Ep. 34
The conversation dives into immich, a self-hosted photo and video management tool designed to give users full control over their digital memories, in contrast to popular cloud services like Google Photos or Apple Photos, which may pose privacy concerns. Founded by Alex, an engineer who built it initially for his wife, immich evolved from a personal project to a widely adopted open-source application with thousands of users and millions of downloads. The platform includes features like facial recognition, partner sharing, and 360-degree photo support, along with advanced functionalities like hardware-accelerated video transcoding and CLIP technology for accurate search results.
A recent partnership with FUTO, a pro-privacy organization, allows the immich team to work full-time on the project and guarantees that it will remain open-source under the AGPL license. Instead of relying on donations, Image has introduced an optional lifetime license, allowing users to contribute directly if they wish, while keeping all features free.
The platform’s open-source nature fosters community contributions, which has been crucial to its rapid development and robust feature set. The community is active on Discord, and contributors can participate via Image’s GitHub repository. The conversation underscores Image’s commitment to user empowerment, privacy, and a shift toward more sustainable, user-centered technology.
The discussion closes with a call to explore immich as a choice for those who value ownership, transparency, and privacy in managing their digital lives.