Pict-o-view — a fast folder-based photo and video viewer for Mac
I am the developer of Pict-o-view, a native Mac photo and video viewer. Problem When I want to look through a folder of photos on my Mac, I either have to import everything into a managed library first, or open files one at a time. I wanted to point an app at a folder and page through what is inside, and have it handle RAW and video too. Pict-o-view does that. Add a folder and it shows what is in it instantly. Nothing is imported or copied, files stay on disk, and it is fully sandboxed so it only sees the folders you add. Instant paging on big RAW folders, video with scrubbing, speed and picture in picture, filmstrip, slideshow, favourites, and non-destructive rotate and crop. Comparison Closest is Phoenix Slides, also folder-based and fast, but it is images only and forces you into full screen for each shot. Pict-o-view adds video, previews and pages inside the window, and remembers the folders you add between launches. Compared to Apple Photos, there is no library and no importing at all, your files never move. Pricing Free. No in-app purchases, no subscription, no ads, no account, no analytics. https://apps.apple.com/app/pict-o-view/id6789158521 I am a solo developer, built natively in Swift and SwiftUI, maintained actively. Keyboard-first culling is what I am building next. Happy to answer anything.
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**Problem** When I want to look through a folder of photos on my Mac, I either have to import everything into a managed library first, or open files one at a time. I’m sorry but this is 100% false. And the other comments appear to be all bots.
I agree, this feels like a stolen idea or just a big coincidence, you don’t see apps like this in here but few weeks ago i made Imagin Raw that does exactly this, and better i might say. The comments i got were way different and i didn’t reply to any with AI either.
Fair pushback on the wording. Quick Look and Preview exist and I use them too, so saying you can only open files one at a time was too strong, my bad. What I meant is there is no built in way to page through a whole folder as one set, with RAW and video, a filmstrip and non destructive edits, without Quick Look’s per file limits or importing into a library. On the bot thing, those are just people in the sub, I have no control over who comments. Totally fair to judge the app itself rather than the thread, it is free so easy to test.
The metadata panel is the right foundation. For sharing, I would make the privacy state impossible to miss: GPS coordinates, capture date, device or camera, software, and embedded comments, with location flagged at a glance. When stripping arrives, show a before-and-after metadata list and always write a new export rather than touching the original. A filename such as IMG_4382-redacted.jpg plus a clear “original unchanged” receipt would make the operation easy to trust.
Thank you, this is really thoughtful. I am adding it to the feature list.
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Congrats! I currently use FlowVision (free). Would you say there are advantages using Pict-o-view?
The main advantage is the sandbox. Pict-o-view only sees the folders you add and nothing else on your disk. Because of that model the folders you add stay put as your working set, so you open the app and they are right there. FlowVision is not sandboxed and browses your whole drive, which also means navigating to your folders each time. If you care about limiting what a viewer can read, and about not re-navigating every session, that is a real difference. A few smaller ones: Favourite individual photos while paging, not just folder shortcuts in the toolbar Fuller video controls, scrubbing, playback speed and picture in picture, plus filmstrip and slideshow Non destructive rotate and crop FlowVision is a great open source app though. Honestly the best way to tell is to run both side by side for a bit and see which fits your flow. It is free so no harm, and I would love to hear what you think.
Thanks for elaborating!
This looks very useful, I particularly like the slideshow function. My only question is can the folder be sorted by time/date taken? If it can then I missed it so my fault, but I am often working with photos from multiple sources, and the correct sorting gets a bit tedious. It's certainly not impossible, but anything that makes the process easier would be greatly welcomed.
Good news, sorting and grouping are already there, and you can combine them. Tap the sort icon at the top right: Sort By: Name, Date Modified or File Size Order: ascending or descending Group by Type, which works alongside the sort, so you can group by type and still order within each group Include Subfolders One honest caveat: you asked about date taken, and the date option right now is the file’s modified date, not the capture date from the photo metadata. For photos pulled from multiple sources those are not always the same, so a proper sort by date taken is a good addition and I am putting it on the list. Thanks for raising it clearly.
Great, thanks
for the keyboard-first culling mode, i'd make reject reversible by default - flag it or move it to a review set instead of deleting immediately. also treat RAW+JPEG pairs as one shot and keep the filename visible while paging. those two details are what make a fast viewer safe enough to use on a real camera folder.
This is really helpful, thank you. All three are going in. Reject being reversible is exactly the plan. Nothing gets deleted, it just moves to a rejected set you can review and undo, so culling never feels risky. Treating RAW plus JPEG pairs as one shot is a great call, flag or reject should act on the pair, not leave half of it behind. And keeping the filename visible while paging is an easy win, adding that.
does this handle heic properly? thats the thing that always breaks for me in these lightweight viewers
Yes, HEIC works. It reads through the native macOS image pipeline rather than bundling its own decoders, so HEIC, RAW and the newer HDR formats open without extra setup. If you ever hit one that does not, tell me and I will look into it.
Can it show the metadata as well, so I can identify which photos contain sensitive information and remove it?
It shows metadata for the selected photo in an info panel, so you can see the details. Actually stripping or removing metadata like location is not in the app yet, but that is a genuinely useful privacy feature and I am adding it to the list. Currently The app never modifies your originals, so nothing gets changed without you asking.
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Good news, this is already built and shipping in the next update, which should be out in the coming days. A single key to flag keepers and reject while you page through a folder. Thanks for the nudge, it was the most requested feature by far so it went straight to the top.