How do you automatically back up phone photos to a NAS? WeChat messages were too dumb, so I tried four options and ended up keeping two

the reason was very simple: my mom's phone was full again. With 64GB of storage, WeChat takes up 20GB, and photos and videos take up 30GB. Every day, she complains about 'insufficient storage,' insisting she deletes a single one, saying it's all photos of her granddaughter. The previous method was to send it to me via WeChat, and I saved it on my computer—WeChat lowered the video quality so badly I didn't even recognize it. A 1080p video was sent and blurred to 480p, and sending dozens of images required one photo per page. So stupid.

we have a NAS at home (Synology DS220+, plus an N100 mini PC running like a flying machine), I figured out how to connect the "automatic phone photos into NAS" feature. There are three goals: fully automatic, back up once you shoot, no need to intervene; Original image quality, no discounts; My mom could still do it at her age. I tried four solutions over the board—two were really useful, and two were abandoned after much effort. This article will follow the order I tried it, so you can jump directly to the NAS section corresponding to your own home unit.

think clearly: backup and sync are not the same thing

start, there's a concept you must clarify, or you'll pick the wrong plan. "Backup" is one-way: the phone takes a photo, the NAS is stored, the phone is deleted but the NAS remains. "Sync" is a two-way mirror: when the phone is deleted, the NAS is deleted as well. If it's for your parents, you must use one-way backup —my mom once 'cleaned similar photos' on her phone, deleting over 300 photos with one click. If you sync two-way and the NAS disappears too, that's a real disaster.

there's another hidden pitfall: many apps' "auto backup" only works on WiFi by default, which is actually correct (saves data), but you should know this setting exists. At first, I thought it was broken. The photos I took at work took me so long after getting home that the NAS still wasn't there. After checking the logs for a while, I found out that 'WiFi backup only' was enabled, while my company's WiFi actually recognizes cellular networks... No, it's that the wireless data permissions in the app settings on my phone are turned off. Sorting out these trivial matters is the most time-consuming task, so let me explain this upfront.

Solution 1: Synology Photos, the correct solution for DS220+ users

If your home is Synology, you basically don't need to worry about this problem—just install Photos in the kit center. Install the DS Photos app on your phone, log in to your NAS address and account, open "Photo Backup" in Settings, check "Include Video," and you're done. From now on, whenever your phone connects to home WiFi, new photos will quietly scroll up, and after backing up, a notification will appear in the bottom right corner.

my mom's side I set it up like this: I created a separate user for her, only authorized the Photos suite, and didn't see any other shared folders. That way, the app on her phone only has her own album and won't accidentally access my work files. The Synology app has a "Shared Album" feature. I grant her permissions, and I can see the photos she took. My granddaughter's daily routines are synced between the two devices. This feature is the fastest way for my mom to accept NAS— don't tell her about raids or backups, just tell her "after taking a photo, it will automatically enter the TV and you can see it," and she immediately uses .

test speed: My home internal network WiFi 6 runs 40-60MB/s from phone to NAS, backing up 200 photos in one or two minutes. You can also back up using 4G/5G when you're away (by default, turn it off; go to Settings and enable 'Use Mobile Data'). The speed depends on your home uplink; mine has 300Mbps, and backup outside can get just over 10MB/s, which is enough.

two pits. First, don't install the old Synology Moments kit; Photos is its replacement, and mixing two indexes will cause confusion. Second, HEIC format: The default HEIC photo on iPhone is Synology, which can be stored and viewed, but it might not recognize it when watching on the TV using other apps. It's recommended to set the iPhone to "Best Compatibility" and directly output the jpg to avoid later trouble.

