IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Noodle Gallery – Self-hosted photo and video manager forked from Immich

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

Theme 1: Fork relationship and contribution practices

“Hey, I'm the main contributor to this repo. I do review the code - the reason why all of the commits are shown in a short time is just because of the way that I rebase on upstream Immich.” – Deeds67
“It's not really an alternative to Immich as the title says, it's a fork that's continuously rebased with each release.” – bastawhiz
“There's no mention there of ‘our vibe‑coded implementations of these features were declined by upstream because we vibecoded them’; instead, they frame it as ‘upstream doesn't want these features for their users’…” – ubertaco
“I see no contributors and hundreds of commits in a very short amount of time. That's a red flag for now.” – y-c-o-m-b

Theme 2: Features addressing Immich shortcomings

“My only issue with Immich is the partner sharing and face recognition overhead per account. It is a massive oversight. Looks like Noodle Gallery explicitly solves this (and more). I'm sold.” – y-c-o-m-b
“Thank you for that -- the workaround for multiple users sharing a set of photos plus their own stuff is the one thing that's kept my family away from adopting it.” – tclancy
“And quite a few of the features seem like common sense additions that should be pulled into Immich itself.” – Firerouge
“Immich is absolutely wonderful. It may have some shortcomings … like partner sharing and sharing facial recognition between users.” – jmathai

Theme 3: Concerns about AI/LLM‑generated code and trust

“I feel like the comparison page is full of them.” – ValentineC (referring to “Claudisms”)
“I read their ‘why use our fork’ page, and it's very obviously AI‑written, which causes me to distrust it.” – ubertaco
“Why is the link to a (seemingly) AI summary?” – scosman
“Please no AI slop.” – szmarczak
“Looking at the latest commits, Noodle Galery has many signed with Claude, but Immich doesn't. Is LLM policy a reason for fork?” – gnull

🚀 Project Ideas

FamilyShare for Immich/Noodle

Summary

  • A self‑hosted extension suite for Immich/Noodle that adds seamless partner/family sharing with shared face recognition, eliminating per‑account overhead and confusing album‑centric UI.
  • Core value: one‑click family photo hub where everyone sees shared spaces, faces are recognized across accounts, and privacy is preserved without forcing a fork.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Self‑hosted photo enthusiasts, families, small teams who want simple multi‑user sharing
Core Feature Shared spaces with cross‑user face recognition and unified permission UI
Tech Stack Node.js/TypeScript (matching Immich), Svelte frontend, PostgreSQL, REST API extensions
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • HN users highlighted the pain: “My only issue with Immich is the partner sharing and face recognition overhead per account.” (y‑c‑o‑m‑b) and “the workaround for multiple users sharing a set of photos plus their own stuff is the one thing that's kept my family away from adopting it.” (tclancy)
  • By providing a clean, upstream‑compatible add‑on, the project could reduce fork fragmentation and spark discussion about merging sharing improvements into Immich proper.

TakeoutEasy

Summary

  • A cross‑platform CLI/desktop tool that automates downloading Google Takeout, merges the split ZIP files, validates integrity, and imports photos/videos directly into Immich/Noodle with full metadata preservation.
  • Core value: turn a painful, manual Takeout process into a single command that resumes on failure and removes the need for rclone juggling.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Individuals migrating from Google Photos to self‑hosted solutions (Immich/Noodle/ente)
Core Feature Automated Takeout download, merge, validation, and import pipeline
Tech Stack Python (Click/PySimpleGUI), Google Takeout API, libarchive for ZIP handling, exiftool for metadata
Difficulty Low
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Commenters complained about Takeout’s hassle: “The problem with google takeout is that it generates hundred of files to download as ZIP. I tried it in my own collection (800GB).” (kwanbix) and the need for rclone workarounds (jmathai).
  • A reliable import tool would be welcomed by the self‑hosted photo community and could lower the barrier to leaving Google Photos, encouraging practical utility and discussion around data portability.

PhotoVault Sync

Summary

  • An open‑source, end‑to‑end encrypted mobile (iOS/Android) and desktop sync client that works with any Immich‑compatible server, providing reliable background upload/download, automatic local deletion after upload, and conflict‑free sync.
  • Core value: give users a private, seamless photo backup experience similar to ente.com but fully self‑hostable and without relying on proprietary apps.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Privacy‑conscious users who want encrypted, automatic photo backup from phone to self‑hosted storage
Core Feature E2EE background sync with post‑upload device cleanup and cross‑platform clients
Tech Stack Flutter (mobile) + Tauri (desktop), libsodium for encryption, WebSocket/REST API to Immich, SQLite for local queue
Difficulty High
Monetization Revenue‑ready: hosted premium tier with optional managed server (e.g., $5/mo)

Notes

  • HN users expressed iOS background sync frustration: “I could never get the iOS version of Immich to reliably sync photos without having to manually open it…” (ubertaco) and the desire for encrypted alternatives: “My photos and videos are the most important files… Being end‑to‑end encrypted buys some peace of mind…” (zzyzxd).
  • PhotoVault Sync would directly address those concerns, likely sparking lively discussion about encryption trade‑offs and practical utility for families seeking a Google Photos replacement.

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