immich as default app on android and ios!!! posible ?
Hey everyone,
If you are like me, you probably love using Immich. It’s an incredible, self-hosted, open-source photo management system, and it runs beautifully. Naturally, you’d want to set it as your absolute default photo gallery app so that every time you click a photo shortcut or open a media picker, Immich is right there handling your memories.
Well, here is the frustrating truth: you can't.
As of right now, it is completely impossible to set Immich as your system-wide default photo app on either Android or iOS.
I know, it’s incredibly disappointing. Both Google and Apple have locked down their operating systems so tightly that they don't even provide an option for users to change the default media gallery. You are forced to keep their native, cloud-dependent apps as the core infrastructure, leaving amazing community-driven alternatives like Immich somewhat sidelined in daily system workflows. It’s a massive roadblock for digital privacy, self-hosting, and user freedom.
But we don’t have to just sit here and accept it. If enough of us make our voices heard—just think about what is possible with our 58,000 members compared to the 51,000 members over at r/googlephotos and the 16,000 at r/applephotos—we can push both tech giants to change this policy.
Both companies have official channels where developers and users can request features and report issues. If thousands of Immich users flood these platforms with a simple request to allow custom default gallery apps, they will have to notice.
Here is what we can do right now with just a basic Google or Apple account:
- For Android Users: Head over to the Android Issue Tracker (https://issuetracker.google.com/home) (Google's official platform for platform feature requests). Create a feature request asking for an option to set a custom default gallery app under the "Default Apps" settings.
- For iOS Users: Use Apple's Feedback Assistant(https://developer.apple.com/feedback-assistant/) (available via their website or the native app) to submit an official request demanding the freedom to change the default photo handler, just like we can now do with web browsers and mail clients.
Immich is backed by an incredibly passionate community, and both Google and Apple claim to respect open-source efforts and user preferences. Let's pressure them to prove it. Take five minutes out of your day to submit a quick ticket or upvote existing ones on the Android Issue Tracker and Feedback Assistant.
Let's make our self-hosted setups seamless!