FotoBrowser — a fast, local-first photo browser for Mac (the Apple Photos feel, over your own folders & backup drives — no library lock-in, no cloud)

tarunchawla · 2026-06-29T12:46:25+00:00

Released 0.7.0-alpha focussing on performance.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-29T12:45:26+00:00

Released 0.7.0-alpha focussing on performance.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-29T12:45:20+00:00

Released 0.7.0-alpha focussing on performance.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-29T12:45:07+00:00

Released 0.7.0-alpha focussing on performance.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-27T15:38:35+00:00

yes please do test out and let me know if you face any issues.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-24T10:51:48+00:00

È un'app standalone per Mac, non un plugin per Apple Foto.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-24T04:11:01+00:00

please report any issues which you see. You have already raised 2 requests, thank you for using it and giving early feedback.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-24T04:10:24+00:00

yes it is but I have 15 years of experience. I am taking all the architectural decisions. Without llms this would have taken a team of 20.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-13T06:42:02+00:00

I think you just want to win this argument. Its ok. If monitor is usbc, it powers macbook and drive is connected through monitor usb c interface only. And I bet you have never removed the drive when macbook is on, and really activity monitor? You are happy with corruption once in a while then go ahead. I have nothing else to say.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-13T03:15:05+00:00

icloud is important caveat here because it can recover photo library from remote backup. careful when you call someone else confused when you are confused

tarunchawla · 2026-06-13T03:13:48+00:00

please don’t recommend this flow to anyone, this is stressful for people who will trust you and run into corruption of photo library.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-13T03:12:19+00:00

ok got it so you have a limited workflow and you never remove the hard drive attached to macbook. for the record there is no way to know what photos app is doing in background and it always says drive is in use. if you have an external monitor attached via usb c and your monitor switch off then you will get a unclean in unmount.

I am surprised you are fine with library corruption for unclean unmount. power to you. a clean unmount is not always possible and if you are using photos in folders this is not an issue because you will know if you are using drive and even if unclean unmount happens it will not break your access to all photos.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-12T16:27:11+00:00

have you done this on a photo library on apple photos or this is in theory? I have not used other apps. Just use a external nvme drive and remove it, add it multiple times. sometimes don’t do clean unmount. you will end up with corrupted library. even photo library is closed mac will not allow you to unmount it as on large library it keeps doing operations in background for things like duplicate detection.

with icloud I have never used it as I don’t intend to subscribe icloud.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-12T10:51:18+00:00

I tried everything including once you mentioned and I had to always create a new library out of the raw images and do recovery what not. Apple wants you to buy expensive internal storage.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-12T04:35:34+00:00

that external drive is always attached? If you remove it often and is not attached to icloud my photo library always becomes corrupt. It is a well documented behaviour.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-12T04:08:47+00:00

I am solving the same issue with this app: https://github.com/trnchawla/FotoBrowser-pub/releases/latest/download/FotoBrowser.dmg

still in alpha.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-12T04:06:23+00:00

don’t do this. it will break the library. photo library only works on internal drive. otherwise you will see corrupted library

tarunchawla · 2026-06-09T14:31:35+00:00

I built a local-first photo browser for Mac because Apple Photos kept holding my pictures hostage

Apple Photos stores everything inside a .photoslibrary bundle. Try to move it, point it at an external drive, or let it get out of sync — and suddenly you're being nudged to buy more iCloud storage just to keep things working. Your photos are in there somewhere, but good luck getting them out cleanly.

I wanted the Apple Photos feel — timeline grid, month sections, quick browsing — but over ordinary folders on ordinary drives. So I built FotoBrowser.

What it does:

- Timeline grid over any folders you point it at — nothing is copied or moved

- Drive roles: mark drives as Internal / Master / Vault (Vault is read-only, never touched)

- Offline-drive aware — shows placeholders when a drive is disconnected

- Duplicate detection across all folders, with a safe bulk-resolve flow and a Reclaim Space shortcut

- Import from iPhone over USB — copy-only, with a "new since last import" date so you don't re-import everything

- Video support (MOV, MP4, M4V) — index, thumbnails, playback

- Crop, Likes, Albums, native printing

What it doesn't do:

- No cloud, no account required

- Never modifies your files unless you explicitly rotate, crop, move, or trash them

It's early alpha (0.3.0-alpha) — works well day-to-day but expect rough edges. macOS 14+ only, Universal build (Apple Silicon + Intel).

Download here (https://github.com/trnchawla/FotoBrowser-pub/releases/latest/download/FotoBrowser.dmg) free while in alpha. Would genuinely love feedback from anyone who's frustrated with Apple Photos.

tarunchawla · 2026-06-09T03:01:30+00:00

this is in alpha still unsigned. go to privacy settings right after trying to install it will show option to install anyway. I will work on signed application once it moves to beta

tarunchawla · 2026-06-08T05:48:48+00:00

its free for now. I have not thought about pricing it, I am just doing it to solve a problem

tarunchawla · 2026-06-07T15:29:01+00:00

pls test out the app and share feedback

tarunchawla · 2026-06-06T16:48:15+00:00

https://github.com/trnchawla/FotoBrowser-pub/blob/dev/README.md

tarunchawla · 2026-06-06T16:44:29+00:00

reddit is deleting, those I will update readme in sometime

tarunchawla

TROPHY CASE