A private place for your photos.
Set an album to Private and keep it visible only to you. Share when you’re ready, with the people you want to include.
Family Photo Album
A little closer, wherever you are.
Make a beautiful album of the little things. Keep it just for you, or share it with the family you wish lived closer.
A place for your people
Some moments mean everything to a few.
The first wobbly bike ride. Sunday lunch. That face they make when they laugh. Not everything needs an audience. Some things simply need a place in your family’s story.
Your moments. Your circle.
Choose who each album is for. Keep a personal album just for yourself, or let a close family group into the story.
Our days by the seaAlbum visibility
Private
Only you. A place to keep something for yourself.
Close circle
The family members you choose. They sign in to see it.
Two ways to keep it personal. You choose for each album.
Miles apart. Still part of the day.
When family lives overseas, it’s often the little things they miss. Share a small album from your week. Something they can open in their own time, linger over, and return to.
Personal means personal
Private moments. Shared on your terms.
A home for your photos in Europe.
Our servers run in Germany with Hetzner. Your photographs are stored in an encrypted Google Cloud bucket in the EU.
Protected access, by design.
Photo links expire after a short time. Close circle albums also require family members to sign in, so access stays with the people you choose.
It began with missing our family.
During the COVID lockdowns, our founders couldn’t be with the people they loved. They wanted a private way to share photographs and the small moments that make up a life.
A place where family could feel included, even from another country. Where a handful of photos could say: this was our day, and we wish you were here.
That wish became Arc. It’s still at the heart of what we’re building.
Sound familiar?
If this is frustrating you
The family group chat swallows every photo within a day.
An album stays put. Open it next week or next year and it is still there, in order, with the words that go with it.
I don’t want to put my kids on social media.
Nothing here is public unless you make it so. Private keeps an album to yourself. Close circle opens it to the family you choose, after they sign in.
My parents won’t install another app.
They don’t have to. An album opens in the browser on a phone, a tablet, or a computer.
A shared link ends up forwarded to who knows where.
Close circle albums need a sign-in, and photo links expire after a short time. Access stays with the people you picked.
Making a photo book feels like a whole project.
Start with a handful of photographs and a few lines about the day. Small albums add up to a family collection.
Why create here?
Ordinary days. Worth keeping.
Some moments are just yours.
Set an album to Private to keep it for yourself. A first draft, a personal memory, a story you’re not ready to share.
A circle you choose.
Choose Close circle to share an album with selected family members. They sign in to see the moments meant for them.
A story around the photos.
Add a few words to the photographs. The funny thing they said. The place you stopped. The details that bring the day back.
Send a little of home.
Share a birthday, a weekend, or an ordinary afternoon with relatives overseas. Give them a way to feel part of it.
Open it. Feel closer.
Family can read your albums in a browser, on a phone, tablet, or computer. There’s no app to install.
Something to come back to.
Make small albums as life happens. Together, they become a family collection you can revisit for years.
Questions
FrequentlyAsked
Who can see my family albums?
You choose the visibility for each album. Private keeps it visible only to you. Close circle lets selected family members see it after signing in. Choose the setting that fits the moments you’re sharing.
Is a shared link the same as a private family group?
No. Anyone with an unlisted link can open it, and the link can be forwarded. Choose Close circle when you want access limited to selected people, or Private to keep an album to yourself.
Do relatives overseas need an app?
No. Your family can open an album in their browser, wherever they live. For Close circle albums, they sign in with the account you have given access to.
Do I need to make a whole book?
Start small. A handful of photographs and a few lines about the day are enough. Make an album for a birthday, a holiday, or the little things between them.
Where are your servers located?
Our servers run on Hetzner in Germany. Photographs are stored in an encrypted Google Cloud bucket in the EU. Photo access uses links that expire after a short time. See our privacy policy for details about personal data and your rights.
Why did you build this?
During the COVID lockdowns, the founders of Arc wanted to feel closer to family they couldn’t visit. They wanted a private way to share photographs and everyday moments. That wish became the starting point for this project.
Get Started
A few photographs. A little closer.
Start with a moment you’d love them to see. Give it a few words, choose who it’s for, and send a little of your world.
Create your first family album