Best ways to back up iPhone photos to a NAS (2026)
By Isaac Griffiths, developer of SMBDrop ·
If you own a NAS, it's natural to want your iPhone photos on it: a copy you control, on drives you can see, with no monthly storage bill. There are more ways to do that than you might expect, and they're surprisingly different. Some send plain files to any share, some only talk to one brand of NAS, and some need you to run a whole photo server.
This guide compares nine options on the things that matter for a backup: what it costs, whether you need an account, whether you get your original files, whether it can run in the background, and whether it works with any SMB share or only one ecosystem.
Disclosure: I make SMBDrop. Here's why I ranked it first, and when you should pick something else.
I built SMBDrop because I wanted exactly one thing: originals from my iPhone onto my own share, with no account and no subscription. If that's what you want too, it's the most direct tool on this list, so it's at the top. But it's deliberately narrow. If you want a photo timeline and face search on your NAS, pick Synology Photos, QuMagie or Immich. If you want one app for NAS, cloud services and computers with lots of automation, pick PhotoSync. If you only move a few files now and then, the free Files app is enough. I've tried to describe every option fairly; prices and features change, so check the App Store before buying.
The quick comparison
Prices are US App Store prices as of October 2026; UK and other prices differ, and developers change pricing, so check the current listing.
| Option | Price model | Account needed | Originals | Background / automatic | Any SMB share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMBDrop | £2.99 once | No | Yes, incl. both Live Photo halves | Yes: background sends and Automatic Backup | Yes |
| Synology Photos | Free (needs a Synology NAS) | DSM account | Into Synology Photos' library | Yes, within iOS limits | No (Synology only) |
| QNAP Qfile Pro / QuMagie | Free (needs a QNAP NAS) | QNAP NAS account | Optional: HEIC original and Live Photo video | Yes, location-triggered in Qfile Pro | No (QNAP only) |
| PhotoSync | Free tier; Pro ~$5.99 once; Premium subscription or ~$24.99 lifetime | No | Yes on paid tiers (free converts HEIC/RAW to JPEG) | Premium only: location, time or Shortcuts | Yes, plus many other targets |
| FE File Explorer Pro | ~$4.99 once | No | Not documented | Manual album backup | Yes |
| Owlfiles | Free basic; Pro subscription or ~$29.99 lifetime | Not for local servers | Not documented | Pro: automatic backup option | Yes |
| Files app (Connect to Server) | Free, built in | No | Only if you choose the right share options; Live Photos usually still only | No (manual, in the foreground) | Yes (SMB 2+) |
| Immich | Free, open source (optional paid supporter key) | Account on your own server | Yes, never modified | Yes, timing controlled by iOS | No (uploads to the Immich server) |
| Nextcloud | Free (needs a Nextcloud server) | Nextcloud account | Generally yes; Live Photos as .heic + .mov | Auto upload; reliability varies | No (uploads to Nextcloud) |
1. SMBDrop: originals to any SMB share, no account
Best for: people who want plain, untouched files in a folder on their own NAS or computer, without an account or a subscription.
SMBDrop sends photos, videos and files from your iPhone straight to SMB shares on Synology, QNAP, TrueNAS, UGREEN, Unraid, Windows and macOS file sharing, or Samba on Linux. Find Shares lists what your server exports so you don't have to type share names, and custom ports are supported.
- Originals, untouched: no recompression, metadata kept, and Live Photos keep both the photo and the video.
- Background transfers and a durable retry queue: you can leave the app, and failed items wait to be retried rather than silently disappearing.
- Automatic Backup: sends every new photo and video to a share you choose, when you open the app and overnight while charging. Select All handles the first big send.
- Import back: browse a share and pull files onto the iPhone, verified byte-for-byte and never overwriting anything.
- Privacy: no account, no analytics, no tracking, no cloud. Passwords stay in the iOS Keychain.
Limitations: SMB only, with no cloud services, FTP or WebDAV. No photo timeline or face search; it puts files in folders and leaves browsing to your NAS. iPhone only, iOS 17 or later. Automatic Backup is subject to the same iOS background rules as every app.
2. Synology Photos: the best experience if you own a Synology
Best for: Synology owners who want a Google Photos-style library on their NAS.
Free, and genuinely polished: timeline, albums, people and object grouping, sharing. The iOS app backs up your camera roll into your Synology Photos library using your DSM account. As with every iOS app, background running is limited; Synology recommends enabling the app's notifications and keeping the phone on a charger to keep backups moving. It only works with a Synology NAS running the Synology Photos package. Our Synology guide covers both this and the plain-SMB route.
3. QNAP Qfile Pro and QuMagie: QNAP's own route
Best for: QNAP owners.
Qfile Pro is QNAP's free file app, with an automatic upload feature for photos. QNAP's documentation shows useful format controls: upload HEIC as the original, as JPEG, or both, and Live Photos as the photo only or photo plus video. Background uploads are triggered by location changes, so you'll need to allow location access, and there are "only when charging" and cellular options. QuMagie is QNAP's photo-library app, with similar backup options feeding its library. Both only work with a QNAP NAS.
4. PhotoSync: the Swiss Army knife
Best for: people who want one app for NAS, computers and cloud services, with lots of automation.
