Self-hosted · Open Format · Synology NAS
— where your memories stay yours.
My Photo Diary is a personal photo journal for your Synology NAS. No cloud, no algorithms — just your photos and your words, in the order you choose.
What it does
Intersperse text blocks between photos in any order. Author-defined sequence — never algorithmic. Your story, your way.
Justified grid layout that flows naturally. No forced squares, no cropping. Every photo at its natural ratio in perfect rows.
Runs on your NAS. Your photos stay on your hardware. Access via LAN or VPN — no cloud required, ever.
Photo Diary Exchange: plain JSON, human-readable, future-proof. Your albums are never locked to any app or service.
Full-screen viewer with camera data, map via OpenStreetMap, slideshow and keyboard navigation.
Admin sees and edits everything. Editor manages their own personal albums — shared space is read-only for them.
Search across all albums, text blocks and metadata. Umlaut-aware, prefix matching, keyword highlighting. Ctrl+K shortcut.
Camera models, lenses, focal lengths, shooting times. Device timeline, geo heatmap, storage analysis. Powered by Chart.js.
Browse GPX tracks with Leaflet maps. Import from Huawei Health and Komoot. Heart rate, distance, duration metadata.
Why we built this
"Every platform organizes your memories for you. My Photo Diary lets you do it yourself."
Google Photos, iCloud, Immich — they all have timelines, face recognition, and AI suggestions. They decide what matters and when you see it.
My Photo Diary does the opposite. You decide the order. You write the story. Your albums are a journal — not a feed.
No AI. No face recognition. No cloud. Just you and your photos, on your hardware, in your words.
Honest scope
Every morning your NAS checks which photos were taken on this exact day in previous years. A push notification arrives on your phone. You tap — and your memories appear.
Grouped by year in warm Polaroid style. Up to 5 random photos per year — different every time. Location shown below each photo via OpenStreetMap.
Where we are
Active development. Here's what's done and what's coming.
Justified grid, lightbox, EXIF, GPS, drag & drop, text blocks, separators, audio, documents.
Session-based login via Synology API. Roles: admin, editor, viewer. Cookie auth, per-user spaces.
8 element types: photo, video, text, separator, tour, document, audio, map. Open, stable, human-readable.
Single container, network_mode host, volume mounts for photos. Works on any Synology with Container Manager.
Swipe navigation, pinch-to-zoom in view mode. Optimized for tablet.
One-click SPK installation. No terminal required.
Full-text search with umlaut normalization, prefix matching, and keyword highlighting.
EXIF statistics, device timeline, geo heatmap with Maptiler reverse geocoding.
"Today, years ago" — daily push notifications with your memories in Polaroid style.
— where your memories stay yours.
Stay informed
Leave your email and we'll notify you when My Photo Diary launches on the Synology Package Center.
No spam. One email at launch. That's it.