Synology Photos makes its way to Android TV

Synology Photos makes its way to Android TV

Synology Photos is among thebest Google Photos alternativesthat allow you to host all your photos without spending anything extra on a monthly subscription if you ownone of Synology’s top consumer NAS units. It also helps that the Synology app mimics many of Google Photos’s smart features, such as facial detection. Now, you can do all that on a big screen with the native Synology Photos app available for your living room TV.

When we wanted to use Google Photos on our Android TV device,we had to jump through several hoops to even install the app. The app experience still wasn’t up to scratch.Google Photosdoes let you cast your media to a TV — as does Synology Photos — but a native TV app makes your photos even more accessible, with one less device needed to view them.

If you rely on Synology Photos for your media backups, you’re able to now simply use its new Android TV app to show your photos and video stored on your Synology NAS to your friends and family. Synology already had an Android TV version of its DS Photo, but it’s a legacy app that lacks all the smarts of the new Synology Photos app.

This new app is already live on the Play Store. On your TV, simply ask Google Assistant to look up the app or useone of the many ways to open the Play Store on Google TV. Alternatively, you can use your phone to install Synology Photos remotely to your linked Google TV device, as shown in the screenshot above. If you can’t yet find the app on the Play Store, you can download the Android TV version of Synology Photos fromAPK Mirrorandsideload the app on your TV.

Signing into the app is exactly like any other Synology app on your phone. Enter your NAS’s local IP address or customQuickConnectID, enter your login credentials, and you’ll be in. Synology’s screenshots show a neatly laid-out interface with a navigation bar on the side. And there’s also the option to see photos from tagged faces, just like its mobile app.

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