icsync

Sync Android camera photos & videos into your iCloud Photo Library — as full-resolution originals, in the real Photos app, not some third-party gallery.

There is no public Apple API to write into the iCloud Photo Library. icsync uses the only robust path: an always-on Mac signed into iCloud, importing media via osxphotos and letting Photos sync it up.

Android DCIM/Camera ──Syncthing send-only──▶ Mac inbox
        Mac inbox ──icsync (launchd)──▶ osxphotos import ──▶ Photos.app ──▶ iCloud Photos

icsync is the Mac-side bridge: a small CLI that watches an inbox folder, imports stable media into Photos, archives the originals, and installs itself as a launchd agent. The Android→Mac transport is off-the-shelf (Syncthing — no port-forwarding, no exposing the Mac).

Install

Needs pipx (brew install pipx). Install the CLI — it pulls in osxphotos automatically:

pipx install icsync

No pipx? python3 -m pip install --user icsync works too.

Then set up the bridge in order:

icsync doctor     # 1. check osxphotos + reminders (do prerequisites below first)
icsync install    # 2. create dirs + load the LaunchAgent (runs every 60s)
icsync status     # 3. confirm it's loaded and watching the inbox

Run icsync install after the prerequisites below — the agent imports into Photos and needs iCloud Photos on plus the one-time macOS permission grants.

From source:

git clone https://github.com/akurach/icsync && cd icsync
pipx install .

Prerequisites

1. Photos.app signed into your Apple ID, iCloud Photos ON (Photos → Settings → iCloud).
2. Syncthing on the Mac with a Receive Only folder at the icsync inbox (~/Documents/icsync/data/inbox by default), paired to the Android device's Send Only folder on DCIM/Camera.
3. On first import macOS will ask to grant Automation → Photos; osxphotos may also need Full Disk Access (System Settings → Privacy & Security).

Commands

Command	Does
icsync install	Create data dirs, write + load the LaunchAgent.
icsync uninstall	Unload + remove the LaunchAgent.
icsync start / stop	Load / unload the agent.
icsync status	Show install state, pending media, paths.
icsync run	Run one import cycle (what launchd calls).
icsync watch	Loop cycles in the foreground (no launchd).
icsync doctor	Check osxphotos, dirs, agent, reminders.

How it behaves

• Idempotent — osxphotos import --skip-dups; re-delivered files don't duplicate.
• Safe — imported originals are moved to data/archive/<date>/, not deleted; a retention prune removes them after ICSYNC_RETENTION_DAYS (default 7). Set it high to keep originals indefinitely.
• One-way — Syncthing send-only → receive-only; nothing flows back to the phone.
• Mac off = delay, not loss — Syncthing on Android queues and retries; icsync catches up when the Mac returns.
• Partial-write safe — only files older than ICSYNC_STABLE_SECONDS (default 20) are imported, so half-synced files are skipped until complete.

Configuration (env vars)

Var	Default	Meaning
ICSYNC_ROOT	~/Documents/icsync/data	Base data dir.
ICSYNC_INBOX	…/inbox	Watched folder (Syncthing target).
ICSYNC_ARCHIVE	…/archive	Where originals land after import.
ICSYNC_STABLE_SECONDS	20	Min file age before import.
ICSYNC_RETENTION_DAYS	7	Archive purge age.
ICSYNC_OSXPHOTOS	autodetect	Explicit path to the osxphotos binary.

To override for the agent, add them to the EnvironmentVariables dict in ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.icsync.import.plist and icsync start.

Limitations

• Requires an always-on Mac as the bridge — no Apple device means no reliable path.
• Android "motion photos" import as stills (no Apple Live Photo pairing).
• Not affiliated with Apple; uses the public Photos import surface only.

License

MIT