Blog

Building in the open

Notes from building a private home for everything.

PolarHQAlpha v0.1
NewsReleaseVision

Introducing PolarHQ — your private home for everything

A self-hosted, open-source, end-to-end encrypted suite for your photos, files and documents. One server you own, every app you need.

by Marques · April 12, 2026

PolarHQEngineering
EngineeringSecurityDeep dive

How end-to-end encryption works in PolarHQ

A Proton-style single-password model, libsodium under the hood, and a server that only ever stores ciphertext. Here's the whole design.

by Marques · April 26, 2026

PolarHQProduct
PhotosProduct

Photos that feel like Apple Photos — but yours

A continuous-flow grid, HEIC and Live Photos, EXIF maps, a non-destructive editor, stacks, and on-device semantic search. All encrypted.

by Marques · May 10, 2026

PolarHQEngineering
EngineeringDrivePhotos

One library, two apps: how Drive and Photos share storage

Your photos are files, and your files include your photos. Here's the shared-object architecture that keeps Drive and Photos in sync with zero duplication.

by Marques · May 24, 2026

PolarHQProduct
DocsSheetsSlidesProduct

Bringing Google-parity Sheets, Docs & Slides to a self-hosted suite

Full-screen editors, a canvas-fast spreadsheet grid, real Office import/export, and collaboration — without giving up end-to-end encryption.

by Marques · June 2, 2026

PolarHQProduct
iOSMobileProduct

PolarHQ on iOS — a native client with crypto parity

A native SwiftUI app, a libsodium core that matches the web byte-for-byte, immersive Apple-Photos browsing, and live sync with the desktop.

by Marques · June 6, 2026