A read-only photo and video viewer for iOS. Point it at a folder of images and browse them — no importing, no library lock-in, no cloud required.
Photo libraries shouldn't require a specific app or service to access. LocalGallery treats a plain folder of image files as your gallery. You own the files, you choose where they live, and nothing is copied or modified.
Pair it with Syncthing (via SyncTrain on iOS) to sync your photos across devices without any cloud service.
- Folder browsing — navigate your photo folders with cover thumbnails and sorting options
- Collections — auto-grouped views by hierarchical tags (people, places, objects, etc.)
- All Photos — flat grid of every photo, sorted by capture date, with search
- Video and Live Photos — inline playback for videos and Live Photo motion
- EXIF metadata — camera, lens, exposure, GPS, and dimensions in a slide-up panel
- Hierarchical tags — reads XMP/IPTC keywords with namespace support (e.g.
Country|Japan,People|Name) - Metadata search — search across filenames, keywords, and tags
- Disk cache — thumbnails are cached to disk for fast repeat browsing
- Background scanning — folder contents are scanned in the background with persisted state
- No account required — no sign-up, no server, no tracking
- Xcode 16.0+
- iOS 17.0+
- XcodeGen
# Install XcodeGen if you don't have it
brew install xcodegen
# Generate the Xcode project
xcodegen
# Open in Xcode
open LocalGallery.xcodeprojThen build and run on a simulator or device (iOS 17+).
On first launch, the app asks you to select (or create) a folder containing your photos. This can be any folder accessible to the app — including one synced by Syncthing or iCloud Drive.
The app is read-only: it never modifies, moves, or deletes your files.
Please see [docs/AI_DISCLAIMER.md].