PhotoSync has been around for years and supports a long list of destinations: SMB, SFTP, FTP and WebDAV, computers via companion apps, and many cloud services. Pricing is tiered: a free version that can transfer, including to a NAS, but sends photos and videos in reduced quality and converts HEIC and RAW to JPEG; a one-off Pro purchase (around $5.99 in the US) that removes those limits; and Premium (around $0.99/month, $6.49/year or $24.99 lifetime in the US) which adds Autotransfer, triggered when you arrive at a location, at a set time while charging, or via Shortcuts. It's flexible and mature; the trade-off is that automatic backup costs more than a one-off purchase, and there are more settings to understand. See SMBDrop vs PhotoSync for a detailed comparison.
5. FE File Explorer Pro: a file manager with photo backup
Best for: people who want a full network file manager that can also back up albums.
A one-off purchase (around $4.99 in the US) that connects to SMB, WebDAV, FTP, SFTP and cloud services. Its photo backup works per album: pick an album, set a destination, and tap Backup Album. I couldn't find documentation on automatic or background backup, or on how it handles HEIC and Live Photos, so check those if they matter to you.
6. Owlfiles: the same developer's newer file manager
Best for: people who want a modern multi-protocol file manager and don't mind a subscription.
From Skyjos, the makers of FE File Explorer. It supports SMB, WebDAV, FTP, SFTP, NFS and S3. The free plan allows up to three connections; photo backup needs Pro (around $1.99/month, $12.99/year or $29.99 lifetime in the US). Backup can be set to run automatically and can sort photos into year and month folders. How and when it runs in the background, and how it treats Live Photos, wasn't documented when I checked.
7. The Files app's Connect to Server: free and built in
Best for: occasional transfers, and documents.
Every iPhone can connect to an SMB share from the Files app: Browse → ⋯ → Connect to Server. It's free and reliable for browsing and copying files. For photos, though, you go through the share sheet each time, you need to pick the right format options to get originals, Live Photos usually lose their video, and there's no automatic or background backup. Details in what Connect to Server can and can't do.
8. Immich: self-hosted Google Photos
Best for: people comfortable running Docker who want a full photo platform.
Immich is free and open source, and its feature list rivals the big cloud services: timeline, maps, face recognition, search, sharing. The iOS app backs up in the background (iOS decides when) and Immich never modifies your originals. You run the server yourself, typically in Docker on a NAS or home server, as many Unraid, TrueNAS, Synology and QNAP owners do. Photos go into Immich's own library rather than a plain SMB share you choose. There's an optional paid supporter licence, but no features are paywalled.
9. Nextcloud: if you already run it
Best for: households already using Nextcloud for files and calendars.
The free Nextcloud iOS app has auto upload for photos and videos into your Nextcloud server, and uploads Live Photos as separate .heic and .mov files. Users report mixed reliability for background uploads on iOS, which has improved in recent versions. Nextcloud can store data on SMB via its External Storage feature, but the phone talks to Nextcloud, not to the share. It's a lot of infrastructure to run just for photo backup, but excellent if it's already there.
How to choose
- I want plain originals in a folder on any NAS or PC, no account: SMBDrop, or the Files app if you're happy doing it manually.
- I want a photo library experience and I own a Synology or QNAP: Synology Photos or QuMagie/Qfile Pro.
- I want a photo platform and I'm happy self-hosting: Immich.
- I want one app for NAS, cloud and computer, with lots of triggers: PhotoSync.
- I want a general network file manager: FE File Explorer or Owlfiles.
Whatever you choose, a NAS copy isn't a complete backup on its own. Keep a second copy somewhere else (an external drive or an offsite backup) and use snapshots if your NAS supports them. If you're moving off iCloud entirely, see how to back up an iPhone without iCloud.
FAQ
What is the best app to back up iPhone photos to a NAS?
It depends on what you want. For untouched originals in a folder on any SMB share with no account, SMBDrop (which I make). For a photo library on a Synology, Synology Photos. For self-hosted photo management, Immich. For many destinations and automation, PhotoSync.
Can I back up iPhone photos to a NAS for free?
Yes. The built-in Files app can copy photos to any SMB share manually, and Synology Photos, QNAP's apps, Immich and Nextcloud are free if you have the matching server.
Which apps keep Live Photos intact on a NAS?
SMBDrop sends both halves. QNAP's apps and PhotoSync have options to include the video. Immich and Nextcloud back up Live Photos too. The Files app's Save to Files usually saves only the still.
Do I need a subscription to back up iPhone photos to my NAS automatically?
No. SMBDrop's Automatic Backup is part of the one-off price, and the vendor apps and Immich are free. PhotoSync's automatic transfers are in its Premium tier, which has a lifetime option as well as a subscription.
More guides
- How to back up an iPhone without iCloud
- How to back up iPhone photos to a Synology NAS
- How to send iPhone photos and files to Unraid or TrueNAS over SMB
- How to copy files from an iPhone to a Windows shared folder
- SMBDrop vs PhotoSync
- The iPhone Files app's Connect to Server: what it can and can't do
- Live Photos and original iPhone files on a NAS: what actually gets copied
Try SMBDrop
Send original photos, videos and files from your iPhone straight to your own SMB share. One purchase, no account, no subscription.
£2.99 once · no subscription · iOS 17+