Who makes it
Queryable started as an experiment. In December 2022 Ke Fang wrote up how he split OpenAI’s CLIP into separate image and text encoders and ran them on an iPhone 12 mini to search his own photos (the original post). The app shipped on the App Store the same month. It has since moved to Apple’s MobileCLIP-S2 and added search by photo, translated queries, time filters and a similar-photo cleanup.
Ke Fang writes at mazzzystar.com and publishes code as mazzzystar on GitHub. The App Store seller is SmashMelon LLC. Six people have contributed to the public repository.
Two editions, never in the same store
Queryable and 寻隐 are two App Store products built from the same codebase, and no storefront sells both, so you will only ever see one of them.
Queryable
Sold in 171 territories, at $4.99 once in the US. Its interface ships in 18 languages. Its search model is English; queries in other languages are translated on the device with Apple’s Translation framework. Get Queryable on the App Store.
寻隐 (尋隱)
Sold only in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, at ¥1 once in mainland China. It carries its own Chinese text encoder, so Chinese descriptions are matched directly, and its interface is Chinese. See the 寻隐 home page or get 寻隐 on the App Store.
What it will never do
These are design commitments, not features waiting on a roadmap. They are also why some things people ask for, such as cloud sync, are not coming.
- No network. The app makes no network requests of its own: your photos, their embeddings and your searches never leave the device. PhotoKit network access stays off while it indexes and searches.
- No analytics. There is no analytics SDK and no third-party crash reporter in the app. Its App Store privacy label reads “Data Not Collected”.
- No account. Nothing to sign up for, sign in to or recover.
- No subscription. One purchase, no in-app purchases, no ads, no paid tier waiting behind the first one.
One honest qualification: this website is not the app. It uses Google Analytics with advertising signals switched off to count page visits and App Store clicks, as described in the privacy policy.
Who has vouched for it
Proof that comes from someone other than the developer, each with its source:
- Hacker News front page, February 2023: 397 points and 134 comments on “Run CLIP on iPhone to Search Photos” (thread).
- GitHub: more than 2,900 stars and 445 forks on the MIT-licensed repository, checked October 30, 2026 (mazzzystar/Queryable).
- PicQuery, an MIT-licensed Android app, credits Queryable as “the inspiration for this project” (greyovo/PicQuery).
- Reviewed by iphone-ticker.de in February 2023 (review) and written up by the PyTorch Korea community in January 2025 (write-up).
- App Store ratings, read 2026-10-30: Queryable 4.7 from 92 US ratings; 寻隐 4.7 from 250 mainland China ratings.
What the open-source repository does and does not let you verify is on open source.
What it is not
Queryable is not the only private way to search photos. Apple Photos analyses your library on the device and, on iPhones with Apple Intelligence, accepts descriptions; Ente Photos offers free, open-source, on-device search. Queryable is for people who want search of the library they already have, on any iPhone with iOS 18, paid for once. It does not read text inside photos, recognise faces, index in the background, sync between devices, or download iCloud originals for you. The comparisons are on alternatives and Queryable vs Apple Photos search.
Contact
Bug reports and questions go to the GitHub issue tracker — include your device model, iOS version, approximate library size and iCloud setting, and never attach private photos. The App Store listing also shows a support contact. For privacy questions, see the privacy policy.
Common questions
Who makes Queryable?
Ke Fang, who publishes as mazzzystar, builds it; SmashMelon LLC is the App Store seller. The app first shipped in December 2022.
Are Queryable and 寻隐 the same app?
They are two App Store products from the same codebase. 寻隐 is sold only in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and has its own Chinese text encoder; Queryable is sold in 171 other territories.
Does Queryable collect any data?
No. The app makes no network requests of its own, has no analytics or account, and its App Store privacy label is “Data Not Collected”.
Will Queryable ever become a subscription?
No. It is a one-time purchase with no in-app purchases, and that is a design commitment.