[Feature] Allow browsing local (non-backed-up) photos in timeline alongside backed-up photos + Filter Photos Page Album #27622
Replies: 3 comments 1 reply
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I can't see how these two requests are identical, as his request focuses on gallery functionality and mine on home page filtering + showing photos that are not backed up in the timeline instead of just as a different album on the album page. |
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I would like to add on to this that it would be great if this filter could also show photos which are present in Immich and not on the device. The use case would be that sometimes I will remove a photo from Apple Photos and forget to remove it from Immich, and this filter would make it easier to clean up. It could also be used to download images not on your device, for example, if you wanted to make sure a second copy was backed up to Apple or Google Photos. |
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Sorry if I am missing something, but why is this item closed? I would love to see this feature! |
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I have searched the existing feature requests, both open and closed, to make sure this is not a duplicate request.
The feature
Feature Request
Current Behavior
The timeline only shows photos that have been backed up to Immich. Local photos that exist on the device but are not selected for backup (or belong to folders excluded from backup) are not visible in the timeline at all.
Additionally, the Photos page shows all device albums mixed together with no way to filter which albums appear there.
What Would Be Great to Have
It would be really nice if users could browse local device photos in the Immich timeline without those photos necessarily being backed up. A folder-level distinction would make this very flexible, something along the lines of "show in timeline only" vs "back up + show in timeline."
It would also be wonderful if users could choose which albums are surfaced on the main Photos page — for example showing only the Camera album in the timeline while keeping WhatsApp, Screenshots, and other folders comfortably accessible via the Albums page.
Use Case
The idea is to automatically back up the camera roll, while leaving folders like WhatsApp or messaging app media out of the backup, but still having them visible in the timeline for a unified media view — without having to navigate to Library > Files on this device each time.
At the same time, the Photos page can get quite cluttered when every album on the device appears there. Most native gallery apps on Android and iOS already offer pinning specific albums to the main view, and it would be lovely to have something similar in Immich.
Currently the only workaround is disabling automatic backup entirely, which unfortunately defeats the core purpose of Immich.
Possible Approach
A per-folder toggle with three states could work nicely here:
A settings option to select which albums appear on the main Photos page could complement this well, with everything else remaining accessible via the Albums tab.
Why This Could Matter
Quite a few users seem to be disabling automatic backup entirely because of this gap, which means losing the safety net Immich is designed to provide. Better album control on the Photos page would also bring the mobile experience closer to what people already know from native gallery apps.
Platform
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