Support

SMB (SMB 2/3), WebDAV and SFTP — so Synology, QNAP, TrueNAS, Unraid, Nextcloud, Linux servers and more.

Servers on your local network that advertise themselves with Bonjour (mDNS) are listed automatically when you add a server. You can also enter an IP address or host name.

Yes, for Android 11 and later, with no dependency on Google services. Folders on your NAS are organized exactly as with the iPhone app, so iPhones and Android phones can back up to the same folder and recognize each other’s backups.

The Android app does nearly everything the iPhone app does: SMB, WebDAV, SFTP and Local/USB, comparing your phone with your NAS, browsing and playing photos and videos on your NAS, saving back to your phone, freeing up space, backing up selected albums, and backup that keeps running in the background and with the screen locked. On Android, albums are the folders your photos are in.

Android has no Live Photos; Motion Photos on Samsung, Pixel and other phones are single files and are backed up like regular photos.

Yes. Connect the drive to your phone (Lightning models need an adapter), add a server, choose the “Local/USB” protocol, tap “Choose Folder”, and pick a folder on the drive under “Browse”. You can also choose “On My iPhone” or a location provided by another app.

Format the drive as exFAT or APFS: FAT32 can’t store videos larger than 4 GB, and NTFS is read-only. External disks without their own power may not be recognized because the phone can’t power them.

On Android, connect the drive to the USB-C port (or with an OTG adapter) and choose “Local/USB” as well. The server screen shows whether a drive is detected, and “Choose Folder” opens the drive directly. exFAT or FAT32 is recommended on Android.

Folders are organized the same way as on a NAS, so you can copy a backup folder from your NAS to the drive and keep going. If the drive isn’t connected during a backup, you’ll see “Can’t find the backup folder”.

By capture date under “backup folder/year/month/day/”, named “capture time_original name”, for example 2020/05/06/20200506102020_IMG_9274.HEIC.

The original files are backed up, not edited renders. The video of a Live Photo is saved as a .MOV with the same name.

No. Before uploading, LPhotoSync checks your NAS and skips files with the same name and size, so it’s safe to back up again and again.

Different photos taken in the same second with the same name get (2), (3) suffixes. A file on your NAS with the same name but a different size is never overwritten; it’s flagged as a name conflict.

Hidden photos aren’t backed up by default. Turn on “Back Up Hidden Photos” in Settings › Backup Range.

Also, while iOS Settings › Apps › Photos › Use Face ID (or Use Passcode) is on, iOS doesn’t give hidden photos to any app. Turn it off first.

On iOS 26 and later, backup continues in the background with progress shown by the system. For WebDAV, system background upload finishes the transfer even if iOS closes the app.

On earlier versions iOS allows only a short time in the background, so keep the app open while backing up (the screen stays on by default).

On Android, backup keeps running in the background and with the screen locked, with progress in a notification you can also stop it from. Some phones restrict background apps; for long backups, allow LPhotoSync to run in the background in system settings.

For security, the app allows plain http only on your local network. Use https when connecting over the internet.

If your NAS uses a self-signed certificate, turn on “Trust Self-Signed Certificate” in the server settings. The Android app remembers the certificate on first connection and refuses to connect if it changes; if your NAS gets a new certificate, test the connection in the server settings and choose to trust it.

Only photos taken before the number of months you choose whose original files are all on your NAS; Live Photos also need their video backed up. Favorites are kept by default. Your NAS is checked once more before deleting, and iOS asks you to confirm.

Deleted photos stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days. If iCloud Photos is on, they’re also deleted from iCloud and your other devices.

On Android, deleted photos go to the system trash, where you can restore them within 30 days.

Photos are matched by capture time and file name. Add the same server and backup folder again and your backed-up photos are recognized — nothing is uploaded twice.

You can pick photos on the NAS tab and save them to your new phone.