Frequently Asked Questions

Minutes is a collaborative reel maker. You create a minute, invite people, and everyone uploads their photos and videos to one shared pool. Photos are automatically organized by day and location, and you can turn the highlights into AI-powered cinematic video reels.

Yes, Minutes is completely free. There are no paid tiers, storage limits, or feature restrictions. Every feature — including AI video reels, face recognition, and unlimited minutes — is available to every user at no cost.

Minutes is for anyone who wants to turn shared moments into beautiful reels — couples, families, friend groups, event organizers. It's built for multiple contributors from the ground up. Everyone uploads to one shared pool, and anyone can create a reel from the shared photos.

A shared album is a flat folder of photos in upload order. Minutes gives your minute structure: destinations, dates, flights, and participant roles. Photos organize by day and location automatically, you see them on an interactive map, and you can create AI video reels. Think of the difference as a photo folder vs. a minute scrapbook that builds itself.

You need an account to create minutes, upload photos, and view minute galleries. However, AI video reels generated from minutes can be shared via a link that anyone can watch without signing up — no account or app required.

No, Minutes is a web app that requires an internet connection. You can't upload photos or view your gallery offline. If offline access is critical for you, apps like Polarsteps or TripMemo have better offline support.

Not yet. Minutes is a responsive web app that works well on phones, tablets, and desktops through a browser. Native iOS and Android apps are planned for the future.

There's no hard limit. Most minutes have 2-6 people, but Minutes supports any group size. Each member can be assigned a role: owner (full control), member (can upload and manage photos), or viewer (can see but not add content).

When you upload photos, Minutes reads the date and GPS location from each photo's metadata (EXIF data). It then groups them by day and by the destination they belong to. If your minute goes Rome → Florence → Venice, photos from each city are automatically separated and organized chronologically within each destination.

Reels let you select your favorite photos from a minute, choose a cinematic style preset, and generate a video highlight reel powered by AI. You can share the finished reel with a link — anyone can watch it in their browser without creating an account.

Yes. Minutes uses AI to detect and tag people across your photos. Once you identify someone in one photo, the system recognizes them in others. This makes it easy to find all photos of a specific person across a minute.

Different tools for different needs. Polarsteps is a travel journal with automatic GPS route tracking — great for solo travelers who want their path drawn on a map. Minutes is a shared gallery where everyone in the group contributes photos to one organized collection. Polarsteps only allows one person to document a trip; Minutes lets everyone contribute equally.

Yes. Your minute galleries are only visible to invited minute members. Photos are not indexed by search engines, not used for advertising, and not shared with third parties. Shared reel links are accessible to anyone who has the link, but the links themselves are not discoverable or indexed.

Not directly — there's no automatic import from other photo services. You upload photos from your device (phone or computer) to Minutes. Most people upload their best trip photos rather than their entire camera roll.