Lap

A Local-first, AI-powered Photo manager built with Tauri + Vue 3.

Lap is a lightning-fast photo manager designed for massive local libraries. It allows you to manage files directly while offering a silky-smooth browsing experience for both photos and videos. Combining the privacy of folder-based organization with the power of modern AI—all running 100% locally on your device.

🌐 Website: https://julyx10.github.io/lap/

Download

Platform	Download	File Size	Notes
macOS (Apple Silicon)	Download .dmg (aarch64)	~150 MB	✅ Notarized by Apple, ✅ Fully tested
macOS (Intel)	Download .dmg (x64)	~150 MB	✅ Notarized by Apple, ⚠️ Not yet tested
Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)	Download .deb (amd64)	~150 MB	⚠️ Not yet tested
Windows	-	-	Coming soon

Library Handle 100k+ photos with smooth scrolling and instant thumbnails.	AI Search - Light Theme "Sunset over the ocean" — Find exact moments with offline AI.
Calendar Time-travel through your memories by year, month, or day.	Tags Organize your way: Bulk tagging and powerful filtering.
Location Interactive Map View: See where your story happened.	Camera Group by Gear: Rediscover shots by Camera Make & Model.
Edit Image Quick essential edits without leaving your flow.	Video Integrated Player: Watch videos seamlessly alongside photos.

Notes: The sample images in above screenshots are sourced from Wikimedia Commons.

Why LAP?

LAP stands for Local-first, AI-powered Photo management.

I built Lap because I was tired of choosing between privacy (dumb folder viewers) and convenience (cloud services that scan your life). Lap gives you both.

🌟 Key Highlights

📂 Your Files, Your Control

• No Import Required: Lap reads your existing folders. No "library files", no duplication, no vendor lock-in.
• File System Sync: Move a file in Finder/Explorer? Lap updates instantly. Move it in Lap? It moves on disk.
• Multi-Library: Manage work assets separate from family archives.

⚡ Built for Performance

• Rust Core: Powered by Tauri 2 and Rust for blazing speed and tiny memory footprint.
• Lazy Loading: Designed to handle libraries with hundreds of thousands of assets without stuttering.

🤖 AI That Lives on Your Device

• Natural Language Search: Type "lady in red" or "sunset at beach". The AI understands content, not just keywords.
• Similar Image Search: Find the best shot in a burst sequence or locate duplicates.
• Smart Face Recognition (BETA): Automatically groups people. Rename "Person 1" to "Dad" and find all his photos instantly.
• Zero Privacy Risk: All AI models run locally. Your photos never leave your computer.

🎨 Delightful Experience

• Beautiful Design: Built with Tailwind CSS & daisyUI, a modern, fluid interface that feels at home on macOS, Linux, and Windows.
• Customizable: Light/Dark modes with 10+ accent colors.
• Multi-Language: Speaks your language (English, Chinese, German, French, Japanese, and more).

Comparison

Feature	Cloud Albums (Google/iCloud)	Classic Viewers (XnView/IrfanView)	Lap
Privacy	❌ (Data mining)	✅	✅ (100% Offline)
AI Search	✅	❌	✅ (Local AI)
Organization	Restricted (Album based)	Folder based	Folder-native + Smart Views
Performance	Network dependent	Excellent	Excellent
Lock-in	High	None	None

Who Is LAP For?

• Photographers: Manage huge collections by folder.
• Privacy Advocates: Enjoy AI features without Big Tech surveillance.
• Archivists: Search terabytes of family history instantly.
• Everyone: Who wants a fast, beautiful way to enjoy their memories.

What LAP Is Not

• ❌ A Cloud Service: We don't host your photos. You own them.
• ❌ A Photoshop Replacement: We focus on management and browsing, not heavy retouching.
• ❌ A Sync Tool: We don't touch your cloud settings. We manage local files.

Supported Formats

Type	Formats	Notes
Images	JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, WebP, HEIC	HEIC depends on OS support.
Videos	MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI	Playback depends on OS WebView codecs.

Development

Tech Stack

• Core: Tauri 2 (Rust), cross-platform desktop app framework
• Frontend: Vue 3, Vite, Tailwind CSS, daisyUI
• Data: SQLite, locally embedded for indexing and metadata storage
• AI/Media: CLIP for image search, InsightFace for face recognition, FFmpeg for video

Build & Run

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 20+ and pnpm 8+
• Rust (stable)
• Platform build tools:
  • macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install), brew install nasm pkg-config
  • Linux: sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev libappindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev patchelf nasm clang pkg-config

Recommended editors: VS Code, Cursor, or Antigravity

# 1. Download AI models
./scripts/download_models.sh

# 2. Install frontend dependencies
cd src-vite && pnpm install && cd ..

# 3. Run in development mode
cargo tauri dev

# 4. Build for production
cargo tauri build

License

Licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later. See LICENSE for details.