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Set up phone photo auto-backup to Synology Photos

A community-sourced answer, with sources. Ask the AI a follow-up for your exact setup.

Enable Photo Backup in the Synology Photos mobile app.

Where backups are saved
- Personal Space: /home/Photos/MobileBackup
- Shared Space: /photo/MobileBackup

iPhone/iOS
- Go to iOS Settings > Apps > Photos Mobile > Notifications > Allow Notifications.
- This helps background backup run more smoothly.
- On iOS 16 or above, default backup folders use generic names like iPhone or iPad instead of device names.

Android
- Go to Android Settings > Apps > Synology Photos and set battery optimization to Unrestricted.
- For Huawei, Xiaomi, and ASUS, enable Autostart in device settings.
- On the phone’s home screen, press and hold the Photos icon, tap App info, and enable Background data from the mobile data usage page.
- Disable automatic power-saving mode and connect the device to the charger.

Free up phone storage
- Use More > Free Up Space.
- You can filter by time range, file size, and folders before removing backed-up items.
- The items remain accessible in Synology Photos after removal.

Notes
- After backup is enabled, you can view all photos and videos in the mobile app whether they are backed up or not.
- In Shared Space, folder share permissions affect whether a folder can be assigned as a custom destination path.

Sources used: [1], [7], [12]

SOURCES
[1] Synology Photos | Android - Synology Knowledge Center[2] Synology Photos | Android - Synology Knowledge Center[3] "Synology Photos" iOS app will not automatically back up | Synology Community[4] Manage Photos | Synology Photos - Synology Knowledge Center[5] Manage Photos | Synology Photos - Synology Knowledge Center[6] backup photo's of my Phone (android and IOS) | Synology Community[7] Synology Photos | iOS - Synology Knowledge Center[8] Synology Photos | iOS - Synology Knowledge Center[9] ideviceimagemounter — command reference[10] idevicebackup2 — command reference[11] Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide[12] Synology Photos Technical Specifications | Synology Inc.[13] Release Notes for DSM | Synology Inc.[14] Release Notes for Synology Photos | Synology Inc.
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