1
Spot what is new.
Piktures notices new and changed photos and videos on the phone, in the background.
- Photos and videos from the phone’s folders
- Runs on its own, on the home Wi-Fi
Phone sync
The phone backs itself up.
Piktures, our Android app, sends new photos and videos to your Filamama server on its own, whenever the phone is home. Nothing lost, nothing sent twice.
How it works
Four steps. Only one sends files.
Piktures asks before it sends. The server says what it already has, and only what is missing goes over the Wi-Fi.
2
Ask the server first.
The phone sends a short list, without the files. The server answers for each one.
- Already here: nothing to send
- Here from another of your phones: linked, not sent again
- Missing: send it
3
Send what is missing.
Only the missing files travel, one at a time, picking up where they stopped.
- Resumes at the exact byte after a dropped Wi-Fi or a restart
- The server checks each file’s SHA-256 as it arrives
4
Keep it safe.
A file counts as backed up only once the server has checked it and written it to disk.
- Sending the same file twice never makes a second copy
- The phone’s folders become albums in the library
Pairing
Scan once. Talk to your server only.
In the web app, Devices › Pair a phone shows a QR code. Piktures scans it and pins the server’s key: from then on, the phone talks to this server and no other.
- The code works once, for ten minutes
- No camera? Type the address and the code, then check the safety code matches
- If the safety code doesn’t match, the phone sends nothing
- TLS on the home network, with the server’s key pinned on the phone
- Each phone is paired to one account
After the first backup
Your backup outlives the phone.
Favourites and folder moves on the phone follow to the server. Deletions don’t, unless you ask.
- A deletion on the phone deletes nothing on the server by default
- Turn on mirroring for one device, and deletions go to the server’s trash, never straight out
- Only you empty the trash
- Remove a device under Devices and it stops at once; what it backed up stays
- Storage limits per account, set by the administrator
- 0files sent twice
- 0restarts from zero after a dropped Wi-Fi
- 0photos deleted by default
- 0trips through the internet
For scripts
The same protocol, from a terminal.
Phones and server speak DMSP, the Diune Media Server Protocol. dmsp is a command line on the same protocol, with JSON answers: pair, back up a folder and check the server.
Android now, with Piktures. An iPhone app is planned, on the same protocol.
$ dmsp backup ~/Pictures/Trips $ dmsp status
Questions.
Does the phone back up when I am away?
No. Filamama answers on your home network only, so the phone backs up when it is home. Photos taken on a trip go to the server when you are back.
What happens if the Wi-Fi drops in the middle of a video?
The server keeps every byte it received. Next time, the phone asks where it stopped and sends only the rest, even after a restart.
If I delete a photo on my phone, is it gone from Filamama?
No. A backup outlives the phone. You can turn on mirroring for one device; then a deletion on the phone moves the photo to the server’s trash, which only you empty.
Can two phones back up to the same account?
Yes. The server recognises a photo by its content, so a picture already sent by another of your phones is not sent again.
Is there an iPhone app?
Not yet. Sync is Android only for now, with Piktures. An iPhone app is planned, on the same protocol. The web library works in any phone browser.