Semantic search
Type what you remember. Find the photo.
Optional ~375 MB on-device model download; needs a device with enough RAM
How it worksAndroid
The smart gallery that never uploads your photos.
Face grouping, semantic search and AI captions, computed on your phone. No cloud, no account, no ads.
- On-device AI
- No account
- Semantic search
AI that stays home
Google Photos-class intelligence. Zero uploads.
The whole indexing pipeline runs on your phone: faces, labels, text, captions and semantic embeddings. Your library never leaves the device to become smart.
People
Faces grouped on your phone. Names stay with you.
How it worksAI captions
Descriptions written on your phone by Gemini Nano.
Gemini Nano on supported devices
How it worksFeature rich
26 feature areas. One gallery.
Organization, discovery, editing, cleanup, insights and sharing, built into the gallery instead of scattered across five apps.
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Places & Map
Every photo on a map, without a location permission.
Learn more -
Stories & Memories
On This Day, Best of Month, Best of Year.
Learn more -
Cleanup
Duplicates, bursts and blurry shots, reviewed by you.
Learn more -
Vault & Security
Blur to hide. Lock with your fingerprint.
Learn more - Premium
Home-View
Browse from any device on your own Wi-Fi.
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Photo editor
Crop, adjust, filter, mark up. Blur faces with one tap.
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Statistics & Photo Profile
Your library, measured.
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Widgets
A photo frame and a travel globe for your home screen.
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Privacy focused
Smart features. No cloud. No compromise.
Most "smart" galleries get their intelligence by sending your library to a server. This one gets it from your phone's own chip.
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Never uploaded
Pixel Gallery never uploads your photos or videos. Indexing happens on the phone, and search works offline.
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No location permission
The map is built from the GPS data already inside your photos. The app does not request fine or coarse location.
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Encrypted metadata
Faces, places, recognized text and embeddings live in a database encrypted with a key held in the Android Keystore.
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No ads, no ad ID
The advertising ID permission is removed. Analytics stay off until you explicitly consent.
Premium
Pay once. Keep it forever.
Everything that makes the gallery smart is free, including all on-device AI. Premium adds six power features with a single lifetime purchase. No subscription.
- Grid Collage Design your own collage.
- Compare Spot the difference. Keep the sharper shot.
- Home-View Browse from any device on your own Wi-Fi.
- Flow Your own feed.
- MultiView See more at once.
- Info layout editor Your info, your order.
- RGB histogram overlay In the photo editor
- Saving custom presets In the photo editor
Compare
How Pixel Gallery stacks up
The capabilities people switch galleries for, side by side. Every column links to a full, dated comparison that also says where the other app is better.
| Capability | Pixel Gallery | Google Photos | Samsung Gallery | Fossify Gallery | Aves Gallery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Photos stay on the phone | Yes | Partly : Built around cloud backup to your Google Account; backup can be turned off or the app used without an account. | Partly : Local by default; optional two-way sync to a linked Google account (One UI 9+). | Yes : No cloud library or sync; Play data safety says no data collected | Yes : No cloud library; internet only for maps and reverse geocoding, plus optional Crashlytics in the Play build. |
| On-device smart search | Yes | No : Natural-language search and Ask Photos use your Google Account library and Gemini; on-device processing not documented. | Partly : Galaxy AI natural-language search; Samsung does not document where it runs; varies by model and One UI version. | No : No content-based search advertised | No : Search and filters work on metadata (albums, tags, places, dates), not image content |
| Face grouping | Yes | Yes : Optional Face Groups; face models stored with your Google Account; not available in all regions or account types. | Yes : People groups you can name; groups are kept per device, no sync between devices (Samsung Community). | No : Not offered | No : Not offered |
| Duplicate and similar cleanup | Yes | Partly : Groups duplicates and similar shots into photo stacks; no dedicated blurry or low-quality finder documented. | Yes : Built-in 'Delete duplicate pictures' under Suggestions or Clean out; menu varies by One UI version. | No : No duplicate or similar-photo finder advertised | No : No duplicate or similar-photo finder |
| No ads | Yes | Yes : Play listing carries no 'Contains ads' label. | Yes : Preinstalled system app; no ads documented. | Yes : Listing: "No ads, no unnecessary permissions" | Yes |
| No subscription | Yes | Partly : Free with shared Google Account storage; more storage via Google One subscription; prints sold separately. | Partly : Free on Galaxy devices; extra sync storage via Google One subscription; Samsung says some enhanced AI features may carry fees. | Yes : Free; optional donations | Yes : Free; optional donations |
FAQ
Questions people ask before installing
- RequiresAndroid 13 or newer
- AccountNone
- Cloud libraryNone
- Location permissionNot requested
- Semantic search modelOptional, ~375 MB
- AI captionsGemini Nano, supported devices
- Languages60+
Does Pixel Gallery upload my photos anywhere?
No. Pixel Gallery never uploads your photos or videos. Face grouping, labels, text recognition, captions and semantic search are all computed on your phone. Search and browsing work with the internet switched off.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no sign-up, no login and no cloud library. Install the app, grant media access, and it starts indexing locally.
How does semantic search work offline?
An optional model called SigLIP2 (about 375 MB) is downloaded once through Google Play and then runs on your device. It turns photos, video frames and your text query into vectors and ranks them by similarity, combined with a classic keyword search.
Is Premium a subscription?
No. Premium is a one-time purchase with lifetime access, billed through Google Play.
What is Home-View?
A Premium feature that lets a browser on your laptop, tablet or TV open your phone's gallery over your own Wi-Fi. The phone runs a small local server; nothing is uploaded to the internet.
Free on Google Play
Requires Android 13 or newer. No account. Optional one-time Premium upgrade.