What the offline photo gallery app does
CachePix is a photo catalog app for Mac and Windows. It catalogs the photos on your drives, then syncs a searchable catalog to free iPhone and Android companion apps, so you can browse your archive with the drives unplugged. Your photos never go to the cloud.
The CachePix iPhone app and Android app are the viewing end, and your computer does the cataloging. Your phone keeps a thumbnail of each cataloged JPEG, PNG, WebP and RAW photo, plus HD previews for a date window you pick. Full-size originals stay on your drives. For a full-size copy, plug the drive into your computer. On a Mac, Copy Full-Resolution… in CachePix copies it for you.
What's in the app
Four tabs:
- Library. One scroll grouped by month, newest capture date first, undated photos last. Pull down to sync.
- Folders. The folder tree from your drives, with breadcrumbs, pinned folders and up to 5 recent folders.
- Saved. Favorites and named collections, which work like offline photo albums. They stay on the phone and never sync back to your computer.
- Sync. Your HD preview window, storage totals, Free Up Space and your account.
Search and filters
The search box ("Name, keyword, or filename") covers filenames, people, keywords and IPTC captions. Add words to narrow it, since all of them must match. Filters for Favorites only, Person, Keyword, Drive and Year combine with it. On Android, a search shows up to 500 results.
CachePix has no facial recognition, face detection or AI tagging. People names come from metadata in your files, or names you type in CachePix.
The viewer and Info sheet
A photo opens as its HD preview, or as a scaled-up thumbnail if the preview isn't on the phone yet. The Info sheet lists the filename, capture date and time, pixel dimensions, caption, people, keywords and drive. You can copy the caption straight from it.
Share an HD preview
On iPhone and iPad, Share appears once a photo's HD preview is on the phone, and sends that JPEG by AirDrop, Messages or Save Image to Photos. CachePix asks only to add photos, not to read your library. Android has Share HD Preview, plus sharing several photos at once. A preview you share leaves your phone like any photo you send.
What it doesn't do
- No editing, moving or deleting photos.
- No video, slideshow or sort options.
- Star ratings aren't shown, and there's no camera, lens, GPS, month or date-range search.
- No image yet for HEIC, HEIF and TIFF photos. They're cataloged and searchable, and previews for them are coming on Mac.
How it connects to your computer
The catalog syncs one way, from your computer to your phone, over your local network. Pair once by scanning a QR code.
- In CachePix on your Mac or Windows computer, choose Catalog a Folder… in Drives & Folders for each folder or drive you want on your phone.
- Open Pair Phone… and click Turn On. Phone sync is off until you do.
- In the phone app, sign in with the same email and the 6-digit code we send you, then scan the QR code. Your account needs an active plan or trial.
After that, syncs run in the background when the phone can reach your computer and CachePix is running there. On iPhone and iPad, iOS and iPadOS decide when. Android syncs hourly on an unmetered network, such as your home Wi-Fi. Nothing syncs over the internet or cellular.
A phone pairs with one computer at a time. Can't connect? The app shows a four-step checklist, and our pairing help covers the rest.
On Windows. CachePix runs on 64-bit Windows. The drive names, Drive filter and folder tree on this page are described as they work with a Mac.
You choose how much space it takes
Thumbnails are the floor. Syncing downloads one for each cataloged photo that has one, so the catalog stays browsable with no connection.
HD previews download automatically for a capture-date window you choose: 30 days, 90 days, 1 year (the default), 2 years or All photos. Free Up Space removes them in one tap and keeps the thumbnails.
The Sync tab estimates the size and photo count of a window before you pick it, and shows thumbnail and HD preview storage separately.
Outside your window, a photo opens as a scaled-up thumbnail. Tap Get HD while your phone is on the same network as your computer and CachePix is running with phone sync turned on. The drive can stay unplugged.
That library was 190,566 photos (885.66 GB) in two folders on one external drive. We measured it in August 2026 with CachePix on a Mac, synced to an iPhone, with HD previews at the default 2048px and quality 80. See how much space it uses on your phone for the full method.
