Assuming this is what I have been looking for I would 100% purchase a one off licence for self hosting should your team ever think about that as an option. Even if it is just a 2021 version or something along those lines.
Show HN: We built an end-to-end encrypted alternative to Google Photos
271–280 of 421 posts
Re: Show HN: We built an end-to-end encrypted alternative to Google Photos
#272Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can I suggest adding pricing tier(s) between 100GB and 1000GB? I have between 100gb and 200gb of photos, and £14.99/month seems like a lot considering I only pay £2.49/month for google storage. I'd definitely consider paying a premium for this service, but not 6x.
Drawing a direct parallel with Google will make this difficult, since they own their storage and network infrastructure and have ways to monetize your data. But here's an explanation on why there are large gaps between plans: - Our 1TB plan costs only 3x the 100GB plan. This model works under the assumption that the average utilization of a 1TB plan (across all customers) will be ~30%. - If we were to bring in an int…
>If we were to bring in an intermediary plan (say 500GB), we would have to increase the pricing of the 1TB plan (since at least 50% will now be utilized), and also set the price of the 500GB plan to at least 2x of the 100GB plan
What happens if you start by pricing all tiers "honestly" (i.e. reasonably profitable even at 100% utilization)? Have you determined that the market won't bear that pricing? If so, is there any way to meet in the middle?
In general, you may be erring a little too much on the side of asking some customers to grossly overpay for their actual utilization and, in practical terms, 100GB to 1TB is just an extremely wide gap, as evidenced by your parent's comment.
So, it seems that most who tip over into the 100GB - 1TB plan will be there, overpaying, for a long time. And, obviously, most people who make it to 1TB will pass through that range. So, if you do see a higher concentration of users in that range than at 1TB (as intuituon would suggest), then you're essentially "punishing" a plurality of your customers by asking them to subsidize a smaller group's pricing.
Failing other options, it may be better to do the inverse: raise the pricing of 1TB to accomodate a "friendlier" 500GB plan.
Re: Show HN: We built an end-to-end encrypted alternative to Google Photos
#273So how is it developing with flutter for an app and why not use it as the base for a desktop app vs. make a web version?
Re: Show HN: We built an end-to-end encrypted alternative to Google Photos
#274Earlier quoted context omitted.
Heh. Yeah. Been building something like this, where you can have your choice of metadata storage and file storage. Out of the box, it would be Sqlite and the local FS, and then you can become adventurous. Postgres and S3? Elastic and S3? Sure. Needless to say, years later, I am still building it. For one guy doing this on my own time, it's a lift. Maybe after I quit my job soon :)
Is there something to share and possibly collaborate with others? Just now on the drive home I contemplated doing a POC with S3 storage but I acknowledge hoe much work that probably would be.
My journey with this started back in Java and Play 1. Now it's a Scalatra project. I am rewriting the front-end because the original was written with JS5 and Knockout, becoming essentially dead on arrival and pretty unmaintainable.
The idea is that the "engine" is going to be open-source, but the UI would be free and proprietary (you would be able to bolt on your own UI).
Once the UI is presentable to a point where I can actually test the engine against it, it would be ready for collaboration. But again, it's been a rough stop and go. No wonder something like this does not exist.
To be accurate, this is not a photo management project, it's a full on DAM. But I am doing photos first. Could end up being less ambitious at first, however. Even the baseline is a massive project.
Re: Show HN: We built an end-to-end encrypted alternative to Google Photos
#275I’ve been watching this project for a long time and personally am very excited. The fact that it’s #1 on HN today (congrats!) makes me think I’m not the only one. There are also a lot of valid concerns in these comments about privacy and use of algorithms. A lot of it depends on what you’re looking to gain by adopting a new service/switching away from something else and individual concern. Personally, I’m looking for…
re: "the expectation of true privacy" you might enjoy reading the Cypherpunk's manifesto [0]
"Privacy is necessary for an open society in the electronic age. Privacy is not secrecy. A private matter is something one doesn't want the whole world to know, but a secret matter is something one doesn't want anybody to know. Privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself to the world."
Re: Show HN: We built an end-to-end encrypted alternative to Google Photos
#276Earlier quoted context omitted.
Okay it's easy to downvote, but I'll elaborate instead. First of all Google is trainihg AI models on your data and also able to create shadow profiles for people including those who decide against using Google services. They also used dark pattern on Android for years by enabling cloud sync by default for everything. So a lot of people got all their photos uploaded while they had no idea about feature. So it's not an…
I don't really get what's evil about AI models and cloud sync. And I don't think anything is wrong about Facebook's business model. I think most people are uninformed about it and believe that they sell personal data, but if you understand the way they make money, it's very difficult to say that there is any particular issue with it.
Ah, what you really meant was "what's evil about selling my data?" which is a much larger question. And it sounds like you already have your answer.
Re: Show HN: We built an end-to-end encrypted alternative to Google Photos
#277So how is it developing with flutter for an app and why not use it as the base for a desktop app vs. make a web version?
Flutter's GitHub issues seem to suggest that the framework is not yet stable on the web or desktop. Also, we wanted a web version so that customers could check out the product without having to install an app.
Coming back to Flutter, I personally have high hopes for the framework. The learning curve is one of the smallest I've experienced and they have managed to create a community that actively contributes to their plug-in ecosystem.
Re: Show HN: We built an end-to-end encrypted alternative to Google Photos
#278I don't think I'm ready to invest in a photo hosting solution again, be it with my time, my money, or my data, without it being open source/self-hostable or at least open core with a community behind it. Been duped too many times.
Curious about the details of how you were duped.
Not OP but I have had many cloud photo accounts in the past:
myphotoalbum, Kodak Gallery, photobucket, Flickr and more. Eventually all of them either shut down, or got sold and became unmaintained. Google Photos and Apple's are the only ones that I can trust will still be around in 10 years' time.
Re: Show HN: We built an end-to-end encrypted alternative to Google Photos
#279Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can I suggest adding pricing tier(s) between 100GB and 1000GB? I have between 100gb and 200gb of photos, and £14.99/month seems like a lot considering I only pay £2.49/month for google storage. I'd definitely consider paying a premium for this service, but not 6x.
Drawing a direct parallel with Google will make this difficult, since they own their storage and network infrastructure and have ways to monetize your data. But here's an explanation on why there are large gaps between plans: - Our 1TB plan costs only 3x the 100GB plan. This model works under the assumption that the average utilization of a 1TB plan (across all customers) will be ~30%. - If we were to bring in an int…
Curious about alternatives. GB to GB, other services will always be cheaper. How do you help frame pricing
What about charging per picture? Likely a non-starter, but you get where I'm going with this. iPod = 1,000 songs in your pocket.
If not you, someone will figure this out. Charging by the GB seems hard. What if instead your levels were: 1,000 photos 10,000 photos 100,000 photos
You might get people who store super high res files, but work that into the pricing.
Re: Show HN: We built an end-to-end encrypted alternative to Google Photos
#280Neat. Some UVP / Headlines to split test: 1. Keep your memories yours. 2. Safeguard your memories from prying eyes. 3. Don't let big tech creep on your memories. 4. Keep your memories private. 5. Block creepy algorithms from spying on your life. I like the dynamic sub headline - perhaps test the following variation on that: protect your {memories} from creepy algorithms
Yes and work this into your pricing / tiers. Charging per GB just turns my photos into data. It's not data to me. It's memories, my life, my eyes.