How can we help?

Yes. Photostead keeps your library on hardware you control instead of in someone else’s cloud, so the app pairs with a Photostead server run by you or someone in your household. If someone in your home already runs one, ask them for a pairing code. If not, Photostead is in early access: write to us and we’ll help you set one up.

At home, the app reaches your server on your home network. Away from home, install the Tailscale app on your iPhone and sign in to the same tailnet as your server; Photostead finds the server through it automatically. The app tries each of your server’s addresses in turn and uses the one that answers.

The pill under the Library’s title shows what’s happening. Some things to check:

• Wi-Fi: backups use Wi-Fi only, unless you turn on Use cellular data in the app’s settings.
• Background time: iOS decides when apps may work in the background, usually overnight while the phone is charging. Opening the app speeds things up.
• Swiping the app away in the app switcher stops transfers that are under way. They pick up again the next time you open the app.
• Photos access: with limited access, only the photos you chose are backed up. To back up everything, allow full access in Settings → Photostead → Photos.
• iCloud Photos: originals that are only in iCloud are downloaded first, which takes longer on a slow connection.

No. The app reads your originals and sends a copy to your server. It never edits or deletes anything in your iPhone’s Photos library. It backs up each item’s original (for a Live Photo, both the photo and its motion), not edits made on the phone.

Tap your picture at the top right, then turn off Back up this iPhone, or choose Unpair this phone to disconnect the app from your server. Unpairing doesn’t delete anything from your Photostead library or from your iPhone. To back up again, pair again with a new code.

Your library lives on your own Photostead server, not with us, so it’s always in your control. To delete photos, move them to the trash in Photostead and empty it. To disconnect the app, unpair it, then delete it to remove what it keeps on your iPhone (unpair first, so the pairing token goes too). Removing a person’s whole account from a server isn’t in Photostead yet; write to us if you need it. We don’t hold any of your data; if you’ve emailed us and want that correspondence deleted, just ask. See the Privacy Policy for details.

Photostead for iPhone needs iOS 17 or later. Photostead on the web works in current versions of Safari, Chrome, Edge and Firefox.

Yes. Your photos go only to your own server, and the app has no analytics, advertising or tracking. Face recognition, search and Ask all run on your server. Read more in the Privacy Policy.

Email hello@photostead.com. For a problem, it helps to include your iPhone model and iOS version, what you were doing, and what you expected to happen. Screenshots are welcome.