Immich Kiosk

Honest review of a lightweight slideshow companion to Immich. No marketing, just what you actually get.

TL;DR

• What it is: A self-hosted slideshow engine that pulls photos from your existing Immich server and displays them on any browser, TV, tablet, or picture frame [README][3].
• Who it’s for: Immich users who want a always-on photo display without subscribing to Aura, Nixplay, or Amazon Photos ambient mode. Technical minimum: you already run Immich and know how to deploy a Docker container.
• Critical dependency: Immich Kiosk is not standalone. It requires a running Immich instance. If you don’t have Immich set up, this project doesn’t exist for you yet.
• Cost savings: Smart photo frames with subscriptions (Aura: ~$99–$129/year, Nixplay: $35–$99/year) add up. Immich Kiosk is AGPL-3.0 software that runs for free on top of an Immich server you might already be paying $5–15/mo for [README].
• Key strength: Highly configurable without touching config files — settings are URL query parameters, making it easy to run different configurations on different displays [website].
• Key weakness: It’s a companion project, not an officially supported Immich feature. The project has 1,396 GitHub stars, which is real but not massive. Review coverage is thin. You’re betting on a solo developer’s continued interest [README][merged profile].

---

What is Immich Kiosk

Immich Kiosk is a lightweight web app that connects to your Immich photo server and plays a configurable slideshow. Point a browser at it, and photos cycle on screen. That’s the core pitch [README].

The project is not affiliated with the Immich team — the README includes a prominent notice clarifying this [README]. It’s built and maintained by a single developer (Damon Golding), funded via Buy Me a Coffee, with a Discord channel inside the larger Immich community server [README].

What makes it interesting is what “highly configurable” means in practice. You don’t configure it through a settings dashboard — you configure it through URL query parameters. Want one display showing only photos from a specific album? One showing random assets from the last year? One that sleeps between 10pm and 7am? Different URL, different behavior [website]. For a household with multiple screens — a TV in the living room, a tablet in the kitchen, a frame in the hallway — this is genuinely useful. No separate instances, no config file per device.

The project was noted in the self-hosted community in October 2024 when version 0.11.0 shipped with UI themes, multiple layout options, sleep mode, and custom CSS support [3]. That version jump signals real development momentum — this isn’t a proof-of-concept that stalled.

The README lists deployment targets explicitly: TV, Frameo, Home Assistant, Raspberry Pi, iPad, Android, and browsers [website]. One community member built and sells a physical 10.1-inch Android picture frame pre-configured to run Immich Kiosk via the Fully Kiosk browser app [1]. That someone is manufacturing and selling hardware around this project is a meaningful signal about real-world adoption.

---

Why People Choose It

The honest answer is that Immich Kiosk has minimal independent review coverage. What we can triangulate from is community behavior: how people are actually using it.

The Home Assistant angle. A How-To Geek article from April 2026 covering Immich’s Home Assistant integration explicitly mentions reaching for a custom integration to get randomized slideshows, because the official integration doesn’t support it. The author specifically wanted to display photos on an Echo Show without sharing photo data with Amazon [2]. Immich Kiosk solves exactly that use case — run the slideshow inside your network, display it via Fully Kiosk Browser on any Android device, no Amazon account required [2][1].

The picture frame problem. The person behind The Printing Pilot put the frustration plainly: Raspberry Pi setups kept running into Android WebView compatibility problems on consumer frames. Old Android versions, old WebView, things break. Their solution was to source custom hardware and sell a pre-configured frame [1]. Two buyer reviews confirm it works [1]. This is a niche product built around Immich Kiosk’s existence — people wanted this specific combination badly enough to pay for hardware designed around it.

The “wife approval” benchmark. The Printing Pilot frames the value proposition with a phrase that appears in self-hosting conversations constantly: “100% wife approval guarantee (I hope)” [1]. That’s shorthand for: this needs to look like a consumer product and just work, not like a side project you spent a weekend debugging. The fact the project gets marketed this way — alongside actual product sales — suggests the slideshow quality clears that bar for at least some households.

The alternative is worse. Aura, Nixplay, and similar smart frames charge ongoing subscriptions to display your own photos. Amazon’s Echo Show ambient mode works but routes your photos through Amazon’s infrastructure. For someone already running Immich to escape Google Photos, those options are a step backward [2].

