PhotoSync
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 7 of 19 backup tools by recommenders
Recommended for syncing photos from a phone to remote services or local servers, with reliable background sync and support for original files. Caveat: it does not track what has already been exported.
Recommended for syncing photos from a phone to remote services or local servers, with reliable background sync and support for original files. Caveat: it does not track what has already been exported.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Reliable background sync
“It works reliably, and supports exporting unmodified originals as well as edited versions”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)” “PhotoSync which is notable for working properly with background sync”
Comment from 6 Dec 2025 in “Self-hosting my photos with Immich” Encryption at rest of photos
“It has a killer feature Immich is still missing: encryption at rest of the photos.”
Comment from 2 Sep 2026 in “Saving money on Google Photos with Immich: Your own personal photo storage” “It has one killer feature that Immich does not: encryption at rest.”
Comment from 13 Dec 2025 in “Apple has locked my Apple ID, and I have no recourse. A plea for help” Pushes to remote services and servers
“It's nice, you can pull from photos and push to basically any remote service or local server.”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)” “You can set up a simple SFTP connection so you don't even need anything on the server.”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)” Widely recommended by Hacker News users
“I used to use Image Capture but heard of PhotoSync and have never looked back.”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)” “All the time I hear that "PhotoSync" is good”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “Your 'App' Could Have Been a Webpage (so I fixed it for you)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Doesn't track what was already exported
“PhotoSync does everything right, with the exception of trying to keep state of what has been exported”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)”
Other backup tools people recommend
The four most recommended other backup tools, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| restic | 83 | 5 | 94% | 12 | — | Approved |
| pgBackRest | 32 | 6 | 84% | 6 | 1 yr4 owners | Approved |
| Borg Backup | 30 | 8 | 79% | 12 | — | Approved |
| iCloud Photos Downloader | 18 | 4 | 82% | 2 | — | — |
| PhotoSyncThis page | 12 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
What people said
13 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It has a killer feature Immich is still missing: encryption at rest of the photos.”
“All the time I hear that "PhotoSync" is good”
“share photos with all platforms”
“You can set up a simple SFTP connection so you don't even need anything on the server.”
“which makes it so much more sane to sort through”
“I used to use Image Capture but heard of PhotoSync and have never looked back.”
“I use PhotoSync on my phone for this - select which albums to sync where with a rule and away you go.”
“It's nice, you can pull from photos and push to basically any remote service or local server.”
“PhotoSync does everything right, with the exception of trying to keep state of what has been exported”
“It works reliably, and supports exporting unmodified originals as well as edited versions”
“It has one killer feature that Immich does not: encryption at rest.”
“You can use Parachute backup or the PhotoSync App to get a copy of your data”
“PhotoSync which is notable for working properly with background sync”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.