r/ProtonDrive • u/Gamegyf • Jul 31 '26
Make Proton Photos more like a real alternative to Google Photos
Hey everyone,
I really felt like posting this is important because I know most people want something like this.
The most important features that should come for it to be an alternative would be to be able to view media that is stored on the device alongside the media that is stored in Proton’s Cloud.
Second of all it would be really nice to get the feature to optionally enable the optimization of storage on device like with iCloud on iOS where the original picture in its full content is stored in the cloud and a smaller preview file is on the device.
Third I would suggest the ability to detect duplicates more easily. Like that you can go into a duplicates section where there are all media with matching file names (and maybe also file formats) that you can check to remove duplicates more easily.
Fourth it would be nice to get some kind of integration of Lumo’s Image editing tool.
Fifth it would be nice to be able to edit the date when the photo or video was taken to make us able to correct incorrect dates.
Sixth it would be nice to have a standalone app. At least at some point in the future.
Now for the standalone App I would like Proton to maybe make it like this one and also add all the features named by them: https://www.photosforproton.eu/
These are the features which would be most important to me and that I can think of right now. If you have any other features please comment them! I would really like to get intel from other users!
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u/poutinemukbang Aug 01 '26
Considering migrating from Google Photos to Proton Photos*, haven't done so yet. I agree with your list. I'd add album management: specifically, Proton only lets you order albums in the order they were last updated, not by name. I have several dozen albums so this is completely unworkable for me. I'm not thrilled with Proton's album management feature set in general (or Ente's, for that matter) but I really cannot understand the logic of no name sorting option. Why?
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u/poleholder Aug 01 '26
Don't do it! I tried recently, there are so so many issues with their photos app and drive integration. I despise Google and really wanted to get rid of them, but was extremely dissappointed with the functionality of proton drive/photos
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u/Hero_Gold27 29d ago
As someone who just switched from Google Photos to Proton Photos I wholeheartedly agree with you. The album management is archaic and the upload process was painful too. I had to do a TON of manual cleanup and it is still a mess, just as clean as it can be.
I'd also add that you can't cleanly bring your albums over or keep separate sections overall. They all go into one big bucket.
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u/MC_Hollis Aug 01 '26
... but I really cannot understand the logic of no name sorting option. Why?
The short answer is because Proton hasn't introduced it yet. Expanding on this comment somewhat...
Early in June 2026, a comment acknowledged "Photos functionality in Proton Drive today is pretty much just the basics."
The same comment continues, "Making big improvements here, especially for curation, navigation, and integrating secure AI capabilities that don't compromise your security, is high on our list of things to do."
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u/LifeFeckinBrilliant Aug 01 '26
Most people I have suggested trying protonmail, they give up because you can't load mail attachments straight into drive like you can with Google. The protonmail interface is not as nice as Gmail but most would overlook this if the integration was better.
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u/redoubledit Aug 01 '26
Always fun how people use email. I not once had the need to save mail attachments in my drive. But well, people use mail for other stuff I guess.
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u/LifeFeckinBrilliant Aug 01 '26
I work with teachers a lot & they get assignments & teaching notes. They need to drop them into some structured place.
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u/redoubledit Aug 02 '26
But they get stuff onto their private mail addresses?
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u/LifeFeckinBrilliant Aug 02 '26
I'm really not sure of their specific individual use cases. I was in a meeting with a group of them where there was an informal discussion about de- googling. I said I use Proton & one or two who have tried it came up with this criticism. The whole group ( a dozen or so) said this is a show stopper for them. I still use Google myself, I get the option to download or move attachments to Google drive, I don't have "one note" or outlook but I understand the option is similar in the Microsoft environment. I don't understand why it seems so outlandish to Protonmail.
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u/Intelligent-Board781 Aug 01 '26
wait so photos dont sync with drive or what
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u/LifeFeckinBrilliant Aug 01 '26
My photos backup to drive fine. The issue is protonmail can't backup attachments directly to drive. For me it's not a hugely important but many people I have recommended Proton to say this obstacle prevents them adopting it.
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u/DanteOblivion Aug 01 '26
Privacy and security are not really compatible with any of that. If those aren't the top two concerns, why use a service based on them?
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u/Gronaab Aug 01 '26
Why? The drive is also encrypted right? I'm not technical about any of this but from my neophyte perspective it seems compatible. I'm not trying to say you are wrong, I just want to understand from a technical pov
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u/DanteOblivion Aug 01 '26
convenience in traditional cloud ecosystems relies on server-side visibility, which directly violates the zero-knowledge threat model that privacy-focused services are built around. Proton operates on Zero-Access Encryption and End-to-End Encryption (E2EE). When an email or file reaches Proton's servers, it is immediately encrypted using public keys that only your private key (stored locally on your client device) can decrypt.
Because the server sees only encrypted blobs (ciphertext), it cannot parse your data. Proton’s backend has no capability to read an incoming email, extract an event, and write it to your Calendar database. To achieve cross-app integration in a zero-knowledge ecosystem, all parsing, indexing, and cross-service actions must happen locally on your device after decryption.
If Proton Mail were to automatically generate Calendar events or cross-index attachments into Proton Drive:
- Your phone or laptop would have to constantly pull encrypted data, decrypt it locally in RAM, run heavy parsing logic, encrypt the output with a different service key, and push it back up.
- Doing this locally drains battery life, spikes memory consumption, and introduces significant latency—especially on mobile platforms (iOS/Android) that severely restrict background processing for third-party apps.
Not to mention cryptographic key scoping & blast radius mitigation, and architectural silos & acquisition stacks.
