Photography & Media

A Photo Management Workflow Without Big Tech

• Description: Builds a complete de-Googled photo management workflow using open-source and privacy-respecting alternatives to Google/Apple/Amazon Photos.
• Price: Mostly Free / Open Source
• Workflow Tips: Yes — complete alternative photo management workflow.

Apps for Photo Archiving Workflow

• Description: Overview of the author's photo archiving tools as part of moving away from big tech cloud photo services.
• Price: Varies
• Workflow Tips: Yes — photo archiving workflow description.

Clotski

• Description: Menu bar app ($2.99) that watches image folders and provides quick access to screenshots and other frequently-used images.
• Price: Paid — $2.99

DearMob iPhone Manager

• Description: iPhone management tool for transferring photos, music, and data when iCloud backup fails; for both casual and power users.
• Price: Paid

Digikam

• Description: Free and open-source photo management app replacing Apple Photos, Google Photos, and Amazon Photos; non-proprietary database.
• Price: Free / Open Source

Digital Photo Frame App

• Description: App that turns old Apple hardware into a digital photo frame; reviewed as a way to repurpose aging iMacs and iPads.
• Price: Paid

Downie

• Description: Video downloader for YouTube and other streaming sites; the author's preferred tool for downloading video content.
• Price: Paid

FlexiBackup

• Description: Solves iPhone backup problems when both iCloud and iTunes backup fail; successfully recovered data in a real-world scenario.
• Price: Paid

FreeTube

• Description: Free and open-source ad-free YouTube player for Mac, Windows, and Linux; no account needed, no tracking.
• Price: Free / Open Source

IINA

• Description: Free and open-source video player for Mac; modern macOS-native design alternative to VLC.
• Price: Free / Open Source

Kiano

• Description: Free AI-powered image viewer that creates a visual map of your Apple Photos library sorted by visual similarity.
• Price: Free

Lossless Cut

• Description: Free GUI for FFmpeg that makes lossless video trimming and cutting easy without command-line knowledge.
• Price: Free / Open Source

Metadata Lab

• Description: EXIF and photo metadata editor for removing or modifying camera data, GPS location, and other photo metadata.
• Price: Paid

NameQuick

• Description: File renaming utility that integrates into image management workflows; note: significantly changed since the original review.
• Price: Paid

Permute

• Description: All-in-one media converter for images, video, and audio with a simple drag-and-drop interface.
• Price: Paid

PhotoSweeper

• Description: Powerful duplicate photo finder and remover for Mac Photos libraries; one-time purchase.
• Price: Paid

PhotoSync

• Description: App for backing up iPhone photos to NAS, Mac, or cloud services without iCloud; privacy-focused alternative.
• Price: Paid

Polycapture

• Description: New screen recording app with advanced capture options for tutorials and presentations.
• Price: Paid

PowerPhotos

• Description: Extends Apple Photos with library management, deduplication, and merging features; a power-user companion to Photos.
• Price: Paid

Radarr

• Description: Movie collection manager for legal Usenet and BitTorrent media acquisition; open-source server-based tool.
• Price: Free / Open Source

SnapMotion

• Description: Captures high-quality still images from video files at precise moments; avoids the quality loss of screenshots.
• Price: Paid

tinyMediaManager

• Description: Power user toolbox for organizing large local movie and TV show collections with NFO metadata and artwork management.
• Price: Free / Open Source (Donation)

Two Apps for Presentations, Screen Capture

• Description: Reviews two screen recording/presentation tools from developer Martin Lexow for tutorials and training videos.
• Price: Paid

Video Converter All-in-One

• Description: Video conversion app supporting a wide range of formats; reviewed as part of a media workflow toolkit.
• Price: Paid