# Pixel Gallery vs A+ Gallery

Canonical: https://pixel-gallery.app/android/compare/a-plus-gallery

Last updated: November 9, 2026

**Verdict:** Pick Pixel Gallery if you want no ads, face grouping and search by what a photo shows. Pick A+ Gallery if you want a password vault with backup and Facebook or Dropbox photos in the same app.

A+ Gallery is a fast, popular gallery with color search, a vault and optional cloud sync, funded by ads. Pixel Gallery has no ads and adds on-device AI.

## Feature comparison

| Capability | Pixel Gallery | A+ Gallery |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Photos stay on the phone | Yes (Pixel Gallery never uploads your photos or videos.) | Partly (Local gallery; optional A+ Cloud sync and secure vault backup store photos on the developer's cloud) |
| Works without an account | Yes | Partly (Gallery works without sign-in; turning on the secure vault, vault backup or A+ Cloud creates an account) |
| On-device smart search | Yes (SigLIP2 model, ~375 MB optional download.) | No (Searches by date, location, album and image color offline; no content search like "dog on beach" documented) |
| Face grouping | Yes (Runs on the phone.) | No (Not mentioned in the Play listing or the help center) |
| Duplicate and similar cleanup | Yes | No (No duplicate or similar-photo finder documented; listing offers resizing photos and videos to save storage) |
| Encrypted metadata database | Yes | Not documented |
| No ads | Yes | No (Play listing carries "Contains ads"; privacy policy names Google, Facebook and MoPub as ad partners) |
| No subscription | Yes (Free, plus an optional one-time Premium purchase.) | Not documented (Free with ads and in-app purchases; whether any purchase is a subscription is not documented) |
| Cloud backup | No (Pixel Gallery has no cloud. Backup is up to you.) | Yes (A+ Cloud sync, secure vault backup, and sync/backup with Dropbox) |
| Open source | No | No (No public source code found; proprietary app) |
| Password vault with backup | Partly (Blurs items behind a biometric lock; files are not encrypted.) | Yes (Vault backup needs an account.) |
| Online photos (Dropbox, Facebook) in the gallery | No | Yes |
| Map view | Yes | Yes |
| Photo and video editor | Yes | Not documented |
| Stories and memories | Yes | No |

## Is Pixel Gallery a good A+ Gallery alternative?

Yes, if ads bother you or you want a smarter gallery. A+ Gallery is fast and very popular, with offline search by date, place and color. It is funded by ads, and its privacy policy names ad partners. Pixel Gallery shows no ads and adds face grouping, semantic search and cleanup, all on the phone.

## What does A+ Gallery do better?

- **Vault with backup.** A password-locked vault with optional backup.
- **Online sources.** Dropbox and Facebook photos next to local ones.
- **Color search.** Find photos by their dominant color.

## What does Pixel Gallery do better?

- **No ads.** And analytics stay off until you consent.
- **On-device AI.** People, search by what a photo shows, text recognition, captions on supported devices.
- **Cleanup.** Duplicates, similar shots and low-quality photos with swipe review.
- **No account for anything.** A+ creates one when you use the vault backup or A+ Cloud.

## Who should pick which?

Pick Pixel Gallery for an ad-free, smarter gallery that keeps photos on the phone. Pick A+ Gallery if a backed-up vault or online albums in one place are what you need.

## How to switch from A+ Gallery

Move anything you want indexed out of the A+ vault first, then install Pixel Gallery and allow photo access.

## Questions

**Is there an A+ Gallery alternative without ads?**
Yes. Pixel Gallery has no ads and adds face grouping, semantic search and cleanup on the phone.

**Does A+ Gallery upload my photos?**
Not by default. Its secure vault backup and A+ Cloud sync store photos on the developer's cloud and create an account when you turn them on.

**Does A+ Gallery have face recognition?**
Face grouping is not documented for A+ Gallery. Pixel Gallery groups faces on the phone.

## Sources

- [A+ Gallery on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.atomicadd.fotos), accessed November 8, 2026
- [A+ Gallery data safety on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/datasafety?id=com.atomicadd.fotos), accessed November 8, 2026
- [A+ Gallery help: Delete my account (A+ Cloud, vault account)](https://aplus.gallery/delete-my-account.html), accessed November 8, 2026
- [AtomicAdd privacy policy](https://atomicadd.com/html/privacy-policy.html), accessed November 8, 2026
- [A+ Gallery help: Get started](https://aplus.gallery/get-started-with-a-gallery.html), accessed November 8, 2026