---

Features

Based on the README, website, and version history [README][website][3]:

Slideshow engine:

• Random photo selection from Immich library
• Album-specific display
• Configurable transition timing and effects
• UI themes and multiple layout options (added v0.11.0) [3]
• Sleep mode — define quiet hours when the display goes dark [3]
• Custom CSS support for per-display styling [3]

Configuration system:

• URL query parameter-based settings — no config file editing per device
• Change behavior by changing the URL: different albums, different timing, different layouts [website]
• Responsive design across screen sizes [website]

Integration:

• Works in any modern browser
• Tested on: TV browsers, Frameo frames, Home Assistant dashboards, Raspberry Pi displays, iPads, Android tablets, browser-based kiosks [website]
• Compatible with Fully Kiosk Browser for Android kiosk mode [1][2]

Home Assistant:

• Can be embedded in an HA dashboard via an iframe or with third-party integrations [2]
• Community uses it on jailbroken Echo Shows via Fully Kiosk [2]

What it doesn’t do:

• It doesn’t work without Immich running
• It’s not a photo management tool — it only reads and displays
• No built-in scheduling beyond sleep mode (complex automations need external tooling)

---

Pricing: The Math Against Paid Alternatives

Immich Kiosk itself is free software (AGPL-3.0). The cost equation depends on what you’re comparing it against.

Subscription photo frame services:

• Aura Carver/Mason frames: $150–$250 hardware, ~$99/year cloud subscription after first year
• Nixplay 10.1”: ~$139 hardware, $35/year for premium features
• Amazon Echo Show 10: ~$230, requires Amazon account, photos routed through Amazon infrastructure

Total over 3 years on a subscription frame:

• Aura: $250 + ($99 × 3) = ~$550
• Nixplay: $139 + ($35 × 3) = ~$244

Immich Kiosk self-hosted on existing hardware:

• A spare tablet or old Android phone running Fully Kiosk Browser: ~$0 in hardware cost
• Immich Kiosk software: $0 (AGPL-3.0)
• Immich server (if you’re already running it): $0 incremental cost
• If you need a VPS for Immich: $5–15/mo (~$60–180/year)

Or with dedicated hardware from The Printing Pilot:

• Their 10.1” Android frame: ~Rp 1,133,000 ≈ $72 USD at current exchange rates, one-time cost [1]
• Running cost after that: whatever your Immich server costs monthly

Over 3 years, the self-hosted path with dedicated hardware costs roughly $72–$252 depending on whether you already run Immich. The subscription path costs $244–$550. The math isn’t close for anyone who already has Immich running.

The one honest cost this math ignores: your time. Setup is not zero-effort.

---

Deployment Reality Check

There’s no meaningful third-party documentation of the installation process beyond what the official docs cover. What can be inferred from community usage [1][2]:

Prerequisites:

• A running Immich instance (this is the real prerequisite — if you don’t have Immich, start there)
• Docker installed on the machine that will run Kiosk (can be the same machine as Immich or different)
• A display device: tablet, TV, old phone, Raspberry Pi — anything that runs a modern browser

What the install path looks like:

• Docker Compose deployment, consistent with how Immich itself is typically run
• Point a browser at the Kiosk URL
• Configure behavior via URL parameters
• For TV or kiosk mode: Fully Kiosk Browser (Android) handles autostart, prevent sleep, and full-screen [1][2]

What can go wrong:

• Old Android versions and old WebView implementations break things — this was the specific problem that drove The Printing Pilot to build custom hardware [1]. If you’re repurposing an older Android tablet, check WebView version first.
• The project is a solo developer’s effort. There’s no company behind it, no support contract, no SLA. The GitHub issues page is where bugs go; response time depends on the developer’s availability [README].
• AGPL-3.0 license: if you’re embedding this in a commercial product or service you distribute to others, you need to understand AGPL’s copyleft requirements. For personal or internal business use, it’s effectively the same as free.

Realistic time estimate:

• Already running Immich and comfortable with Docker: 20–30 minutes to a working display
• Running Immich but new to Docker Compose: 1–2 hours including troubleshooting
• No Immich yet: add however long it takes you to set up Immich first (a separate several-hour project)

---

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Zero software cost. AGPL-3.0 means the software is free for personal and internal use. No subscription, no per-device licensing [README].
• URL-based configuration is genuinely clever. Different displays, different URLs, different behavior — no config file management per device. This is a better solution than most self-hosted tools in this space [website].
• Works on anything with a browser. TV, tablet, old phone, Pi, Frameo — documented deployment targets span everything a household might have [website].
• Sleep mode. The display doesn’t have to be on 24/7. Define quiet hours and it stops [3].
• Active development. Version 0.11.0 shipped meaningful features (themes, layouts, sleep, custom CSS) in October 2024, suggesting the project isn’t stale [3].
• Community hardware exists. Someone built and sells a dedicated picture frame around this project, which is a meaningful signal of real-world viability [1].
• Home Assistant compatible. Embed it in dashboards or run it on smart displays in your HA setup [2].

