This reference accompanies the product story and the design process. It records the detailed states for version 0.2.3, rather than serving as a step-by-step introduction.
The drawings were checked against the 0.2.3 source. A test in the product repository checks quoted interface strings against their named Swift files. The screenshots in the product story show 0.2.0, before the rename from Semantic Image Search and the thumbnail changes in 0.2.3.
The paths, filenames, and counts below are examples from the documented states. In particular, the missing-model screen shows recovery from an unreadable custom model folder; the downloadable app bundles its models.
1. Cold start
Screen 1 — Cold start.
The first launch explains how to begin. It does not report zero results before a library exists.
┌─ Visual Search Workbench ────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ┌─ Assets ──────────┐ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ ▾ Assets │ │ [ Search query ] (Search) │ │
│ │ Photos you have │ │ [ Add Folder… ] │ │
│ │ matted appear │ │ Choose a folder to search. Your photos stay │ │
│ │ here. Open a │ │ where they are. │ │
│ │ folder to get │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │
│ │ started. │ │ │ │
│ │ ▸ Jobs │ │ │ │
│ └───────────────────┘ └────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
2. Indexing
Screen 2 — Indexing.
Indexing reports completed work against a total. Cancelling leaves a partial index.
Results are ordered by similarity. In 0.2.3, thumbnails load four at a time, with a two-second wait limit and staggered retries. A missing file gets a permanent explanation.
The counts describe different subsets. A location selection can include photos outside the search results; those photos are labelled and listed without a search rank.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ▾ Explore │
│ [ Similarity 47 | Places 41 | Timeline 47 ] │
│ ↑ ↑ │
│ 41 of the 47 selected photos have coordinates. │
│ The gap between those two numbers IS the finding. │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ▾ Explore [ Similarity 38 | Places 41 | Timeline 41 ] │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ 90°N ┌──────────────────┬──────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ ∿∿∿ · ∿∿┌─────────────┐∿ │ │ │
│ │ 0° ├───∿∿───────∿│ ● ● ●● ∿│──∿∿─────┤ │ │
│ │ │ ∿∿ ∿└─────────────┘∿ · ∿∿ │ │ │
│ │ 90°S └──────────────────┴──────────────────┘ │ │
│ │ 180°W 0° 180°E │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ Mark area ○ 1 photo ◯ 312 photos │
│ Showing 41 of 1284 photos. 1198 have no coordinates, 45 could not be │
│ read. │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ● Map selection · Showing 41 photos in the map selection. 41 of them are │
│ not in your search results, so they are listed last rather than ranked.│
│ ( Clear region ) │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ▣ ▣ ▣ ▣ ▣ ▣ ← 41 tiles, place order, unranked │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
6. Partial-library caveat
Screen 6 — Partial-library caveat.
The warning names the unavailable drive and qualifies the whole view. Visible and VoiceOver wording come from one string.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ▾ Explore │
│ [ Similarity | Places | Timeline ] │
│ ⚠ 312 photos were never opened: their files are on Chimay, which is │
│ not plugged in. Dates and places describe the rest of the library, │
│ not all of it. │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ ▁▂▅█▆▃▁ ▁▃▄▂▁ ▂▇█▅▂▁ ▁▂▃▁ │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
7. Timeline: rest, zoom, truncation
Screen 7 — Timeline: rest, zoom, truncation.
The timeline names its date sources, keeps undated photos off the axis with their own count, and offers a way to reach dates outside the displayed range.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ▾ Explore [ Similarity | Places | Timeline ] │
│ All dates │
│ Photos by capture year Square-root count scale│
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐ │
│ │ 1284┤ │ │ Off the time │ │
│ │ 722┤ ▅█ │ │ axis │ │
│ │ 321┤ ▂▅ ██ ▇▅ │ │ ⁇ │ │
│ │ 80┤ ▁ ██ ██ ██ ▃▁ │ │ 94 │ │
│ │ 0┼─┴──┴───┴┴─┴┴─┴──┴── │ │ Undated photos │ │
│ │ 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 │ └─────────────────┘ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ ⚠ 94 photos have no date and are not on this axis. │
│ ■ EXIF exposure date ■ File write time ■ Source unknown │
│ 🕐 Bars are calendar periods: one bar per calendar year, cut in GMT │
│ (Gregorian). │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ▾ Explore [ Similarity | Places | Timeline ] │
│ All dates › 2021 › Jul 2021 [ Zoom out ] │
│ Photos by capture day Square-root count scale│
│ 1 July 2021 to 31 July 2021 [ Zoom to selection ] │
│ Bars per Year ○──────────● Day Day │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐ │
│ │ ▃▁ ▂▅█▆▃▁ ▁ 0 0 ▁▃▄▂▁ ▂▇█▅▂▁ ▁ ▁▂▃▁ │ │ Off the time │ │
│ │ ╌ ╌ │ │ axis │ │
│ │ 1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 │ │ ⁇ │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ 94 │ │
│ │ Undated photos │ │
│ └─────────────────┘ │
│ ⚠ 94 photos have no date and are not on this axis. │
│ 🕐 Bars are calendar periods: one bar per calendar day, cut in GMT │
│ (Gregorian). │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Photos by capture year │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ ▁▂▅█▆▃▁ ▁▃▄▂▁ ▂▇█▅▂▁ ▁▂▃▁ │ │
│ │ 1962 1966 ... 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ ⚠ 3 photos dated before 1962 are off the left of this axis. │
│ [ Before 1962 ] │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
8. Missing model and settings recovery
Screen 8 — Missing model and settings recovery.
Settings explains library access, model recovery, content handling, and the optional local layer-naming service. Ollama naming is off by default; when enabled, it sends small crops to a service on the same Mac.
┌─ Model folder ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Where the exported CLIP and MobileSAM packages live. The object detector │
│ ships inside the app, so detection works even when this folder is │
│ missing; search does not. │
│ │
│ /Volumes/Butter/cache/sis-coreml-export │
│ This folder is not readable — an unmounted disk, or models that were │
│ never exported there. Search will report the missing package by name. │
│ │
│ ( Choose model folder… ) ( Reset to default ) │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌─ Settings ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Library folders │
│ ~/Pictures/2021-iceland (Remove) │
│ + Open Folder… │
│ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ Memory │
│ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ Models │
│ │
│ Content │
│ No photo is tagged, hidden, blurred, or ranked lower for what it │
│ depicts. This app has no explicit-content classifier, so nothing is │
│ filtered out and nothing is certified safe — search matches every │
│ indexed photo on the same terms, and a generated layer name may │
│ describe a photo plainly. │
│ │
│ Local layer names │
│ ☐ Ask local Ollama to name unsure layers │
│ Off by default. When on, unsure crops may be sent as a 256px JPEG │
│ to Ollama on this Mac (127.0.0.1). Gallery bytes never leave the │
│ device. │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Additional cutout screenshots
These captures are from 0.2.0. They show the inspection and saving steps described in the product story.
