DS photo vs Immich
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DS photo
Access and manage your Synology NAS photo collection from your mobile device. Organize photos into albums, create virtual albums with tags, and view them offline. Effortlessly back up photos taken on your device to your personal cloud.
- Browse Synology NAS photo collection
- Organize photos into albums
- Create virtual albums with tags
- Timeline photo view
- Download albums for offline access
- Photo backup to personal cloud
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*You must own a Synology NAS to run this app and be running the latest Photo Station 6.6.0 package to get the complete set of features** DS photo allows you to browse through the photo collection on your Synology NAS server on the go, as well as interact with friends using the comments in real time. Organising your photos is easy: with traditional albums, using tags to create virtual albums or with a simple tap with the timeline mode! Better yet, download albums to the iDevice to view them even when no network connection is available, and use the Photo Backup to effortlessly upload your photos taken with your iDevice onto your own personal cloud. Find all detailed features about the app on our website: www.synology.com > NAS > DSM 6.0 > Apps > Mobile Apps > Software Specs https://www.synology.com/dsm/software_spec/mobile#DSphoto
Immich
This is a client application that connects to a self-hosted Immich Server. It allows users to back up their photos and videos from their mobile devices to their own server, providing a private and customizable cloud storage solution.
- Mobile client for Immich Server
- Photo and video backup
- Self-hosted solution
- Private cloud storage
- Customizable server management
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This is a client app for Immich Server and you will need to run/manage the server on your own in order to use the app. Website: https://immich.app GitHub: https://github.com/immich-app/immich
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Immich at 77% against DS photo's 24%. Immich also leads on rating (4.8 vs 2.2) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months). DS photo's advantage is iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Immich holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Immich has 795 ratings behind it against 122, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 24% of DS photo's written reviews are positive against 77% of Immich's.
DS photo ships an update every 2 months, Immich every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 30, 2026.
| Parameter | DS photo | Immich |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.2 (122 ratings) | 4.8 (795 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 24.1% of reviews | 77.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 122 | 795 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 55 MB | 75 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Synology Inc. | FUTO Computing |
Customer experience
DS photo
Immich
User reviews
DS photo
From 122 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast photo viewing
- 👍 Useful for backing up photos
- 👍 Ability to access photos remotely
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and login issues
- 🐛 Unreliable photo backup
- 🐛 Slow performance and freezes
- 🐛 Incompatible with newer iOS versions
- 🐛 Conversion of photos to JPEG format
Immich
From 795 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth and fast
- 🔒 Self-hosted, no data collection
- 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly
- 🚀 Efficient photo/video backup
- 💡 Great alternative to Google Photos
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Unreliable background upload
- 🐛 Issues with video playback quality
- 🐛 Syncing problems with large libraries
- 🐛 Login issues after updates
Bugs and requests
DS photo
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes on startup
- Login failures
- Issues with geofencing and background uploads
- Problems with uploading large files or videos
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for HEIC/HEIF photo format
- Improve background upload capabilities
- Add option to save photos/videos to camera roll
- Enhance album management and sorting options
- Improve slideshow and video playback functionality
Immich
Reported bugs
5 issues- Inability to log in on latest update
- Frequent timeline rebuilds
- Inconsistent behavior with HDR photos
- Scrolling issues in the app
- Unreliable background sync
Requested features
5 requests- Option to remove photos from device after backup
- Support for 360-degree photos and videos
- Improved family/user sharing capabilities
- Better integration with third-party tools
- Clearer cache management
In-app purchases
DS photo
No in-app purchases
Immich
No in-app purchases
