📸 iPhotron

Bring the macOS Photos experience to Windows — folder-native, non-destructive photo management with Live Photo, maps, and smart albums.

Languages / 语言 / Sprachen:
| |

---

☕ Support

📥 Download & Install

💡 Quick Install: Click the buttons above to download the latest installer directly.

• Windows: Run the .exe installer directly.
• Linux (.deb): Install with the following command:

sudo apt install ./iPhotron_5.00_amd64.deb

• Linux (.AppImage): Make the file executable and run it:

chmod +x iPhotron-x86_64.AppImage
./iPhotron-x86_64.AppImage

For developers — install from source:

pip install -e .

---

🚀 Quick Start

iphoto-gui

Or open a specific album directly:

iphoto-gui /photos/LondonTrip

---

🌟 Star History

🚀 Product Hunt

Please Upvote • Follow • Discuss on the Forum

---

🌟 Overview

iPhotron is a folder-native photo manager inspired by macOS Photos.
It organizes your media using lightweight JSON manifests and cache files —
offering rich album functionality while keeping all original files intact.

Key highlights:

• 🗂 Folder-native design — every folder is an album, no import needed.
• ⚙️ JSON-based manifests record "human decisions" (cover, featured, order).
• ⚡ SQLite-powered global database for lightning-fast queries on massive libraries.
• 🧠 Smart incremental scanning with persistent SQLite index.
• 🎥 Full Live Photo pairing and playback support.
• 🗺 Map view that visualizes GPS metadata across all photos & videos.

---

🗺 Maps Extension

iPhotron's offline OBF map runtime ships as a self-contained maps extension rooted at src/maps/tiles/extension/. That directory is the contract consumed by local development, packaged builds, and the Windows installer.

The extension currently contains:

• World_basemap_2.obf offline map data
• OsmAnd resources under misc/, poi/, rendering_styles/, and routing/
• native binaries under bin/, including osmand_render_helper.exe, osmand_native_widget.dll, OsmAndCore_shared.dll, and the required Qt DLLs

Windows only: The full native maps extension runtime shown below is currently available on Windows only. On Linux and macOS, iPhotron continues to use the existing Python/legacy map path.

Without maps extension	With maps extension

The extension is built upstream from the standalone PySide6-OsmAnd-SDK sub-project. That repository carries the vendored OsmAnd sources, Windows build scripts, native Qt widget bridge, and preview app used to produce the runtime consumed here.

See Development for the full "build the maps extension from the side project" workflow, and Executable Build for how the extension is synchronized into Nuitka and Windows installer builds.

✨ Features

🗺 Location View

Displays your photo footprints on an interactive map, clustering nearby photos by GPS metadata.

🎞 Live Photo Support

Seamlessly pairs HEIC/JPG and MOV files using Apple's ContentIdentifier.
A "LIVE" badge appears on still photos — click to play the motion video inline.

🧩 Smart Albums

The sidebar provides an auto-generated Basic Library, grouping photos into: All Photos, Videos, Live Photos, Favorites, and Recently Deleted.

🖼 Immersive Detail View

An elegant viewer with a filmstrip navigator and floating playback bar for videos.

🎨 Non-Destructive Photo Editing

A comprehensive editing suite with Adjust and Crop modes:

Adjust Mode

• Light Adjustments: Brilliance, Exposure, Highlights, Shadows, Brightness, Contrast, Black Point
• Color Adjustments: Saturation, Vibrance, Cast (white balance correction)
• Black & White: Intensity, Neutrals, Tone, Grain with artistic film presets
• Color Curves: RGB and per-channel (R/G/B) curve editor with draggable control points for precise tonal adjustments
• Selective Color: Target six hue ranges (Red/Yellow/Green/Cyan/Blue/Magenta) with independent Hue/Saturation/Luminance controls
• Levels: 5-handle input-output tone mapping with histogram backdrop and per-channel control
• Master Sliders: Each section features an intelligent master slider that distributes values across multiple fine-tuning controls
• Live Thumbnails: Real-time preview strips showing the effect range for each adjustment

Crop Mode

• Perspective Correction: Vertical and horizontal keystoning adjustments
• Straighten Tool: ±45° rotation with sub-degree precision
• Flip (Horizontal): Horizontal flip support
• Interactive Crop Box: Drag handles, edge snapping, and aspect ratio constraints
• Black Border Prevention: Automatic validation ensures no black edges appear after perspective transforms

All edits are stored in .ipo sidecar files, preserving original photos untouched.

ℹ️ Floating Info Panel

Toggle a floating metadata panel showing EXIF, camera/lens info, exposure, aperture, focal length, file size, and more.

💬 Rich Interactions

• Drag & drop files from Explorer/Finder directly into albums.
• Multi-selection & context menus for Copy, Show in Folder, Move, Delete, Restore.
• Smooth thumbnail transitions and macOS-like album navigation.

---

📚 Documentation

For deeper technical details, see the following docs:

Document	Description
Architecture	Overall architecture, module boundaries, data flow, key design decisions
Development	Dev environment, dependencies, debugging, and the full side-project-based maps extension workflow
Executable Build	Nuitka packaging, AOT filters, maps extension sync, and Windows installer/runtime notes
Security	Permissions, encryption, data storage locations, threat model
Changelog	All version release notes and changes

---

🧩 External Tools

Tool	Purpose
ExifTool	Reads EXIF, GPS, QuickTime, and Live Photo metadata.
FFmpeg / FFprobe	Generates video thumbnails & parses video info.

Ensure both are available in your system PATH.

Python dependencies (e.g., Pillow, reverse-geocoder) are auto-installed via pyproject.toml.

---

📄 License

MIT License © 2025
Created by Haibin Zhao (OliverZhaohaibin)

iPhotron — A folder-native, human-readable, and fully rebuildable photo system.
No imports. No database. Just your photos, organized elegantly.