Hamster PhotoBackup User Guide

Hamster PhotoBackup turns the computer you already own into a private photo library. Photos on your phone are backed up to your computer in original quality over home Wi‑Fi, and you can browse everything on the computer from your phone. Photos travel only between your phone and your computer, never through the cloud, and no account is needed.

Before you start

You need a phone and a computer on the same Wi‑Fi network. The phone can be an iPhone (iOS 17.2 or later) or an Android phone (Android 9 or later); the computer can be a Mac (macOS 12 or later) or a Windows PC (64-bit Windows 10 version 1809 or later). Make sure the computer has enough space for your photos; if not, you can keep the library on an external drive.

The first backup of thousands of photos can take several hours. We suggest doing it overnight: plug in your phone, turn on Transfer Mode, set the phone aside, and it will be done by morning.

Step 1: Install the computer app and choose a library

1. On your computer, open the download section, choose the Mac or Windows version, install it and open it.
2. Click "Choose folder…" and pick a folder for your photos. A folder on an external drive works too.
3. Choose a folder layout. The default, "Same as your phone's albums", creates folders that match the albums on your phone; "By date" creates folders by year and date. You can change this later in Settings; it only affects photos backed up afterward.

Photos on the computer are plain files named by capture time, with one folder per phone. If you ever stop using Hamster PhotoBackup, you can still open and copy them in Finder (Mac) or File Explorer (Windows).

Step 2: Pair your phone with the computer

1. Install and open Hamster PhotoBackup on your phone and allow access to photos. On Android, also allow access to photo locations; otherwise backed-up photos would lose where they were taken, so the app tells you instead of backing them up quietly.
2. Tap the status dot in the top-right corner of the Photos tab to open the Backup page, then tap "Connect to computer". You can also go to Settings → Paired computer. On iPhone, the first time, iOS asks whether the app may find devices on your local network; tap "Allow", or the computer cannot be found.
3. Tap your computer's name in the list. Your phone and computer show the same 6-digit number; check that they match, then approve on the computer.
4. You can also scan a code: in the computer app, open the Devices page and click "Pair a phone", then scan the QR code with your phone. The code is valid for 5 minutes and works once, and no approval is needed on the computer after scanning.

You only need to pair once. Whenever your phone and computer are on the same Wi‑Fi and Hamster PhotoBackup is running on the computer, the phone app connects automatically. The dot in the top-right corner of the Photos tab shows the connection: green means connected, yellow means connecting or backing up, gray means not paired yet, and red means disconnected.

Step 3: Back up your photos

Once paired, backup starts automatically whenever the phone connects to the computer. The first backup includes all photos and videos; after that, only new and newly edited ones are sent. To back up manually instead, turn off "Back up automatically" in Settings and start from the Backup page.

Original quality. The original files are sent as-is, never re-encoded or compressed, with capture date, location and other information intact. On iPhone, Live Photos are backed up with their video, and photos edited in Photos keep both the original and the edited version; on Android, motion photos are already a single file and are backed up as-is. Every file is verified after transfer and only counts as backed up when it matches the phone exactly.

You can stop at any time. Files that are already transferred are never sent again, and unfinished transfers resume the next time you open the app.

Photos stored only in iCloud (iPhone). If you use "Optimize iPhone Storage" for iCloud Photos, some originals live only in iCloud. The first time the app finds such photos, it asks whether to back them up too. If you agree, it downloads the originals from iCloud first and then sends them to the computer, after the photos already on your phone. This takes longer and temporarily uses phone storage and data, and it pauses in Low Data Mode. If you do not turn it on, the Backup page keeps showing how many photos are not backed up.

Transfer Mode: back up overnight

If you have many photos, turn on Transfer Mode before bed: plug in, tap "Start transfer mode" on the Backup page, and set the phone aside, face down if you like. After 10 seconds without a touch, the screen turns fully black (no light, no burn-in) while the backup keeps running. Tap the screen to see progress, the number of items left and the estimated finish time.

The backup pauses when the phone is unplugged and below 20% battery, and slows down when the phone gets warm, then continues on its own. The computer stays awake while transferring.

Browse photos on the computer

The Photos tab on your phone shows your photos on a timeline. Switch between day, month and year; the fourth level, Albums, lists the albums on your phone (on Android, each folder of photos is an album, except the camera folder). By default it shows this phone's photos, including ones that are backed up and no longer on the phone. Tap the filter button in the top-right corner to switch to another phone or all photos, or to show only photos on the phone or only on the computer.

Photos that are only on the computer have a cloud badge. Tap one to see it full size or play the video or Live Photo. To put it back on your phone, touch and hold it, or choose "Save to phone" in the full-screen view; Live Photos are restored with their video on iPhone; Live Photos cannot be saved to Android phones yet.

On the computer, open Library in the main window to browse every phone's photos by date, or reveal the matching folder in Finder or File Explorer.

Free up space on your phone

Once your photos are backed up, you can safely delete them from your phone. In Settings, tap "Delete backed-up photos from this phone". The app checks each item with the computer first and only lists photos and videos whose original files are all verified on the computer. After you confirm, the phone asks you once more. On iPhone, deleted items go to Recently Deleted and can be recovered for 30 days; on Android 11 or later they go to the system trash, and earlier Android versions delete them permanently.

Two things to note: the phone must be connected to the computer, or the app cannot check; and if your iPhone uses iCloud Photos, deleting also removes the photos from iCloud and your other Apple devices, which is how iOS works. After deletion the photos are still on the computer and still appear in the Photos tab.

Tidy up

The Sort tab helps you clear out photos you do not need. "Random" shows photos you have not reviewed one at a time: swipe left to mark for deletion, swipe right to keep, with undo. "Similar" (iPhone only) finds bursts and several shots of the same scene and lets you choose which to remove. Both share one deletion list, which you confirm together before the system deletes them. The app never picks or deletes photos for you.

Free quota and unlimited upgrade

Hamster PhotoBackup is free to use. You get 10 GB of backup when you first pair, then 1 GB per phone per day; when the day's quota runs out, the remaining photos continue the next day. On iPhone, a one-time purchase unlocks unlimited backup at the price shown in the App Store for your region, and with Family Sharing one purchase covers your family. Free and unlimited backups have the same speed and the same original quality, and photos that are already backed up can always be viewed and saved back to the phone whether or not you pay. The app shows the exact quota.

FAQ

My phone cannot find my computer. Make sure both are on the same Wi‑Fi, the computer is not asleep, and Hamster PhotoBackup is running on it. On iPhone, also check that Local Network is on in Settings → Hamster PhotoBackup. Some routers isolate devices on the guest network, so use the main network.

If I delete a photo in my phone's photo gallery, is it deleted from the computer? No. Backup is not sync: files already backed up stay on the computer when you delete them on the phone, and the computer only notes that the photo is "no longer on this phone". Only deleting inside Hamster PhotoBackup syncs to all devices, and those photos go to the Trash for 30 days first.

What if I unplug the external drive? The computer app shows that the backup folder cannot be found, and backups from the phone pause. Plug the drive back in and everything resumes; there is no need to pair again.

Can several phones back up to the same computer? Yes. Pair each phone separately. The computer creates a folder for each phone named after its model, and you can give each phone a nickname in the computer app.

Is the computer my only backup? Yes. Hamster PhotoBackup does not use the cloud, so the library folder on your computer is your backup. We recommend copying it to another drive regularly in case the computer or drive fails.

How do I report a problem? Double-tap the version number at the bottom of Settings on the phone or computer to export diagnostic logs; they contain no photos or passwords. Send the logs and a description of the problem to [email protected] and we will get back to you soon.