HashPhotos users — smart albums not working with hidden photos, anyone found a workaround?
I've built a workflow around HashPhotos that works really well for organizing sensitive/private photos:
\- Add keywords to photos in Apple Photos (e.g. \`hash-category1\`, \`hash-category2\`)
\- Sync keywords into HashPhotos
\- Hide the photos in Apple Photos
\- Search by keyword inside HashPhotos — this works perfectly ✅
\- Use HashPhotos notes to log info per photo ✅
The one thing that doesn't work: \*\*Smart Albums\*\*.
When I create a smart album with a keyword rule, it works fine while photos are visible. The moment I hide those photos in Apple Photos, they disappear from the smart album in HashPhotos. Keyword search still finds them, but smart albums don't include them.
My questions:
Is this a Photos API limitation (HashPhotos can't access hidden photos for smart album queries) or a HashPhotos-specific issue?
Has anyone found a workaround — any way to pre-create browsable categories for hidden photos on iOS?
Any other apps that handle this better?
Running latest HashPhotos on iOS 26. Already emailed the developer but curious if anyone here has solved this.
Appreciate any help with this 🙏