Problem Statement: Storing Photos with Google or Apple Photos

Most of us rely on cloud storage for our photos, often syncing them to services like Google Photos or Apple Photos. They lure us in with free storage but later charge hefty fees as our collections grow. Their business model revolves around two things:

1. Data Monetization – Using our photos to train AI models and develop new tools.

2. Storage Fees – Charging us increasingly as our photo libraries expand.

While businesses need to make a profit, my main concern is privacy—I don’t want my personal memories stored with third parties. Here’s why:

• Privacy Risks – Cloud providers scan photos for metadata like faces, locations, and timestamps. With this data, someone could map out my entire travel history.

• Duplicate Photos – Syncing across multiple services often creates unnecessary redundancy.

• Disorganization – Over time, my collection becomes a chaotic mess, making it hard to find and enjoy my photos.

• Limited Sharing Options – Viewing and sharing photos should be seamless across all my devices—TVs, laptops, and mobile devices—not just through clunky cloud interfaces.

• Multiple Providers – No single cloud service offers everything I need, forcing me to spread my collection across multiple platforms.

KYP - Know Your Photos

Storing photos is great, but what’s the point if we can’t easily view and enjoy them? I don’t just want to email a few snapshots or briefly scroll through my phone. I want to rediscover my memories—curating, organizing, and showcasing them effortlessly.

That’s why I believe in KYP (Know Your Photos):

• Own your photos – Take control of your collection instead of letting cloud providers dictate how you access them.

• Organize regularly – Keep your memories structured and easy to browse.

• View and share effortlessly – Make your photos available across all your devices, whenever and wherever you want.

You are the owner of your photos—enjoy them!

Eyedeea Photos

Eyedeea Photos is designed to bring forgotten moments back to life. It integrates with Synology Photos and any USB, HDD, or SSD, displaying random photos from your collection in a beautifully curated way.

• Scan: Extracts metadata (filename, path, date taken, geolocation, album name, etc.) from your Synology Photos library or local storage.

  • Trigger scans manually or let them run automatically.

• Play: Displays random photos across devices with key details:

  • Title: Smartly formatted directory name.

  • Subtitle: Date taken and geolocation formatted as [Place, Country], if available.

  • Sub-subtitle: Name of the file.

• Curation: Forgotten memories will resurface, and you can identify and correct the albums, which is a better way to organize your photos. You will easily spot photos & folders. Deleting duplicates, renaming directory names, and correcting dates.

Scope and Considerations:

• No warranty: Users assume full responsibility for any issues.

• Not a photo management app: Users must handle organization, metadata updates, and deletions themselves.

• Built for home networks: No authentication system is currently implemented.

• Player is the main focus: Users must collect and arrange photos beforehand.

Current State:

• The beta version is being released at least once a week.

• Deployed on Raspberry Pi 5 and is regularly used on two Amazon FireStick devices via the Silk Browser. FireStick sleep timeout disabled using ADBLink.

• Personal Results:

  • 43,000 photos identified, 12,000 duplicates removed

  • Corrected multiple album names (inferred from folder names, with formatting improvements)

  • Scanning 31,000 photos from Synology takes ~6 minutes. The exact number from the file system takes about ~3 minutes.

• Family Impact:

  • Enjoy random memories resurfacing.

  • Easily spot incorrect albums and duplicates.

  • Discover surprising, long-forgotten moments.

How to get started

1️⃣ Organize Your Photo Library – Ensure your photos are structured in a way that makes sense to you. A well-organized directory will maximize Eyedeea Photos' capabilities.

2️⃣ Download & Install – Grab the installation script that matches your setup from the options below.

3️⃣ Experience the Magic – Run Eyedeea Photos and watch as your forgotten moments come back to life, beautifully displayed across your devices.

Get started today and rediscover your memories like never before! 

Download Eyedeea Photos

Please install using PowerShell or terminal shell commands. In future, I may provide an GUI installer.

• Windows powershell - Execute below two lines

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force

iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/eyedia/EyedeeaPhotos/refs/heads/main/release/install.ps1'))

• Linux Terminal - Execute below three lines

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/eyedia/EyedeeaPhotos/refs/heads/main/release/install.sh

chmod +x install.sh

sudo ./install.sh

• Mac

  • install nodejs, pm2

  • pip install eyedeeaphotos

  • (optionally) install Apache server