Questions families ask
The four asked most often, then the rest grouped by task.
You might want to know these first
Cost and privacy
Does it cost anything?
Nothing. No subscription, no storage fee.
Your photos sit on your own computer, so the only limit is the free space on that disk. The code is open source on GitHub under AGPL-3.0.
Where do my photos go?
From your phone to your own computer. We do not run any server that stores them.
When the two devices can reach each other directly, that is the whole path. When they cannot, the encrypted data is handed through a relay server, which only forwards it and can neither read nor keep it.
That relay and the address lookup are run by number 0, the maintainers of the open-source library iroh. This path is only used when a direct connection fails.
Install and pairing
Will it run on my phone and computer?
The computer needs a Mac with an M-series chip. The phone needs Android 8.0 or newer, any brand.
The iPhone app and the Windows app are not published.
How long does setup take?
Two installs and one scan, and no technical knowledge.
Install the app on the computer. The wizard asks which folder should hold your photos, then shows a QR code. Install the app on the phone, scan the code, tap Allow on the computer. That is the whole thing.
What permissions does the app ask for, and why?
Photos and videos, camera, notifications, background running, network, and installing updates.
- Photos and videos: reading the albums you chose to back up.
- Camera: only for scanning the pairing QR code on the computer screen.
- Notifications: pairing lost, photo permission revoked, background backup stopped by the system, or a backup that failed.
- Background running: keep transferring with the screen off, and pick up again after a restart.
- Battery whitelist: stop the system from killing background work to save power.
- Installing updates: to install a new version from inside the app.
Contacts, location, microphone and SMS are not requested.
The system blocked the installer. Now what?
That is normal for an app downloaded outside the app stores: Gatekeeper on macOS, the "unknown source" prompt on Android.
The steps to allow it are in the repository docs.
Backup and transfer
Why does the photo permission have to be "Allow all"?
With "Selected photos" the app cannot read the rest, and those never get backed up.
Change it to Allow all in system settings. Which albums get backed up is set separately, in the album list inside P-Pass.
How long does the first backup take?
Depends on how many photos you have and how fast your home Wi-Fi is. The phone's home screen keeps showing how many are still waiting.
You can close the computer or lose the network halfway. It picks up where it stopped and does not send anything twice.
Will it use my mobile data or drain the battery?
Backup is Wi-Fi-only by default; the mobile data switch is in settings, and it is off.
Nothing runs while there is nothing to send. HarmonyOS, Samsung and some other systems kill background work to save power; the app asks about the battery setting when that happens.
Does the computer have to stay on?
It has to be on while it is backing up.
With the computer off, the photos stay on your phone untouched. Once the computer comes back and the two reconnect, the phone sends whatever is still missing.
How do I know a backup worked?
Several places show it; no single number has to be trusted on its own.
- Phone home screen: one standing line, "Phone 1,234 · backed up 1,180 · waiting 54", plus the time of the last success.
- Photos on the phone: everything already on the computer is browsable there.
- Photos page in the computer app: the same library as a thumbnail wall.
- The folder on the computer: the original files are in it, and they open from Finder.
- Activity in the computer app: who backed up what, and when.
A failure sends a notification that names the files and where it stopped. Success is silent.
Photos and data
If I delete a photo on my phone, is the copy gone too?
No, it stays. Backup only ever adds.
To clear photos off the computer, open the folder and delete them there. If you move or delete files in that folder, P-Pass records it and does not quietly put them back.
Can my family see the photos on my phone?
Yes. Phones paired to the same computer share one library, and everyone can see what the others backed up.
Where are the photos kept on the computer?
In the folder you picked. They are ordinary files, and they open by double-clicking.
The app's Photos page browses the same library as thumbnails. Inside the folder each phone gets its own directory, named after a device id.
I got a new phone, or lost mine. Are the photos safe?
They are on the computer, so they do not go anywhere with the phone.
Pair the new phone by scanning the code once. Nothing already backed up is uploaded a second time. To get a photo back onto a phone, the Photos page can save it to the gallery or share it.
What if the computer or its disk dies?
The backup lives on the one computer you chose. There is no second copy.
Nothing is locked up, though: copy that folder to an external drive or another machine and you have a second copy.
Notices and problems
The phone says it is "waiting for backup conditions". What does that mean?
The automatic conditions are not met yet. It starts on its own once they are; you do not have to do anything.
By default those are Wi-Fi and a battery that is not low. The system can also stop background work to save power; the app asks about the battery setting when that happens.
What notifications will I get?
Four kinds only: pairing lost, photo permission revoked, background backup stopped by the system, and a backup that failed. A successful backup is silent.
The notification permission is used for those four and nothing else. You can switch them off in settings.
The phone says the pairing is gone. Now what?
Nothing was lost; the photos are still on the phone. Scan the QR code on the computer again and backup continues.
It usually means the computer removed this phone; Family & devices on the computer shows whether it is still paired.
What happens when the computer runs out of space?
Backup pauses and waits, and nothing already stored is deleted. The phone says the storage computer is full.
Backup continues on its own once there is space again. The phone warns early, once the computer has less than 5 GB left.
What do I do if I stop using it?
Uninstall the app on the phone and quit P-Pass on the computer. Nothing backs up after that.
To cut off a single phone, remove it under Family & devices on the computer. The photos already on the computer stay where they are: they are ordinary files, and whether to delete them is your call.