If you bought a Synology NAS, you probably had a moment where you thought: "I should back up my phone photos to this thing." Then you looked into it and found a maze of apps, protocols, and forum threads arguing about the best approach.
This guide will get your phone photos backing up to your Synology in about ten minutes, using Bombajom Photos. No command line. No Docker. Just an app on your phone and the NAS you already own.
Why back up to your Synology instead of the cloud
You already paid for the hardware. A Synology NAS sitting in your home has terabytes of storage that cost you nothing per month. Compare that to Google One or iCloud, where you pay $3-$10/month forever, and the price only goes up as your photo library grows.
But cost is only half the story. When your photos live on your Synology:
- They stay private. No company scans them to train AI models or serve you ads.
- You control access. Your photos never leave your home network unless you choose to set up remote access.
- No surprise changes. Cloud services change their terms, cut free storage, or shut down features. Your Synology just keeps working.
- Speed. Backing up over your home Wi-Fi is faster than uploading to a distant server, especially for large videos.
The catch has always been that setting this up was harder than it should be. That's what Bombajom fixes.
What you need before starting
- A Synology NAS (any model running DSM 6.2 or later; most NAS units sold in the last 6 years qualify)
- A shared folder on the NAS where you want photos stored (you probably already have one)
- Your NAS username and password
- An iPhone or Android phone with Bombajom Photos installed
If you haven't downloaded Bombajom yet, grab it from our download page.
Step 1: Make sure your NAS is reachable
Your phone and your Synology need to be on the same Wi-Fi network. This is the case for most home setups. If your phone is connected to your home Wi-Fi and your NAS is plugged into your router, you're good.
A quick way to check: open the Synology web interface by typing your NAS's IP address into a browser (something like 192.168.1.50:5000). If you see the DSM login screen, your NAS is reachable.
[screenshot placeholder: DSM login screen in a browser]
Step 2: Open Bombajom and start setup
Launch Bombajom Photos on your phone. The first screen asks how you want to save your photos.
Choose "I Have a NAS Drive" (the card mentions Synology and QNAP by name).
[screenshot placeholder: Bombajom setup screen with storage options]
Step 3: Let Bombajom find your Synology
The app scans your Wi-Fi automatically. After a few seconds, your Synology should appear in the list, showing its name and address.
[screenshot placeholder: Network scan results showing a Synology NAS]
If your NAS doesn't appear, see the troubleshooting section below.
Tap your Synology to select it, then tap "Continue".
Next, the app asks whether to back up on home WiFi only or from anywhere. Pick "Home WiFi only" to keep it simple (you can change this later). If you use Synology QuickConnect, pick "Anywhere (Recommended)" and enter your QuickConnect ID. Tap "Continue".
Step 4: Enter your credentials
The app will ask for your NAS username and password. Use the same credentials you use to log into the Synology web interface (DSM).
[screenshot placeholder: Credential entry screen]
A few things to know:
- Your credentials stay on your phone. They are stored in your phone's secure keychain (iOS Keychain or Android Keystore) and encrypted. They are never sent to Bombajom or any other server.
- Use a dedicated account if you prefer. Some people create a "photos" user on their Synology just for backup. This is optional but a nice way to keep things organized.
Tap "Test Connection" to check that the app can reach your NAS and log in, then tap "Continue".
Step 5: Choose your backup folder
Next, give the connection a name and type the folder path where photos should go, like /Photos or /BombajomPhotos. The app suggests a few common paths you can tap. You can also pick how photos are organized into subfolders (by year and month works well) and how files are named.
If multiple family members will back up to the same NAS, use a separate path per person:
Photos/
Mom/
Dad/
Kids/
Each person types their own path during setup (for example /Photos/Mom). The folder is created automatically when the first backup runs.
[screenshot placeholder: Folder step showing the path field and suggestions]
Step 6: Start your first backup
Tap "Start Using Bombajom Photos" to finish setup. Bombajom will ask for permission to access your photo library, then begin uploading automatically.
