Photocean has no servers of its own and collects no data. It contains no ads or third-party analytics. Your photos travel only between this device and your server.
Sources
The server addresses and account names you add are stored on this device, and passwords are kept in the system keychain. Photos are sent only to servers you add.
Place Names
To let you search by place, Photocean looks up place names from photo coordinates using Apple’s map service. Each request sends only one coordinate, with no photo, file name, capture time, or people. Place names are stored on this device. Each location is looked up once per language, and photos whose source already provides place names in the current language aren’t looked up.
Photos in your photo library: iOS has already looked up the same coordinates, so no new information is shared.
Photos only on your server: their coordinates are sent to Apple’s map service for the first time. This is newly shared information.
Map tiles load only for the area you’re viewing, regardless of which photos you have.
iCloud Backup
When iCloud Backup is on, the following data is backed up to your own iCloud:
- Source addresses, account names, and names
- All settings
- Hidden items in your photo library
- People you’ve hidden, favorited, or featured more or less
- Deleted memories
- Places you’ve been (to about 100 m) and their names
- Photo tags and scores
- Data for spotting similar photos (can’t be turned back into images)
- Memories and their titles, including photos in memories you edited
The last four items are backed up after you unlock.
The hidden list records only the capture time, size, and file name of photos in your photo library, so they can be recognized on a new device. It doesn’t include the photos themselves. Hidden photos on your server are recorded on the server, not in this backup.
People are recorded only by the IDs your server assigns and your settings, without names or faces. Deleted memories are recorded only as identifiers generated from their type, theme, and time period, so they aren’t created again on a new device.
Places are coordinates rounded to a grid of about 100 m, not each photo’s original coordinates. Tags and scores are analysis results from this device, backed up so a new device doesn’t need to analyze again. Similar-photo data is a set of numbers that can’t be turned back into images.
Memories are recorded only by which memories exist and their titles. For memories you edited, the capture time, size, and file name of their photos are also recorded, without the photos themselves.
Passwords, photos, thumbnails, and the photo index are never included. Passwords are kept only in this device’s keychain, so you’ll sign in to each source again after restoring on a new device.
The backup is stored in your own iCloud, and Photocean can’t read it. You can turn off backup or delete it anytime in Settings > iCloud Backup.
Diagnostic Logs
Diagnostic logs are stored only on this device and leave it only when you export them. They contain no photos, passwords, server addresses, or account names.
Permissions
Photo library access is used to show, organize, and back up photos on this device. Local network access is used to connect to servers on your network. Face ID is used to open Hidden and Recently Deleted. Notifications tell you about new memories. You can change these anytime in the Settings app.
Purchases
Purchases and subscriptions are handled by the App Store. Photocean never receives your payment information.
Updated September 24, 2026