Private by design
- No ads, no tracking. CachePix is a photo gallery app without ads, and it has no analytics or tracking SDKs.
- No passwords. Sign in with a 6-digit code sent to your email.
- A photo app that doesn't upload your photos to the cloud. Your photos, previews and catalog never leave your own computer and phone. CachePix's only online service is your account: email sign-in, the plan check, and Stripe billing in your browser.
- What the app sends. Your email, sign-in code, session tokens and account ID go to the CachePix account server over HTTPS. The app also reads a settings file from cachepix.com and talks to your paired computer.
- Look, don't touch. Hand your phone to family and they can browse and search, but the app can't edit, move or delete your photos, or write to your computer or drives.
- Leave any time. Delete Account, in the Sync tab, cancels any Stripe plan first, then removes your account. Your photos and catalog aren't touched.
More on what goes online in the CachePix FAQ.
Try it first
A built-in sample catalog works with no account and no computer. In the app, tap Just exploring? Try a sample catalog.
For your own photos, the app needs an account with an active plan or trial. Version 1.1.0 has no purchase screens, so choose a plan on your account page or in the desktop app. See plans.
Requirements
| You need | Details |
|---|---|
| iPhone or iPad | iOS or iPadOS 18 or later. One app for both, in dark mode only. |
| Android | Android 9 or later. The current build requires a device with a camera. |
| Computer | A Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later) on macOS 12 or later, or 64-bit Windows (x64), running CachePix. |
| Plan | A CachePix plan or trial on your account. One plan covers your computer and your phone with the same email. The app is a free download. |
| Network | Internet to sign in and to check your plan at least once every 14 days. Your computer's local network to sync or use Get HD. Browsing needs no connection in between. |
Start on your computer: get the desktop app, then find the App Store and Google Play links on the same page. Weighing other options? Compare photo catalog software.
Common questions
Does the CachePix app show my phone's camera roll?
No. The CachePix phone app shows the catalog your Mac or Windows computer builds from your drives. It doesn't read your phone's Photos library, iCloud Photos or Google Photos. To see phone photos in CachePix, copy them to a folder your computer catalogs. HEIC photos are searchable there, and previews for them are coming on Mac.
Can I edit or delete photos from the phone app?
No. The CachePix phone app is an offline photo viewer. It can't edit, move or delete photos, and it never writes to your computer or your drives. You can mark favorites and build collections, which stay on the phone. To fix a caption, keyword or person, change it in your captioning app on your computer, connect the drive and run Sync Search Metadata in CachePix. Your phone picks it up at its next sync.
Can I pair my phone with more than one computer?
No. The CachePix phone app pairs with one computer at a time. To switch, choose Unpair and pick Remove Data, then open Pair Phone… on the other computer, click Turn On and scan its QR code. If your photos sit on several drives, catalog them all on one computer, and your phone shows them in one catalog.
Does the phone app work without internet?
Yes, for browsing. The catalog, thumbnails and downloaded HD previews stay on your phone, so you can browse and search your catalog with the drives unplugged and the computer at home. Signing in needs the internet. Syncing and Get HD need your computer's local network, not the internet. CachePix checks your plan online at least once every 14 days.
Can I save a photo from the app to my phone?
Yes, as an HD preview. On iPhone or iPad, open a photo whose HD preview is downloaded, tap Share and choose Save Image to Photos. On Android, Share HD Preview opens the Android share sheet. CachePix never sends full-size originals or RAW files to the phone, so you save the JPEG preview your computer made, 2048px by default.
Keep reading
On your phone
Phone storage numbers
Measured storage for 190,566 photos, and how HD previews add to it.
Guide
View external hard drive photos on your phone
Two ways to see a drive's photos on your phone, plugged in or not.
On your computer
Photo cataloging software features
What CachePix does on your Mac or PC before the catalog reaches your phone.