Integrate Nextcloud Memories backend as an alternative media viewer in iOS
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- Dominant language
- Swift
- Stars
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- Forks
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- 2d 18h
- Merged PRs (30d)
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Description
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Feature request
Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
The media tab in the iOS app is currently very slow and limited when displaying or searching photos and videos.
It only loads content in batches of 300 items, which makes browsing large libraries extremely tedious.
Additionally, its performance and reliability have degraded in recent versions, as mentioned in issue #3598
Describe the solution you'd like
I would like to have the option — for example, in Advanced Settings — to switch the media viewer used in the media tab.
Ideally, the app could integrate the Memories app’s media system directly into the iOS interface.
The Memories app already provides:
- Its own indexing and caching system, making photo and video browsing almost instant, even for large libraries.
- A responsive and fluid interface for navigating through time, albums, and tags.
- Features like search, grouping, and filtering that are currently missing or slow in the native media tab.
Using Memories as the backend (or at least as an optional viewer) would significantly improve user experience, reduce loading times, and bring consistency with the desktop/web Nextcloud experience.
Describe alternatives you've considered
I currently use a Safari shortcut to the Memories web app on my iOS home screen, which works surprisingly well and feels much faster than the native media tab.
However, this is only a workaround. Having Memories natively integrated within the Nextcloud iOS app would provide a seamless, fast, and reliable media experience without switching contexts.
Additional context
- Performance issues are detailed in issue #3598
- Integrating the Memories app’s media system would benefit both performance and consistency across platforms.
- Even if it starts as an optional “Memories mode” in advanced settings, it would already make a huge difference for users with large media libraries.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reviewing the iOS media tab and the performance details in issue #3598. Then investigate how the Memories app could be exposed through Advanced Settings as an optional viewer. Done means defining and implementing a viable Memories-backed media experience without requiring users to switch to Safari.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- ios, swift
- Domain
- mobile-dev
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100