Aura Frames

Best Self-hosted Alternatives to Aura Frames

A curated collection of the 2 best self hosted alternatives to Aura Frames.

Cloud-connected digital photo frame service with a companion mobile app for uploading, storing and sharing photos and videos to Wi‑Fi connected frames. Provides remote management, family sharing, automatic syncing and slideshow display on physical frames.

Alternatives List

#1
Immich Kiosk

Immich Kiosk

Immich Kiosk is a lightweight, highly configurable slideshow web app that displays assets from an Immich server on kiosk devices and browsers.

Immich Kiosk screenshot

Immich Kiosk is a lightweight web application for creating highly configurable slideshows from an Immich photo library. It’s designed to run in browsers and kiosk-style displays (such as tablets, smart displays, or a small PC connected to a TV) using Immich as the media source.

Key Features

  • Displays Immich assets as full-screen slideshows optimized for kiosk devices and browsers
  • Highly configurable behavior and presentation (slideshow style, selection rules, and display options)
  • Configuration via URL query parameters for easy remote control and simple device setups
  • Responsive, device-friendly UI suitable for different screen sizes and orientations
  • Container-friendly deployment with straightforward Docker-based installation

Use Cases

  • Digital photo frame for households using Immich as their primary photo library
  • Wall display/TV slideshow for events, offices, or shared spaces powered by an Immich server
  • Dedicated kiosk mode display on tablets or low-power devices showing curated Immich albums

Limitations and Considerations

  • Not affiliated with the Immich project and relies on Immich availability and API compatibility

Immich Kiosk is a practical add-on for Immich users who want a polished, configurable slideshow experience on always-on displays. It focuses on simple deployment and flexible configuration while leveraging Immich as the single source of truth for media.

1.3kstars
54forks
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#2
This Week in Past

This Week in Past

Rust-based web app that scans local photo folders and shows a slideshow of images from this calendar week in past years, with optional weather and Home Assistant integration.

This Week in Past is a Rust-based web application that scans local photo folders, reads image metadata, and presents a simple fullscreen slideshow of images taken during the current calendar week in previous years. It can run as a static binary or in Docker and uses in-memory caching for fast playlist generation.

Key Features

  • Aggregates image metadata from configured folders at startup and caches it in memory for fast access
  • Shows photos from the current calendar week across previous years; falls back to random images if none match
  • Configurable slideshow interval, refresh interval and preload behavior via environment variables or URL parameters
  • Optional weather display (requires API key) and optional reverse-geocoding to show city names
  • Home Assistant integration support for loading weather from a sensor entity and using an API token
  • Folder ignoring via marker files or regular-expression matching; click zones for previous/pause/next controls
  • Distributed as a statically compiled Rust binary and as a Docker image for easy deployment

Use Cases

  • Display a nostalgia slideshow on a home media display or digital photo frame showing past years' images for this week
  • Add a photo-driven screensaver or background display for a home server or NAS with photos mounted
  • Combine with Home Assistant to show local weather alongside a photo slideshow in a smart home setup

Limitations and Considerations

  • No HEIC image support due to upstream image library limitations; HEIC images will not be displayed
  • Indexing and slideshow responsiveness depend on storage throughput and CPU; very large collections benefit from fast disks and RAM
  • Weather and location features require external API keys and are disabled until configured

This Week in Past is lightweight and focused: it provides a simple, configurable nostalgia slideshow for locally hosted photo collections and integrates with common smart-home and weather services when configured.

99stars
6forks
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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • •Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • •No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • •Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • •Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running