photo management

   • Object/Person Recognition: Automatically generate tags such as dog🐶, 산⛰️, etc.
   • Map integration: GPS-based photo location visualization Example: Search “Seoul” → auto-filter Han River photos.

2. cross-platform support

   • Mobile app: Background auto upload (Android/iOS)
   • Web dashboard: Edit tags/create albums (PC/Mac)
   • CLI tool: Batch import bulk photos
3. • Support two-factor authentication (2FA)
   • Set access rights per user
   • Store original file encryption ⚠️ Caveat: setup required.
4. • Supports RAW files (Canon CR3, Sony ARW, etc.)
   • Create shared albums → share with friends with a link
   • Timeline view: auto-sort photos by date

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🛠️ Installation guide (based on Docker)

# docker-compose.yml example
version: "3.8"
services:
  immich:
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-server
    volumes:
      - ./photos:/usr/src/app/upload
    ports:
      - "2283:3000" # web access ports
  redis:
    image: redis:latest
  postgres:
    image: postgres:14
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: immich

Run command: docker-compose up -d → Access http://서버IP:2283 in a web browser

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📱 Usage scenarios

1. **Backup your phone

   • Install the app → Activate “Auto Upload” → Synchronize photos when connected to Wi-Fi Save data: you can block cellular uploads.

2. Family Album Sharing Create an album

   • Create “2023 Jeju Island Trip” album → Invite family accounts → Real-time comment function

3. Advanced Search

   • person:mom + location:Busan + date:2023-08 → Conditional filtering

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⚖️ Pros and cons analysis

**👍 Pros

• Cost savings: Can run on NAS/Raspberry Pi
• Customization: Free to change UI themes/saving rules
• Offline access: Can also be used on a local network

**Cons

• Complicated initial setup (reverse proxy/SSL setup required)
• Mobile app not Koreanized (as of 2023.10)
• GPU recommended for AI training → Slow on low-end servers

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🚀 Immich vs existing services

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💡 Utilization Tips

1. hardware recommended: Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB RAM) + SSD 500GB
2. backup required: Immich DB + periodic backup of /photos directory
3. performance enhancement: Add ENABLE_MAPBOX=false to docker-compose.yml (disable maps feature) 4.

> “Photos are a storehouse of memories. Take full control of your precious moments with Immich!”

— Immich

🔮 Future Roadmap

• Coming in 2024: Improve face grouping, analyze video metadata
• Long-term goals: Expand open source ecosystem → Nextcloud/Photoprism integration

🔗 Getting Started: Official GitHub | Try the demo #SelfHosted #PhotoBackup #OpenSource #OpenSource