DS photo (Android)

Version 3.12

Before using DS photo, please make sure you have DSM and Photo Station installed on your Synology NAS. Basic configurations must be managed from a computer with access to Photo Station, such as setting criteria for smart albums and creating categories.

DS photo allows you to log in to Photo Station securely. You can protect your connection via SSL/TLS connections and verify the server certificate installed on your Synology NAS.

To log in to Photo Station with DS photo:

1. Do either of the following:
   • Enter the following information on the login page:
     • Address or QuickConnect ID: This can either be the internal or external IP address, DDNS hostname, or Synology QuickConnect ID. Make sure you have enabled QuickConnect in DSM > Control Panel > QuickConnect before logging in with QuickConnect ID.
     • User account and password: If you have enabled Personal Photo Station, tap next to the account field and enter your Personal Photo Station account.
   • Tap next to the Address or QuickConnect ID field to select previous login credentials from your login history, or find Synology NAS servers in your local network. Tap > Delete to remove a set of credentials.
2. If you want to secure your connection, do the following:
   • Turn on HTTPS if you want your connection to be SSL/TLS-encrypted. Before doing so, make sure the HTTPS service is activated in Control Panel > Network > DSM Settings on your DSM.
   • Enable Verify certificate by going to > Login Settings to validate the SSL certificate installed on your Synology NAS. This verification works if the installed certificate is trusted (the certificate needs to be purchased from a third-party issuer).

To log out of DS photo:

Tap > Log out.

The following is an overview of the features in DS photo:

1. View the offline albums saved to DS photo.
2. View and edit photo albums.
3. View Smart Albums, which are virtual albums that automatically group photos and videos matching the defined criteria.
4. View and edit the photos you have publicly shared.
5. Monitor the progress of backing up files from your Android device.
6. Search albums, photos, and videos. Only the items in offline albums can be searched when DS photo is not connected to the Internet.
7. Check your login information, configure settings, read related documents, and log out of DS photo.
8. View the albums that have been organized into portfolios in Photo Station.
9. Tap the More icon to do the following:
   • Create a new album
   • Upload photos and videos
   • Save the selected albums as offline albums
   • Select one or multiple items
   • Sort photos or albums in ascending or descending order
   • Filter certain items by entering keywords

You can upload photos or videos from your Android device to existing or new albums in Photo Station. The Photo Backup feature can automatically upload photos to Photo Station every time a photo is taken on your mobile device, freeing up space on your device and saving you the hassle of needing to manually upload photos one by one.

To upload manually:

Go to an existing album where you want to upload your photos and videos, and tap > Upload to upload files from your mobile device to Photo Station. In addition to uploading files to existing albums, you can also tap > Create new album to create a new album for the uploaded photos.

The following displays the available album permission types:

• Public Album: Album can be accessed by anyone with the link.
• Private Album: Album can be accessed only by Photo Station users with access permission.
• Password Locked: Album is password locked and can only be unlock by entering the correct password.

To upload automatically:

Go to Photo Backup on the left panel to enable this feature. After Photo Backup is enabled, the photos and videos in DCIM folder or a customized folder on your mobile device will be automatically backed up to a destination album of your choice on Synology NAS, according to the backup rule you have selected.

To download photos and videos to the gallery of Android device:

Do either of following to download photos and videos to the gallery of your Android device:

• Select multiple photos and videos, and tap > Download.
• While viewing a photo or video, tap > Download to download the photo or video to the gallery of your Android device. You can share the downloaded items with friends via emails or messages using the features provided by your device.

To save photos or albums for offline browsing in DS photo:

Browse to an album and tap > Select to select the photos you want to view in offline mode. Tap again and tap Save as offline album to save the photos as offline album. Photos saved via this method can only be browsed on DS photo. Go to Offline Albums to view the photos that are saved and cached on your DS photo.

To change the viewing mode:

• Browse to an album and tap to view your photos and videos in one of the following modes:
  • Thumbnail mode
  • List mode
  • Map mode
  • Timeline
• Go to an album and tap > Sort settings to modify the photo display order.

To view photos and videos on TV:

While viewing a photo or video, tap > Select player to connect to your Chromecast or DLNA device, and "mirror" the photo or video currently on your Android device screen to the selected device. DS photo application is also available on Android TV and Apple TV. Download them to enjoy the optimized visual experience on big screen.

To search albums, photos, and videos:

Do either of the following:

• Tap Search on the left panel to search the name and information of any album, photo, and video.
• Browse to an album and tap > Filter. Enter keywords to find specific items.

To tag photos and videos:

Do either of the following:

• While viewing a photo or video, tap to view the detailed information of the photo or video and apply tags to it.
• Browse to an album, tap > Select to select and tag multiple items. Please note that only general and location tags can be applied to multiple items in DS photo.

To view a photo's or video's detailed information:

While viewing a photo or video, tap to view the detailed information, tags, and comments added to the photo or video.

To play slideshow:

While viewing a photo or video, tap > Slideshow to play the slideshow. You can change the interval and display order of the slideshow in Settings.

To delete photos or videos:

Do either of the following:

• While viewing a photo or video in full screen, tap > Delete to delete a file.
• Browse to an album, tap > Select to choose and delete multiple files.

To move photos between albums:

Do either of the following:

• While viewing a photo or video, tap > Move to move the file.
• Browse to an album, tap > Select to select and move multiple files.

To comment on photos or videos:

While viewing a photo or video, tap to add and view comments.

To share an album:

While viewing an album or after you have selected an album, tap > Get share link to either publicly share the album with friends or share it privately with only account users.

• Public share link: Everyone with the link can access. Newly added photos in this album will be synced and available via the same public sharing link. Tap Shared Albums to view and manage the albums you have shared publicly.
• Private share link: Only users with permission can access. You can specify the access permission to albums in the settings of Photo Station (Photos > Management > Access Permission).

To share photos or videos:

After photos or videos are selected, tap > Share and select one of the following sharing methods:

• Get share link: Get a public link for the selected photos or videos that will be created as a new shared album. Name the shared album and specify the valid period if needed, and tap Get share link to get the public or private share link.
• Add to shared album: Add the selected photos or videos to an existing or newly created shared album.
• Share copy: Share the selected photos or videos to other applications.

To manage and view the shared photos and videos, please tap Shared Albums on the left panel.

Tap Settings to configure the following settings.

To adjust video playback quality:

In Playback Quality, you can choose a playback quality that suits your current network connection: Auto, High quality (highest quality for playable videos), and Standard quality (lowest quality for playable videos). When Auto quality is selected, DS photo plays videos in high quality under Wi-Fi connection and in standard quality during cellular data usage.

To adjust image quality:

In Download Quality and Sharing Quality, you can choose between thumbnail and original image qualities. When thumbnail quality is selected, DS photo downloads and resizes photos in the same quality as that when browsed on your Android device.

To manage offline settings:

Go to Offline Settings > Cache management to view cached size and set the maximum cache size for the images on your DS photo.

To protect your DS photo with a passcode:

Once you have enabled and set up a passcode, you will be required to enter a 4-digit passcode whenever you restart DS photo or unlock your device. You can also set the frequency for DS photo to perform a re-authentication request. With passcode enabled, you can further enable the fingerprint unlock feature and unlock DS photo with your fingerprint. Entering the passcode is required if your fingerprint cannot be recognized.