Option 2: Feiniu Album, N100 mini PC also works as a

another N100 running Feiniu OS, a new domestic system, with a mobile app called "fn connection" or the new version of "Feiniu Private Cloud." After logging in, there's a "Album Backup" switch below. Open it, select which directory to back up to, and connect to WiFi for automatic transfer. The experience is 80% like Synology Photos: automatic upload, sorted by time, and the ability to dig up old photos within the app.

difference lies in the details. Feiniu's album feature is younger than Synology's. Facial recognition and location classification are still being updated, but basic automatic backup is very stable. I ran for over two months without any trouble. One thing I especially like about it: backup directory is just a regular folder . Synology's photo library in File Station is a collection of subfolders cut by year, while Feiniu's is the directory you specify yourself. The structure is simple, making it intuitive to use Samba to view directly on the TV or copy files without permission. My mom's car is equipped with Feiniu (the N100 is for her), and the only thing she can do is 'shoot'; everything else is automatic.

also note: Feiniu's app on Android occasionally gets backend killed by the system, causing delays in backups. The solution is to add "FN Connection" to the battery optimization whitelist (Settings - Battery - Unlimited). Huawei and Xiaomi phones also need to allow auto-start in "Startup Management." If you don't do this, you'll find that photos always appear a bit late, and you might think they're broken, but actually the app is asleep.

Option 3: Immich self-built, the most powerful but deterring most people

Immich is the hottest album solution in the open-source community in recent years, with truly top-notch features: facial recognition, map footprints, memory push, machine learning search (searching "seaside" can retrieve all photos by the sea), and the interface is very similar to Google Photos. Docker can pull up with a single compose; Feiniu and Synology can run both simultaneously.

Why didn't I give it to my mom in the end? It really depends on the specs. My N100 mini PC only got 8GB of RAM. When Immich's machine learning module ran, the CPU stayed above 40% for years, and even the fan noise changed. Plus, you have to enter a server address to log in to the app, get your own certificates, and monitor updates yourself (this project iterates so fast, several versions a month). For a user like my mom, if anything goes wrong, she can't help herself. Who is this thing suitable for? People who love tinkering, tens of thousands of photos on their phones, want the Google Photos experience but don't want to hand over their photos to Google. If you're that kind of person, Immich is worth it; I just want to do an automatic backup for the whole family—like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Solution 4: SMB manual copying, the most dumb but zero-barrier

at first, I tried the most basic method: sharing the phone's file manager with the NAS's Samba folder, manually copying the DCIM folder. On Android, you can use the "CX File Manager" or "ES" app; on iOS, use the "File" app to directly connect to the SMB server (enter the NAS internal IP address). It can be copied, but there are two fatal flaws: one is manual copying—if you get lazy, it can sever easily. Backup is the worst thing about breaking; Second, the iPhone's photo album cannot be viewed in full original images through the Files app (iOS sandbox restrictions), which is basically ineffective for Apple users.

so I only recommend this plan for one scenario: regularly organize . For example, at the end of each month, manually archive a copy of the month's photos and videos into a monthly folder on the NAS as a second insurance policy besides automatic backup. Backup has always been a matter of "how many baskets of eggs you can put in your basket": automatic backups protect daily life, manual archiving ensures the bottom line, no conflict.

four paths? A table explains it clearly

the final state of my home: my mom's Feiniu machine automatically backs up her photos, my DS220+ runs Photos for my own, and at the end of each month, I manually transfer the current month's photos from both machines into a single 2TB Coolwolf drive. Someone asked me if this was repetitive—NAS RAID isn't called a backup, and the whole drive can be broken. the 3-2-1 backup principle I've written in this article that photos are lost and gone forever, so having more is a bit more reassuring.

by the way, a bit of storage planning—many people overlook: if you assume 4-6GB of photos per month (double for elders who love video), that's about 70GB per year, and 140GB for two phones. Don't stingy on those few hundred yuan when buying a NAS drive; just rotate between two 4TB Cool Wolf or Galaxy Ultra models, no need to worry for five years. If you want to dig up old photos stored on your NAS for your parents to see, I've written about remote access in this article: how to connect to the NAS at home while out and about, combined with a mobile app, you can also browse your home album while out and about.

to wrap it up in order: at home I have Synology, install Photos in the kit center, install DS Photos on my phone, start backup, and it's done in five minutes; It's Feiniu's. Install the "Feiniu Private Cloud" app on your phone, log in to open your photo album backup, and remember to whitelist the app on your battery. If you have none of these and only have an old Taiwanese NAS, go to Docker and Immich, and be prepared to spend half a day tinkering; Whichever you choose, it's recommended to keep a manual archiving habit. Once you've set it up, you'll find your photo shoots have become more diligent—storage anxiety is something NAS really can solve.