Magpie Photos · for Android
Every shiny moment, kept close.
Magpie is a fast, gorgeous photo gallery that replaces Google Photos without handing your life to a tech giant. Albums, favorites, search, memories, and automatic backup to Nest Drive.
Version 1.3.1 · 1.7 MB · Android 8.0 or newer
Features
Everything you used Google Photos for. Nothing you didn't sign up for.
Timeline by day
Every photo and video in one smooth grid, grouped by date. Switch between 2 and 5 columns.
Automatic albums
Camera, Screenshots, WhatsApp and every other folder become albums instantly.
Favorites
Heart the keepers and find them all in one place. Stored privately on your phone.
Instant search
Find photos by album, month, year, file name, or type, like "videos" or "screenshots".
On this day
Rediscover photos taken on today's date in years past, right at the top of your timeline.
Pinch-to-zoom viewer
Swipe through full-screen photos, double-tap to zoom, and play videos right in the app.
Multi-select
Long-press to select many items, or a whole day at once, to share, favorite, or bin them.
Safe bin
Deleted items go to the system bin first, so an accidental tap is never forever.
Backup to Nest Drive
Turn on backup and every new photo and video is copied, full quality, to Kestrel Cloud or your own Nest server. Wi-Fi only if you like.
Private by design
No ads, no analytics, no big-tech cloud. Photos only leave your phone if you turn on backup, and then only to your Nest Drive: free Kestrel Cloud or a server you own.
Install
Up and running in a minute.
Magpie isn't on the Play Store yet, so you install it directly. Android will ask you to confirm because it didn't come from a store; that's normal.
- Tap Download APK on your Android phone.
- Open the downloaded file. If asked, allow your browser to install unknown apps.
- Tap Install, then open Magpie and tap Show my photos.
Get Magpie Photos
Free while in early access. Ad-free forever.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Does Magpie upload my photos anywhere?
Only if you turn on backup. Then they go to your Nest Drive: either free Kestrel Cloud, hosted by Kestrel Labs, or a Nest server you run yourself. Nothing is used for ads or analytics, and nobody else gets them. Favorites and settings stay on the device. How Kestrel Cloud handles your files.
How does backup work?
In Magpie, tap the cloud icon and choose Kestrel Cloud (free, hosted by us, nothing to set up) or My own server if you run Nest Drive on your own computer. Then sign in. Every photo and video is copied at full quality into a "Magpie Backup" folder, sorted by album, then new ones are backed up automatically every hour. You can browse them in the Nest Drive app or any web browser.
If I delete a photo from my phone, is the backup deleted too?
No. Backups stay in your Nest until you delete them there, so clearing space on your phone is safe.
Can I choose which photos Magpie sees?
Yes. On Android 14 and newer you can allow access to only selected photos. Magpie shows a banner with a "Manage" button so you can change that any time.
What happens when I delete something?
On Android 11 and newer, items move to the system bin and can be restored for 30 days. On older versions Android asks you to confirm before anything is removed.
What's next for Kestrel Labs?
The rest of the flock: Pigeon Mail, Kite Browser, Owl Calendar and Quill Docs. Nest Drive is already here. See the roadmap.