javipas

Back in January 2025, I shared a massive post about how I set up my own Google Photos alternative using this exceptional Open Source project called Immich.

I’m still enjoying its virtues, but for the longest time, I suffered from its one major flaw: the lack of a (good) native TV client. Immich looks phenomenal on a computer or smartphone, but if you want to view family photos on the big screen, you hit a wall. My workaround involved a long HDMI cable or casting a Chrome tab from my MacBook Air — functional, but far from ideal.

The Problem. I wanted a native Android TV/Google TV experience to navigate my library seamlessly. There was a glimmer of hope in the form of the Immich Android TV project. The developer, giejay, is quite active, but the app lacked two features essential for my sanity: a Timeline and Favorites management.

Without a timeline, finding a photo from 2015 meant scrolling linearly through 140,000 images (that’s the size of my photo library) starting from today. That’s not browsing; that’s an endurance sport.

So what I did is a fork of the official Immich Android TV project and, with AI as a coding assistant, I added a few features that I wanted to add to that project. It would have been impossible for me otherwise, but AI allows (almost) anyone to transform his ideas for an app into a reality. And if there’s an Open Source project already created, like in this case, that concept is even more powerful.

In case you're interested, here's the rest of the story with lots of images and links to the GitHub Repository and the APK.

Please let me know what you think!

Ever wonder how your cheap HP printer became a subscription service? This story goes back to King Camp Gillette and his disposable razor. It’s part of a bigger story on how the 'razor-and-blades' business model (expensive consumables!) infected everything from ink and coffee pods (Keurig/Nespresso) to modern razor clubs. And from that we arrived to the curse of the subscription economy.

In fact they didn't make just services: they made good services. It happened with Netflix or Spotify. For the first time ever, piracy was a worse option. Netflix and Spotify were convenient and affordable.

Then came enshittification, of course.

I've been trying to find the best way to manage my photo library without using Google Photos.

This is a (long) story of how over the years I've tried several alternatives (the good old Picasa, Monument 2, Synology Photos) to end building an Unraid server and test there a lot of self-hosted alternatives, which I compare to finally select Immich, the one that I think is the best for me.

Thanks, sorry for that.

Indeed. The author is the brilliant Cory Doctorow. He usually overwhelms.

As the author says, that 150% is not that good for the quality of text fonts showed on screen. I've been using a Dell UP2715K (27", 5K) for a few years and I've always used it at 200% scaling as the piece suggests. The texts are crystal clear, it's almost like seeing not a screen, but a sticker: everything is so well defined and precise.

Maybe that's because my eyesight is not that good lately. Even considering that, I really can perceive a 150% scaling on a 4K monitor when I see it. It isn't that bad and sure you can work with that, but man, do try 5K at 200% and then tell me about it.

It's a real tragedy there are not more 5K displays. The Apple Studio Display is expensive and a little absurd with that webcam and the A13 chip, but at least you can enjoy that resolution. I wonder if display makers will consider this someday and stop selling so much gaming models and so little 'work' models.