Photo home
Counts as a backupA full copy of every photo. Phones send to it, and albums are edited on it.
The first one is free
How it works
Simple on the outside, careful on the inside.
PhotoAlbumsMesh copies every family phone's photos to a computer at home, by itself. Here is what happens, step by step, and what it cannot do yet.
How it works
Three steps. Then it runs by itself.
No account, no password, no router settings. You set it up once on the family computer, and every phone joins with its camera.
- Step 1 of 4Your familyFamily nameCarter familyYour nameDanNext
1
Install PhotoAlbumsMesh on the family computer
Windows, Mac or Linux. Name your family, pick the drive for the photos, and save your recovery key.
- Scan this with Maya's phoneBoth screens show the same numbers4817
2
Scan the square code with each phone
Android or iPhone. Check that both screens show the same 4 numbers, and say whose phone it is.
- All 3,214 photos are safe on Family-PCCopied straight to Family-PC 2 minutes ago. Nothing left the house.
3
That is it. Phones back up at home.
When a phone is on the same Wi-Fi as the computer, new photos go across by themselves. Nothing is ever deleted from the phone.
Every day
What happens after a photo is taken
-
01
Someone takes a photo
Any phone in the family, Android or iPhone.
-
02
The phone checks it
The junk filter runs on the phone. Screenshots, receipts and near copies stay behind, never deleted.
-
03
The phone finds the computer
On the same Wi-Fi, the phone finds the family computer by itself. You never type an address. Even at home, the connection is encrypted.
-
04
The original goes across
Full quality, the same file. A photo that is already there, under any name, is not sent again. If the Wi-Fi drops, it continues where it stopped.
-
05
The computer files it
Into the person's folder, in a folder for that phone, by year and month, and into a trip album when it was taken away from home.
-
06
Both screens say so
The phone and the computer show one sentence with a real number: "All 3,214 photos are safe on Family-PC."
Computers in a family
Each computer has a role
When a computer joins, PhotoAlbumsMesh checks its free space and suggests a role. Only a Photo home and a Mirror count as backups, and the app says so.
Mirror
Counts as a backupA full backup copy that only receives from a Photo home. It keeps deleted and changed photos for 30 days, so a mistake can be undone. It can be a USB drive, or a computer at another house.
USB drive free; a computer needs Sync Anywhere
Viewer
Not a backupA laptop that shows every photo but keeps only small previews. On a trip it can also carry the phones' new photos home.
Sync Anywhere
Sync Anywhere
On vacation? New photos still go home.
At home, phones back up for free. From a hotel, a beach or Grandma's house they back up for free too, whenever the phone can connect straight to your home computer, with no router settings. When there is no direct way, Sync Anywhere sends the photos through our relay.
- Sealed on the phone. Photos are encrypted before they leave the phone and unlocked only on your computer. Our relay passes on data it cannot open.
- Direct first. The phone tries to reach your computer directly. The relay is used only when that is not possible.
- Everyone's photos, anywhere. Browse the whole family's photos through our relay when there is no direct way, add a second computer, and make your own album rules.
$2.99 a month or $24.99 a year, for the whole family. See plans
Your home computer needs to be on to receive the photos. If it is off, the phone waits and tries again later.
Maya's phone
Maui · hotel Wi-Fi, no direct way
PhotoAlbumsMesh relay
Passes on sealed data. Cannot open it.
Family-PC
Chicago · photos unlocked here
No direct way from here: through our relay, sealed end to end. Part of Sync Anywhere.
Honest limits
What it does not do, yet
We would rather tell you now than have you find out later.
- The family computer must be on for photos to arrive. Until then they wait, safe, on the phones. The planned Cloud tier removes this limit.
- iPhones back up in the background only when iOS allows it. Opening the app starts a full backup.
- Some networks block devices from seeing each other: guest Wi-Fi, some mesh routers, some firewalls. The app says what is wrong and how to fix it.
- The first backup of a large library takes time, and runs on Wi-Fi. The app shows how long.
- From Live Photos and Motion Photos, the first version keeps the still photo. Keeping the short video is planned.
- Importing old photo folders or downloads from other services is planned for later.
What you need
Planned system requirements
- A family computer
- Windows 10 (22H2) or 11, macOS 12 or later, or Linux (Ubuntu 22.04 or later, current Fedora), with room for the photos.
- Phones
- Android 9 or later, iPhone with iOS 16 or later.
- A home Wi-Fi
- The phones and the computer on the same network. No router settings.
Want to try it first?
Leave your email and we will tell you when the first version is ready.