Support

What makes Mema different from Google Photos?

Mema processes everything locally on your device. Your photos never leave your phone unless you explicitly choose to back them up. We don't analyze your photos for advertising, don't sell your data, and don't use your images to train AI models.

Plus, our semantic search is deterministic—you get the exact photos you're looking for, not AI-generated summaries or hallucinations.

Why does the app need photo library permissions?

Mema needs read access to your photo library to display and organize your photos. This permission is used exclusively for local processing on your device.

We never upload your photos or metadata to our servers. All AI processing (semantic indexing, search) happens entirely on your device.

Will indexing drain my battery?

No. Mema uses a "Charging Only" indexing policy by default. Background indexing only runs when your device is plugged in and charging.

You can manually trigger indexing in the foreground if needed, but the app is designed to be battery-efficient and won't surprise you with unexpected drain.

How does local semantic search work?

Mema uses on-device AI models (MobileCLIP) to understand the content of your photos. When you search for something like "sunset beach" or "high-contrast blue lighting," the app matches your query against locally-generated embeddings stored in a SQLite database on your device.

Everything happens locally—no internet connection required for search.

Can I back up my photos to the cloud?

Future versions will support optional cloud backup with two options:

1. Bring Your Own Storage (BYOS): Connect your own S3-compatible storage (AWS, Backblaze, etc.). Your data goes directly from your device to your storage—we never see it.

2. Managed Storage: We may offer managed storage in the future with client-side encryption (zero-knowledge). Your photos would be encrypted on your device before upload.

Both options are opt-in and will require explicit consent.

How do I reset my search index?

Go to Settings → "Wipe Derived Data". This will delete all locally-generated metadata, embeddings, and search indexes without touching your original photos.

After wiping, you can re-index your library from scratch.

Is Mema open source?

The core domain logic and architecture are documented in our GitHub repository. We're committed to transparency and welcome community contributions.

What platforms are supported?

Mema is available for iOS and Android. We use React Native for cross-platform development while maintaining native performance for AI processing.

How can I report a bug or request a feature?

Please open an issue on our GitHub Issues page or email us at support@memaphotos.com.

We appreciate detailed bug reports including your device model, OS version, and steps to reproduce the issue.