Cons

• Hard dependency on Immich. This is the biggest friction point. Immich Kiosk isn’t useful without a running Immich server. Recommending this to someone without Immich means recommending two separate projects [README].
• Solo developer project. 1,396 GitHub stars is real community interest, but it’s not a foundation-backed project with multiple maintainers. If the developer stops working on it, you’re on your own or forking it [README][merged profile].
• Thin review ecosystem. There are almost no independent third-party reviews of this specific tool. The community commentary is mostly in Discord and Reddit threads, not published articles with depth. That makes it hard to verify claims about real-world reliability at scale.
• Old Android WebView problem. Consumer-grade Android tablets and older devices may have WebView versions that cause breakage — a real obstacle if you’re repurposing existing hardware rather than buying dedicated hardware [1].
• No standalone operation. Can’t point it at a local folder or an S3 bucket. Immich or nothing [README].
• AGPL-3.0 has commercial use implications. If you’re building a product around this, read the license carefully.

---

Who Should Use This / Who Shouldn’t

Use Immich Kiosk if:

• You already run Immich and have a screen you want to turn into a photo display.
• You’re annoyed by the subscription model of Aura, Nixplay, or other smart frames.
• You want different albums or configurations on different displays without managing multiple config files.
• You’re comfortable with Docker and have an afternoon to set it up.
• You have an old tablet or phone you want to repurpose rather than let collect dust.
• You’re building a Home Assistant dashboard and want a photo slideshow widget that pulls from your own server [2].

Don’t use Immich Kiosk if:

• You don’t have Immich running. Set up Immich first — that’s a prerequisite, not an accessory.
• You want a polished consumer experience with warranty support and a company to call. Buy an Aura frame.
• You’re on Android hardware more than a couple years old and haven’t verified WebView compatibility [1].
• You need this to work reliably in a commercial environment (a hotel lobby, a business reception). A solo developer’s hobby project isn’t the right foundation for that.
• You want photo management features. Immich Kiosk only displays; it doesn’t curate, tag, or organize.

---

Alternatives Worth Considering

ImmichFrame — another community project serving the same niche (an Immich-based photo frame display), with a web app beta as of October 2024 [3]. If you’re evaluating Immich Kiosk, check ImmichFrame too — the two projects exist in the same space, and one may suit your setup better than the other.

Immich Picture (Home Assistant integration) — a custom HA integration mentioned in the How-To Geek article [2] that offers multiple photo sources including random asset cycling. If you’re already heavy on Home Assistant, this may be the lower-friction path than running a separate Kiosk container.

Frameo — a commercial smart frame platform listed on the Immich Kiosk website as a supported deployment target [website]. Frameo handles distribution of photos to frames over the internet. It’s simpler but is a closed-source cloud service — the opposite philosophy.

Google Photos Ambient Mode / Apple Photos screensaver — zero setup, works well, requires trusting Google or Apple with your photo library. If that trade-off is acceptable, this is the path of least resistance.

Aura / Nixplay smart frames — purpose-built hardware with managed software. More reliable out of the box, but you pay ongoing subscriptions and they handle your photo data.

---

Bottom Line

Immich Kiosk solves a real problem that Immich itself doesn’t: turning the photo server you already run into an always-on display. The URL-based configuration model is genuinely well-thought-out — it’s the right answer for households with multiple screens wanting different behaviors without managing per-device config files. For anyone already running Immich who has an idle screen, the math is obvious: free software, one afternoon of setup, done.

The honest caveats are equally clear. This is a solo developer project with limited review coverage and a hard dependency on Immich. You’re not buying into a product — you’re trusting a community project. The old Android WebView problem is real and will bite anyone repurposing older hardware. And if Immich Kiosk is your first contact with self-hosting, step back and set up Immich first.

If the setup cost is the blocker, that’s the kind of one-time deployment work upready.dev does for clients. Deploy it once, own the infrastructure, pay nothing monthly to display your own photos.

---

Sources

1. The Printing Pilot — “Immich-Kiosk Picture Frame” — theprintingpilot.com. https://theprintingpilot.com/products/immich-kiosk-picture-frame
2. Adam Davidson, How-To Geek — “I finally paired Home Assistant with my Immich photo server, and I wish I’d done it sooner” (Apr 1, 2026) — howtogeek.com. https://www.howtogeek.com/home-assistant-with-immich-photo-server/
3. Ethan Sholly, selfh.st — “This Week in Self-Hosted (11 October 2024)” — selfh.st. https://selfh.st/weekly/2024-10-11/
4. Julian Foad — “Immich — Awesome Open Source” (Sep 12, 2024) — wrily.foad.me.uk. https://wrily.foad.me.uk/immich-awesome-open-source

Primary sources:

• GitHub repository and README: https://github.com/damongolding/immich-kiosk (1,396 stars, AGPL-3.0)
• Official website: https://immichkiosk.app
• Documentation: https://docs.immichkiosk.app
• Demo: https://demo.immichkiosk.app