Pixel NAS: Turn a 2016 Pixel into a Google Photos Upload Daemon

A first-gen Pixel (2016) still has the one superpower Google hasn’t fully revoked: unlimited Google Photos uploads at original quality. Treat it like a tiny, always-on inbox that other devices drop photos into, then let Google Photos do the rest.

This isn’t a real NAS. It’s a €60 phone cosplay — plugged in 24/7, quietly hoovering up photos from your devices and uploading them to Google Photos.

What you’re building

Flow: other devices → (Wi‑Fi sync) → Pixel inbox folder → Google Photos backup

Why this rules:

• No NAS box to buy.
• No babysitting manual uploads.
• Your main phone stays clean and fast.

What you need

Required:

• Pixel (1st generation) — Pixel or Pixel XL (2016)
• Always‑on power (charger + cable)
• Stable Wi‑Fi
• Google Photos app + your Google account

Optional but recommended:

• A cheap stand / somewhere it won’t overheat
• A file manager you trust (for unzip / moving batches)

Pick the right Pixel

If you care about original resolution, you want the 2016 Pixel. Full stop.

Rule of thumb:

• Pixel (1st gen): unlimited original‑quality uploads (works as of now)
• Pixel 3a–5: unlimited Storage Saver (original quality counts toward storage)
• Pixel 2 / Pixel 3: original‑quality was free only until deadlines; after that it’s Storage Saver

Setup the Pixel (15 minutes)

1. Factory reset the Pixel (optional, but helps sanity).
2. Connect to Wi‑Fi, sign in to your Google account.
3. Open Google Photos → Settings → Backup.
4. On a first‑gen Pixel, it should show Original quality and unlimited.
5. Create a dedicated folder on the Pixel, e.g. Pictures/pixel-inbox/.
6. In Google Photos: Settings → Backup → Back up device folders → enable backup for pixel-inbox.

That’s it. Now you just need a pipeline that drops files into pixel-inbox.

Getting photos onto the Pixel

🤖 Android → Pixel (best: Syncthing‑Fork)

Use Syncthing‑Fork (from F‑Droid). It’s Syncthing with a friendly Android UI.

Setup:

1. Install Syncthing‑Fork on your Android phone and on the Pixel.
2. On the Pixel, share Pictures/pixel-inbox as a Syncthing folder.
3. On your main phone, sync your camera folder into that folder.

Recommended Syncthing folder roles (so you don’t accidentally delete your entire photo library at 2am):

• Main phone: send‑only
• Pixel: receive‑only

The Pixel receives copies, uploads them, and you can safely delete local batches on the Pixel later without nuking your originals.

🍎 iPhone → Pixel (3 options)

Option 1: PhotoSync (most “it just works”)

PhotoSync is built for moving photos between iOS/Android/computers, and it has an auto‑transfer mode.

Basic idea:

• Install PhotoSync on iPhone + Pixel.
• Set the Pixel as the target.
• Turn on auto‑transfer on the iPhone.

iOS is still iOS, but PhotoSync is the closest thing to “set it and forget it” without building your own Rube Goldberg machine.

Option 2: Möbius Sync (Syncthing on iOS)

It works, but don’t expect a real background daemon. iOS won’t allow continuous background sync — it runs when the app is open, shortly after, or when the system lets it breathe.

Option 3: The boring reliable relay

iPhone → iCloud/OneDrive → Mac/Laptop → Syncthing → Pixel

Not elegant. Extremely dependable.

💻 Mac / laptop → Pixel (Syncthing)

Syncthing on desktop is the “adult supervision” version:

• Create a folder like camera-roll-dropbox/.
• Share it with the Pixel’s Pictures/pixel-inbox.
• Anything you dump there ends up on the Pixel and gets backed up.

The boss fight: migrating your existing gigabytes

This is the part that turns into a week‑long trauma if you wing it.

Strategy: batch, upload, verify, delete, repeat.

1. Export/download your archive.
   • If the source is Google: use Google Takeout to download in zip chunks (pick a size your storage can handle).
2. Move a batch to the Pixel.
   • USB cable is fastest.
   • Or sync from your laptop via Syncthing.
3. Unzip on the Pixel (or on the laptop).
4. Move only media files into Pictures/pixel-inbox.
   • Ignore Takeout .json sidecars (Google Photos won’t use them on re‑upload).
5. Open Google Photos on the Pixel and let it chew.
6. When backup is done, delete the local batch on the Pixel to free space.
7. Repeat until you’re done.

Sanity checks that save lives:

• Do a tiny test batch first (like 200 files) and confirm it uploads correctly.
• If you care about date order: Takeout + re‑upload can reshuffle timestamps depending on metadata. Test before you commit.
• Keep an external copy until you’ve verified the upload.

Maintenance tips

• Keep the Pixel plugged in, screen off, Wi‑Fi on.
• Exclude Google Photos + your sync app from battery optimization.
• Keep the Pixel somewhere it won’t cook itself (heat is the silent killer).

FAQ energy

Does this work on Pixel 5? Yes, but only unlimited Storage Saver. Original quality counts toward storage on those models.

Will Google kill it? Maybe. The only honest stance is: it works today, so I’m using it today.