Fair questions.
Everything people ask before trying or buying Iris — answered plainly. Something missing? Email hello@irisphotos.app and I'll answer that too.
Before you try
What is Iris, in one paragraph?
Iris is a native Mac app that turns the photos and videos you already have — in folders, on external drives, in Apple Photos — into one fast, searchable library. It recognizes faces, plots photos on maps, reads the text in your pictures, and transcribes the speech in your videos, all on your Mac. It never moves, changes, or uploads a single file. $29 once, no subscription.
What happens when the free trial ends?
The trial is the full app, free for 14 days — the clock starts the first time you launch Iris. When it ends, Iris stops opening your library until you enter a license. Everything it built — the faces you named, the search index, the transcripts — stays safe on your disk, so buying later picks up exactly where you left off. Your photos themselves were never touched either way.
My photos live in iCloud. Does Iris work for me?
Yes. Iris works best when your originals are downloaded to your Mac — in Apple Photos, turn on Settings → Download Originals to this Mac. If your library is optimized instead, Iris falls back to the best thumbnail Photos has on hand, so everything still shows up in your library. Full resolution and the sharpest machine-learning results just need the originals.
How big a library can Iris handle?
Big. Iris was built for lifetime-sized libraries, and people run it happily on collections well past 100,000 photos — including on older Intel Macs. Processing happens in stages:
- A few thousand photos: a few minutes
- Tens of thousands: an hour or two for the basics, several hours for ML
- Hundreds of thousands: up to a few days with all ML and transcription features enabled
Thumbnails and dates appear almost immediately, and you can browse the whole time. You can also switch individual pipeline stages off in Settings → Library.
Do I have to stop using Apple Photos?
No — and that's the point. There's no migration, no import, no switch. Iris reads your Photos library read-only and runs happily beside it. Keep taking photos on your iPhone, keep syncing through iCloud, keep your albums. Iris just gives you a much better way to explore all of it.
Is Iris Mac-only? What about iPhone, iPad, Windows?
The library lives in the Mac app — that's the heart of Iris. The free-standing Apple TV companion streams your library to the living room today, and iPhone & iPad apps are finished and awaiting App Store review — join the newsletter to hear the moment they land. There's no Windows version.
Your library & privacy
Does Iris move, rename, or modify my files?
Never. Iris reads your files in place and stores everything it learns in its own database on your Mac. Your originals are never copied, moved, renamed, converted, or modified. As far as Iris is concerned, your archive is read-only.
Will Iris change or reorganize my Apple Photos library?
No. When you add an Apple Photos library as a source, Iris opens it read-only. It reads your photos, videos, and metadata to build its own separate library — but it never writes back. Your albums, edits, favorites, keywords, People, and the entire structure of your Photos library are left exactly as they are. Iris even reads your existing favorites during the first scan, so they become your favorites in Iris — a one-way read, never a change to Photos.
Does anything leave my Mac?
Not your photos, not their metadata, not your faces, not your locations — ever. All machine learning runs on-device. Iris sends only anonymous diagnostics (app version, macOS version, library size rounded to the nearest 10,000), which you can switch off in Settings. The privacy policy spells out exactly what's covered, in plain English.
What if Retina Studio disappears tomorrow?
Your photos were never inside Iris, so they're exactly where you put them. Iris's own database is a file on your Mac, and the app doesn't need a server to run — your licensed copy keeps working. That's the longevity principle from the manifesto, made concrete: you should never have to worry about an app's fate to feel safe about your memories.
What happens to my photos if I stop using Iris?
Nothing. Delete the app and every original is exactly where it has always been. What you'd lose is the work Iris did on top of them: the faces you named, the transcripts, the search index. Never the photos.
Buying & licensing
How much does Iris cost?
$29, once. No subscription. Every Iris v1 update is included.
Should I buy direct or on the Mac App Store?
It's the exact same app, kept up to date together. Buying direct gets you the 14-day free trial, a license by email, my 60-day money-back guarantee, and an upgrade discount whenever a paid v2 ships. The App Store keeps the purchase tied to your Apple account. There's no wrong answer.
How many Macs does one license cover?
A direct license covers your entire household — every Mac you own. On the App Store, Family Sharing extends your purchase to up to six family members.
Will I have to pay again for version 2?
There's no subscription, ever — your $29 covers every Iris 1.x update, bug fixes and new features alike. If a paid version 2 ships someday, it will be a paid upgrade, and customers who bought direct will get an upgrade discount. (Apple doesn't support upgrade discounts on the App Store.) Either way, your copy of v1 keeps working.
What if Iris isn't for me?
If you bought direct, email me within 60 days and I'll refund you — no questions asked. App Store purchases are refunded by Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. And there's always the free trial first.
Can I get Iris for free?
Sort of — and it's the nicest loophole on this site. Donate $29 or more to one of ten charities, forward me the receipt, and I'll send you a license.
The fine print
What are the system requirements?
- macOS 15 Sequoia or macOS 26 Tahoe
- Apple Silicon or Intel Mac
- ~125 MB for Iris itself; library database size depends on photo count
Can two Macs share the same photo library?
They can, but each Mac maintains its own database and processing state — Iris isn't designed to sync metadata between machines. The companion apps are a better way to browse the same library from more than one device.
My external drive is unplugged. What happens to those photos?
Their metadata and thumbnails stay in Iris. You can still browse thumbnails, see metadata, and navigate by date until the drive comes back.
Something else?
The user guide covers every corner of the app, and hello@irisphotos.app reaches me directly. I read everything.
Questions answered? Try Iris free.
The full app, free for 14 days. No accounts, no servers, no sign-ups, no nonsense.