Since I started working on my Image Description Toolkit (IDT) back around January of 2025, I’ve had a goal: open my photo library on Windows or the Mac and have descriptions read automatically as I move through my pictures. No exporting, no batch jobs, no copying images somewhere else first. Just arrow to a photo and hear what’s in it.
With recent developments in on-device AI on both Windows and the Mac, I’m pleased to announce the first release of My Photo Library Described (MPLD) in furtherance of that goal.
In short, with the latest versions of Windows and macOS and the right hardware, you can open MPLD, start arrowing through your photos and have descriptions read pretty much automatically. I say pretty much on the automatic front because the first description can take several seconds while the AI model warms up. After that, as you move to new photos, they are generally described after a short pause. If you turn on Describe Photos in the Background from the Photo menu, MPLD will describe your photos behind the scenes, so descriptions are ready even faster when you get to them.
The descriptions come from the AI built into your computer: Apple Intelligence on the Mac and Windows AI on a Copilot+ PC. Your photos aren’t uploaded anywhere to be described. There’s no API key, no account and no cost, however many photos you describe.
Getting Started
The 0.2 release notes and the user guide have full details on how MPLD works. The short version is as follows:
- Launch the app. Focus starts on your first photo.
- Arrow up and down through your photos.
- Pause on a photo and its description is read automatically.
- Press Ctrl+D on Windows or Command-D on the Mac to have the description read again.
- Press Ctrl+R or Command-R to have the photo described afresh, replacing the saved description.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+D or Shift-Command-D to go to the description, and press it again to go back to your photos. The description is in an edit box, so you can read it by line, word or character, or correct it. Your changes are saved when you press Enter or go back to your photos.
- If descriptions don’t seem to work, choose Check System from the Help menu. It tells you whether your computer is ready to describe photos and, if not, what to do about it. Check AI Description, also on the Help menu, tries describing a sample picture so you can see the whole thing working.
Descriptions are saved, so each photo is only described once. Going back to a photo you’ve already heard reads its description again after the same short pause, with no waiting on the AI.
What You Need
- Mac: macOS 27 or later on Apple silicon, with Apple Intelligence turned on.
- Windows: Windows 11 version 24H2 or later on a Copilot+ PC.
If your computer can’t describe photos, MPLD still lets you browse, search, sort and look at your photos. It just won’t describe them.
A Photo Library App That Works Well with Screen Readers
MPLD shows your photos much the way Finder or File Explorer shows files, in a list or a gallery. On the Mac it shows your Photos library, and on Windows your Pictures library, and on both you can add any other folders of photos you want.
I wanted it to be a good photo library app first, and one that works well with VoiceOver on the Mac and JAWS, NVDA and Narrator on Windows. A few things I think you’ll appreciate:
- You choose what you hear. View > Labels lets you pick which details are read for each photo and in what order, in both the list and the gallery. If you’d rather hear the date a photo was taken before its file name, you can.
- Your photos stay as they are. Every time you start MPLD, it’s in Read-Only Mode, so nothing can change your photos until you say so. When you do allow changes, you can put a description into a photo as its caption, and into the newer accessibility alt text fields in the photo file itself, so the description travels with the photo.
- It remembers where each description came from. MPLD keeps track of which AI made a description, or that you wrote or corrected it, and when. That stays on your computer.
- Place names if you want them. Turn on Look Up Place Names and MPLD can tell you where a photo was taken, by name rather than just coordinates. It’s off until you turn it on.
Getting the App
- Mac: download My Photo Library Described 0.2.0 for the Mac. Open the disk image and move the app to your Applications folder. Help > Check for Updates finds newer versions.
- Windows: install My Photo Library Described for Windows. Open the file you download, and App Installer installs the app and keeps it up to date.
Both are also on the My Photo Library Described 0.2.0 release page on GitHub, along with the release notes.
MPLD is free and open source under the MIT license.
Feedback and What’s Next
This is a first release, and I’d love to hear how it works for you. The easiest way to send feedback is Report a Bug on the Help menu. It files the report for you, shows you exactly what’s being sent, and you don’t need a GitHub account. You can also open an issue on GitHub directly, or email support@theideaplace.net.
Things I’m already planning, and known issues I mean to fix, are on GitHub with the v-next label. That includes working with descriptions you’ve already made with IDT, so the two tools work well together.
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