Show and Tell: A GUI Desktop Tool for Manual ADB Syncing and Local Backups (Android to Immich)

[PabloG55]

Hello everyone,

First off, a huge thank you to the developers for creating Immich. It's an incredible project, and I've been enjoying self-hosting my photos with it.

Like many of you, I'm very particular about my backup workflow. While the mobile app's auto-upload is fantastic for convenience, I wanted a more manual, deliberate process that gave me a bit more control and an extra layer of data security. I was also tired of dealing with Android's MTP file transfers, which always seemed to disconnect or fail for me when copying large folders. Since the tool I wanted didn't exist, I decided to build it!

I'm excited to share the Immich Sync Assistant, a simple desktop GUI application I've been working on.

You can find the project on GitHub here: https://github.com/PabloG55/immich_sync_assistant

What does it do?

It follows a different philosophy: Phone -> USB -> Your PC -> Immich Server.

Instead of syncing directly from the phone, it uses your PC as a secure staging area. This provides a robust, user-initiated workflow with a few key features:

• Stable Wired Sync via ADB: It uses ADB to pull files, which is far more reliable than the standard MTP connection that often fails. No more random disconnects!
• Intelligent Duplicate Check (Phone-Side): The tool checks for duplicates before pulling files, so it won't even copy photos from your phone if they already exist in the local backup directory, saving time and disk space.
• GUI for Everything: A simple Tkinter interface to configure your server, browse and select phone folders, and monitor the backup process.
• Full Metadata Preservation: Ensures that all EXIF data (camera model, date/time, GPS location, etc.) is kept intact during the transfer, which is critical for formats like .gif and .webp.
• Automatic Local Archiving: After pulling the files, it automatically creates a timestamped .zip archive on your PC as a secondary local backup.
• Full Cleanup Control: After a successful sync, it asks you if you want to delete the files from your phone and/or the temporary files from your PC. You're always in control.

Who is this for?

This tool is for anyone who, like me, has struggled with Android file transfers, prefers a manual sync process, wants the peace of mind of an extra local backup, or needs to transfer large batches of photos without relying on a network connection.

The project is still under development, so I would be grateful if you would please test it with non-critical files first before relying on it for your primary backups. I would love to get your feedback, so please feel free to try it out, report any bugs, or suggest new features on the GitHub page.

Thanks for taking a look!