[Feature] Grouped Album View based on Album names (Web & App)

[zerknorscht]

I have searched the existing feature requests, both open and closed, to make sure this is not a duplicate request.

• Yes

The feature

Summary

Add an optional, per-user hierarchical view of existing Immich albums, using a configurable separator in album names.

This is not a request for nested albums or new album entities (but might verry well satisfy some of those requesters pragmaticaly).
Immich's existing flat album structure, album IDs, photo assignments, ownership, and sharing permissions would remain unchanged.

The feature would simply provide an alternative way to browse albums that share common name prefixes.

Example

Consider these existing Immich albums:

Family / Holidays
Family / Holidays / Italy 2025
Family / Holidays / Baltic Sea 2026
Family / Birthdays / 2025
Family / Birthdays / 2026
Friends / Summer Party
Miscellaneous

Today, these appear as seven separate albums in the album overview.

With hierarchical grouping enabled and "/" configured as the separator, the initial view could instead show:

Family
Friends
Miscellaneous

Opening Family would show:

Holidays
Birthdays

Opening Holidays would show:

Child albums / groups:
[ Italy 2025 ]  [ Baltic Sea 2026 ]

Photos:
[ Photos belon
ging directly to "Family / Holidays" ]

The important distinction is that "Family / Holidays" is an actual Immich album containing its own photos, while its name is also a prefix shared by other albums.

The photos from "Family / Holidays / Italy 2025" and "Family / Holidays / Baltic Sea 2026" would not be merged into the parent album. They remain in their original albums.

Proposed mobile UI

The feature could integrate naturally into Immich's existing mobile album and photo views:

• Display small cards for immediate child albums or virtual groups at the top of the current view.
• Below these cards, display the photos belonging to the actual album whose full name matches the current path, if one exists.
• Tapping a child card navigates to the next level.
• If the selected path has no further children, open the existing album photo view as usual.
• If the selected path is only a virtual group and does not correspond to an actual album, display its child cards without a photo section.
• Provide normal back navigation to the previous hierarchy level.

This accommodates three cases:

1. Album only: Show its photos as usual.
2. Virtual group only: Show its child album/group cards.
3. Album and group at the same path: Show child cards above the photos belonging directly to that album.

Virtual groups could be visually distinguished from actual albums using a small folder or group icon.

The exact visual design can follow Immich's existing UI conventions.

Web UI

The web interface should offer the same logical hierarchy, potentially using expandable groups in the album overview or navigation into grouped album views.

As on mobile, actual albums and virtual groups should remain distinguishable, and a path matching an existing album should preserve access to that album's own photos.

Settings

Only two per-user display settings are proposed:

1. Group albums by name — On/Off (default: Off)
2. Group separator — User-defined text, for example "/"

These are personal presentation preferences, not album properties or server-wide settings.

Different users viewing the same shared albums could independently choose whether to enable grouping and which separator to use.

With grouping disabled, the existing flat album view remains unchanged.

Expected behavior and scope

• Grouping is derived dynamically from existing album names.
• Common name prefixes create virtual hierarchy levels.
• Albums without the configured separator remain at the top level.
• Each user sees only albums they are already permitted to access, including shared albums.
• Virtual groups do not have their own album IDs, photos, ownership, or permissions.
• Photos are never automatically inherited, duplicated, or merged between albums.
• Existing album names and sharing behavior remain unchanged.
• The feature should be supported in both the web interface and the official mobile app.
• No changes to the underlying album hierarchy or album API are required for the grouping itself.

Motivation

As an Immich library grows, a flat overview containing dozens or hundreds of albums becomes difficult to navigate, particularly on mobile.

Many users already organize albums through naming conventions. An optional hierarchical view would make those existing conventions useful for navigation without introducing the complexity of true nested albums, permission inheritance, or album migration.

This could offer much of the usability of album folders while preserving Immich's existing data model.

It might solve with low effort what might be the pain behind the requests fir grouped or nested Albums, committed in the past by a simple non distractive UI behavior extension...

Platform

• Server
• Web
• Mobile

[bo0tzz]

#15285

[zerknorscht]

Yes, it is not a dublicate but a workaround this request