Your first backup might take a while depending on how many photos you have. Here's a rough guide:
| Library size | Estimated time over Wi-Fi |
|---|---|
| 5,000 photos | 15–30 minutes |
| 20,000 photos | 1–3 hours |
| 50,000+ photos | 4–8 hours |
You don't need to keep the app open. Bombajom backs up in the background. You can lock your phone, use other apps, or even leave the house (backup will pause and resume when you're back on Wi-Fi).
[screenshot placeholder: Backup progress screen showing photos uploading]
After the first sync, new photos back up automatically within minutes of being taken.
Step 7: Verify your photos arrived
Once the backup shows some progress, open your Synology's file manager (File Station in DSM) and browse to the folder you chose. You should see your photos appearing, organized by date.
[screenshot placeholder: File Station showing backed-up photos organized by date]
That's it. Your photos are now automatically backing up to hardware you own, in your home, under your control.
Setting up family sharing on one Synology
One of the best things about a NAS is that your whole family can use it. Here's how to set up Bombajom for multiple people on the same Synology:
- Create a user account on the Synology for each person (or use one shared account, your call)
- Create separate folders for each person's backup (e.g.,
/Photos/Sarah,/Photos/Mike) - Install Bombajom on each person's phone and walk through the same setup, pointing each phone to their own folder
Each person's backup runs independently. Sarah's phone backs up to Sarah's folder. Mike's phone backs up to Mike's folder. Nobody sees each other's photos unless you set up shared folder permissions on the Synology.
This also means each family member needs their own Bombajom license, or you can use the Family plan which covers up to 12 computers, with unlimited phones.
Troubleshooting
My Synology doesn't appear in the network scan
This is the most common issue and it's almost always a network problem:
- Check you're on the same Wi-Fi network. If your phone is on a guest network or a mesh satellite that's isolated from your main network, it won't see the NAS.
- Try entering the address manually. Tap "Enter Manually" and type your NAS's IP address (e.g.,
192.168.1.50). You can find this in your router's admin page or in the Synology web interface under Control Panel > Network. - Check your Synology's SMB service. In DSM, go to Control Panel > File Services and make sure SMB is enabled. It usually is by default.
- Restart the NAS's network. Sometimes a simple restart of the NAS network service clears things up. In DSM, go to Control Panel > Network > Network Interface and click "Apply" on your connection.
"Connection refused" or "Login failed"
- Double-check your username and password. Try logging into DSM through a browser to confirm they work.
- Check the user has permission to access the shared folder you're trying to use. In DSM, go to Control Panel > Shared Folder, select the folder, and click Permissions.
- Check if your account is disabled or locked. DSM can auto-lock accounts after too many failed logins. Check Control Panel > User & Group.
Backup is very slow
- Check your Wi-Fi signal. If your phone has a weak connection to the router, transfers will crawl. Try moving closer to your router for the initial sync.
- Large videos take time. A single 4K video can be several gigabytes. Bombajom shows per-file progress so you can see when a big file is causing the slowdown.
- Check NAS disk health. If your NAS drives are old or nearly full, write speeds drop. Open Storage Manager in DSM to check drive health and available space.
- Use 5GHz Wi-Fi. If your router offers both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, connect your phone to the 5GHz band for faster transfers.
Photos backed up but not visible in Synology Photos app
Bombajom stores your photos as plain files on the NAS. If you also use Synology Photos, you may need to re-index. In DSM, open Synology Photos > Settings and trigger a re-index of the folder where Bombajom stores files.
Alternatively, many people find they no longer need Synology Photos once Bombajom is set up, since Bombajom provides its own browsing and search features on your phone.
What's next
Once your backup is running, you might want to explore a few more features:
- Browse your full library on your phone. Bombajom shows all your backed-up photos in a timeline, even photos that are only on the NAS (not on your phone anymore).
- Search by content. The app uses on-device AI to tag your photos by what's in them ("beach", "birthday", "dog") so you can search without any cloud processing.
- Free up phone storage. Once photos are safely on your NAS, Bombajom can help you remove local copies to reclaim space on your phone.
Have questions? Reach out to us at support@bombajom.com. We answer every email.