If you wanted to mirror your iPhone photos to a Synology NAS, you previously had the choice between Docker containers, scripts with icloudpd, cronjobs or an entire VM. Cloud Sync does not speak iCloud, and Synology Photos only pulls the photos indirectly via the iPhone. A new community package does away with this: iCloudPhotoSync runs as a classic DSM 7.2 app with its own tile, interface and scheduler service – and brings the complete iCloud photo library directly to the DiskStation.
What makes iCloudPhotoSync different
The package was developed by Euphonique and has been available on GitHub since April 15, 2026. It is installed in the classic way via a .spk file in the package center under “Manual installation”. Because it is a community package, DSM reports the usual note about unsigned packages – wave through, done.
In contrast to Docker-based solutions, the app integrates natively into DSM. It uses the in-house SYNO.ux components, so it looks like any other official Synology extension. After installation, the package automatically creates the target folder /volume1/iCloudPhotos and creates a separate system user iCloudPhotoSync, which only has write access to this folder. Root rights are not required.
Range of functions in detail
When syncing, the app retrieves the entire media library including your own albums. You can specify separately for each album whether it is to be synchronized. Multiple Apple IDs are also possible – each with its own destination folder and parameters. This is practical for families with separate accounts.
Synchronization is incremental: only new or changed images are downloaded, existing files are skipped by the app. If a photo appears both in the photo stream and in an album, it only ends up on the disk once thanks to hard links. For media libraries of around 1,000 photos or more, the client pulls several streams from iCloud in parallel so that the whole thing doesn’t take forever – configurable to 1, 2, 4 or 8 simultaneous downloads per account.
Folder structure and file names
When it comes to organization, the app lets the user decide. You can choose between year-only folders, year-month, year-month-day or everything flat in one directory. You can also choose between the original Apple names or date-based variants for the file names.
HEIC files can remain in their original format, be converted to JPG or both can be stored in parallel – in separate subfolders if required. If there are name conflicts, a simple rule applies: skip, overwrite or rename.
Time control and scheduler
A sync interval of between one and 24 hours can be set for each Apple ID. If you don’t want to wait, you can start the synchronization manually via a button in the interface. The scheduler attaches itself to the DSM package management, continues to run in the background, survives restarts and is terminated cleanly when the package is stopped.
Login and security
For iCloud login, iCloudPhotoSync adheres to the official Apple specifications. You log in using your existing Apple ID with active two-factor authentication. Confirmation is sent to the iPhone, iPad or Mac as usual, optionally via SMS. The actual login takes place via SRP – the same protocol used by the official Apple clients.
The session remains valid for around 60 days and is reused. This eliminates the need to enter the 2FA code every day. If a session expires, DSM sends a notification around 14 days in advance, according to the developer, so that the sync does not stop.
In terms of data protection, the developer states that the Apple password is only kept in memory during the 2FA handshake and then discarded. The trusted session cookie is then stored under /var/packages/iCloudPhotoSync/var/accounts/ and can only be read by the package user. There is no telemetry, the source code is openly available on GitHub under MIT license. If you want, you can audit or fork it yourself.
Technical overview
| Feature | Product details |
|---|---|
| name | iCloud Photo Sync (iCloudPhotoSync) |
| Developer: Euphonique | Euphonique (GitHub) |
| license | MIT |
| License version | 1.0 (April 15, 2026) |
| Prerequisite | Synology DSM 7.2 or newer |
| architecture | noarch (pure Python) |
| Installation | Manual .spk installation via package center |
| Languages | English, German |
| Runtime | Own system user, without root |
What does not (yet) work
1.0 is not completely smooth. According to initial reports, shared albums do not always appear in the list. Even with Advanced Data Protection activated – i.e. Apple’s end-to-end encryption for iCloud content – the app is likely to reach its limits because Apple does not allow web API access to the encrypted photos in this mode. Older Synology models with Kernel 3.x are also not supported.
Also important: the app mirrors. If you delete a photo in iCloud, you will no longer see it in the target structure on the NAS the next time you sync – at least if this option is active. If you use your iCloud media library as a real storage space, you should also consider a version backup via Synology Hyper Backup or Snapshots.
Installation step by step
The setup follows the classic pattern:
- Load the current .spk file from the GitHub releases
- Install in the package center under “Manual installation”
- Confirm the warning about unsigned packages
- Open the new “iCloud Photo Sync” tile in the DSM main menu
- Enter Apple ID via “Add account” and confirm 2FA
- Select albums, folder structure and formats, sync starts automatically
According to the developer, the first complete synchronization of a large media library can take several hours. Subsequent syncs then run incrementally and are usually completed in seconds to a few minutes.
Suitable hardware for the photo archive
An iCloud media library with several thousand photos and videos eats up space. If you are upgrading the NAS specifically for this purpose, you should opt for NAS-compatible hard disks with CMR. A few recommendations:
- Seagate IronWolf Pro 8 TB – classic NAS drive with 7,200 rpm, 256 MB cache, CMR
- WD Red Plus 8 TB – proven NAS classic from Western Digital with CMR
- Synology DiskStation DS923+ – current 4-bay Plus station on which iCloudPhotoSync runs smoothly
Conclusion
iCloudPhotoSync closes a gap that Synology itself has left open for years. If you want to back up your iCloud photos locally, this is the first native DSM app without Docker tinkering, cron jobs or SSH experiments. The range of functions, multi-account support, hardlink deduplication and the clean scheduler make the package a very serious alternative to iCloud Photos Downloader or Parachute.
A few construction sites remain: shared albums, ADP and the fresh community origin are points that should be kept in mind. Nevertheless, the package is worth a try – especially if you’re already in the Synology cosmos anyway. I would recommend checking the GitHub repository again in a few weeks to see if any new releases have appeared.
