I moved from Mac to Linux a few months ago and decided to go all-in on the files-first life. The most painful/annoying part during this transition was getting my data to sync between Linux and my iPhone, and to then be able to *view* that data. The ecosystem for files-first iOS is dismal. I settled on Syncthing and Synctrain (which writes into "On My iPhone", from where apps can read files) for file synchronization and use these three apps on the phone:

- LocalGallery - read-only photo gallery. Everything (search, memories, people) is generated from image metadata.

- LocalTunes - plain music player, with m3u playlist support (relative paths, so they work seamlessly on desktop and iPhone)

- LocalContacts - read/write .vcf files, with Apple Contacts integration so contacts show up in e.g. Phone, Mail, etc.

They all work the same way - you point them at a local folder on your phone and they give you a bare-bones photos/music/contacts experience. No network connections, no SDKs, no accounts, etc. Delete the apps and your files all stay where they were.

Disclosure: I leaned heavily on Claude Code - not vibe-coded exactly, but definitely agentically coded.

I've been using these personally for the last few weeks and thought there might be others looking for something like this. TestFlight links are in the post for each app. Feedback very welcome!