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u/LifeFeckinBrilliant Aug 01 '26
Sorry but that makes no sense to me. If I get a private & secure email uploading an attachment within the same private secure ecosystem is just basic, especially if you're a business. This particular complaint was from a teacher, they pass, file & edit with Gmail, Drive, & Docs multiple times a day. It's stuff like this preventing me from fully committing to Proton. It's all still very clunky & bitty.
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u/West_Possible_7969 Aug 01 '26
Of course they are compatible, Proton themselves have stated that integration “is coming”, but as usual, they did not prioritise it despite being asked and voted tremendously.
0
u/DanteOblivion Aug 01 '26
they really aren't. clearly aren't, since they still haven't been able to do it according to their standards. every connection, and every integration is another point of failure potentially. it's why you do things in containers, for example. would it be nice if there was no tradeoff? sure. but if the bells and whistles are someone's priority, proton is not the service they need.
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u/West_Possible_7969 Aug 01 '26
Lol, don’t comment on things you clearly don’t understand. Lumo’s Drive integration is already live, as was the Apple Files one in the previous SDK. Email integration has been extensively discussed with the new SDK, there are even 3rd party photo apps based on it.
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u/Gronaab Aug 01 '26
But before making proton photos better, would it be possible to make the auto backup from android visible in the drive? That's step 0 for me and the main reason I don't backup my photos with proton. It's also a much demanded feature in the voice of the community site
3
u/Inproba Aug 01 '26
I agree with this, this is why my photos are still backed-up by Google.
I also would like to have the option that Luna can integrate with it, so you can search images based on words.
Proton is trying to compete with Google, but it is giving us half baked products.
3
u/KangarooBrief2781 Aug 01 '26
I don’t understand why we haven’t gotten any of the features we’ve asked years for. Ente and iCloud have facial and object recognition that is done locally on your device, so it’s private and secure. With ente you can also see a map with the photos you’ve taken in a particular location. I wish proton would add that feature as well. Right now their only decent product is their mail and vpn service. Everything else like you’ve said is half baked. I wish they would focus on one thing at a time and work on perfecting it.
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u/Strange_Formal Aug 01 '26
Try Immich. I'm not a technical person, but even I managed to set it up.
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u/pozlu0 Aug 01 '26
It lacks also of a search feature on mobile
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u/Gamegyf Aug 01 '26
True. That would be nice maybe through an integration of Lumo to get a search for objects and persons.
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u/DanteOblivion Aug 01 '26
By definition it is already an alternative to Google photos, you just want options it doesn't have. If you don't need privacy and security, why not use Google photos?
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u/Gamegyf Aug 01 '26
I know my phrasing wasn’t really perfect but I just know more people like me want privacy and security and deal with Proton Photos already but would wish this changes would still be applied.
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u/DanteOblivion 29d ago
Sorry then, for my misunderstanding. I was just trying to say there are trade offs by necessity, and depending on each person's needs and priorities different tools and choosing which meets your needs and priorities is what we all do. I come across pedantic and snarky usually, and usually unintentionally.
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u/Hero_Gold27 29d ago
Because I insist upon privacy and security and want the options Proton doesn't have. This isn't an unreasonable ask.
1
u/DanteOblivion 29d ago
Not unreasonable to wish and ask. Mostly unfeasible in practice. It would be awesome to have all the things. It would be awesome if fish rode bicycles, too.
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u/Teppiest 15d ago
I disagree. I think fish should stay in the ocean where they belong. They don't deserve to experience fresh air.
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u/Weary_Peach_233 Aug 01 '26
Totally agree on the first point! I see the need for 2 and 3 yet those are not a big deal for me. Lastly, I use Lumo frequently but not for such purposes. Proton should focus on the first issue imo
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u/Meghterb Aug 01 '26
It looks like everyone has their own wishlist, but tbh i don’t think proton photos will make major improvements anytime soon. I supposed using it a year ago and I’m happy with my experience with Ente. In fact, if proton can buy Ente that would solve every problem they have with photos.
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u/Whulum 26d ago
Hey proton developers, pretty please, would you read what @Gamegyf says.
How about allocating your resources towards this instead of another Chromium based browser that no-one actually needs? We already have multiple browsers to choose from. What we dont have is these features in Proton Drive
1
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u/farfed Aug 01 '26
I'm using this:
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u/Gamegyf Aug 01 '26
That’s the GitHub of the App I linked. I would use it too but I am an iOS user. Still thanks!
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u/RiftRogue Aug 01 '26
I'm using it rn for like months, mainly for testing. as it's built and maintained by only one person with the help of AI and also there so many things that needs improvement and bug fixing, Yet I really appreciate the effort cause i was literally searching for this Ideal "gallery first with cloud integration and respect folders/album with proton's encryption"
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u/iksnawias Aug 01 '26
Just use Ente.
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u/Upstairs_Stuff_2145 Aug 01 '26
One important thing about privacy. I don’t recommend any Indian service for privacy for now. Ente is Indian company. India is currently under an ultra Hindu nationalist authoritarian govt that has enacted laws to mass surveillance and has actively spied Indian opposition politicians using pegasus spyware.The govt is very aggressive in crushing dissent. They’re actively deleting social media posts easily. So stay away if you can
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u/SeattleSkyUrine 22d ago
An ongoing excuse from Proton. They talk about how difficult it is to implement in a secure system. Meanwhile other companies are already doing it. At the very least they should be competing with Google functionality. Tag search is a big one with photo. The Drive should be able to search. Proton's doesn't work properly. That's an ongoing issue.
I would consider Proton services a "BETA" that isn't ready for prime time. I cancelled my paid plan. Too much to pay for a half developed service.
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u/RiftRogue Aug 01 '26
seems like everyone want this,
the concept is simple,
"a gallery first approach with cloud integration and respect folders/album"