diff --git a/lib/photo_loader.dart b/lib/photo_loader.dart
index 28de39084..4d7503fee 100644
--- a/lib/photo_loader.dart
+++ b/lib/photo_loader.dart
@@ -1,15 +1,11 @@
-import 'dart:typed_data';
-
 import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
 import 'package:logger/logger.dart';
 import 'package:myapp/db/db_helper.dart';
 import 'package:myapp/models/photo.dart';
-import 'package:photo_manager/photo_manager.dart';
 
 class PhotoLoader extends ChangeNotifier {
   final logger = Logger();
   final _photos = List<Photo>();
-  final _assetMap = Map<String, AssetEntity>();
   
   PhotoLoader._privateConstructor();
   static final PhotoLoader instance = PhotoLoader._privateConstructor();
@@ -32,16 +28,4 @@ class PhotoLoader extends ChangeNotifier {
     logger.i("Reloading...");
     notifyListeners();
   }
-
-  void addAsset(String path, AssetEntity asset) {
-    _assetMap[path] = asset;
-  }
-
-  Future<Uint8List> getThumbnail(String path, int size) {
-    if (!_assetMap.containsKey(path)) {
-      logger.w("No thumbnail");
-      return Future.value(null);
-    }
-    return _assetMap[path].thumbDataWithSize(size, size);
-  }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/photo_sync_manager.dart b/lib/photo_sync_manager.dart
index 3ef7a4830..8d5fd7b79 100644
--- a/lib/photo_sync_manager.dart
+++ b/lib/photo_sync_manager.dart
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-import 'dart:typed_data';
-
 import 'package:logger/logger.dart';
 import 'package:myapp/db/db_helper.dart';
 import 'package:myapp/photo_loader.dart';
@@ -28,7 +26,11 @@ class PhotoSyncManager {
 
   Future<void> init() async {
     await _updateDatabase();
-    await _syncPhotos();
+    try {
+      _syncPhotos();
+    } catch (e) {
+      _logger.e(e);
+    }
   }
 
   Future<bool> _updateDatabase() async {
@@ -41,7 +43,6 @@ class PhotoSyncManager {
       if (asset.createDateTime.millisecondsSinceEpoch > lastDBUpdateTimestamp) {
         await DatabaseHelper.instance.insertPhoto(await Photo.fromAsset(asset));
       }
-      PhotoLoader.instance.addAsset((await asset.originFile).path, asset);
     }
     return await prefs.setInt(
         _lastDBUpdateTimestampKey, DateTime.now().millisecondsSinceEpoch);
@@ -55,10 +56,11 @@ class PhotoSyncManager {
     }
     _logger.i("Last sync timestamp: " + lastSyncTimestamp.toString());
 
-    List<Photo> diff = await _getDiff(lastSyncTimestamp);
-    await _downloadDiff(diff, prefs);
-
-    await _uploadDiff(prefs);
+    _getDiff(lastSyncTimestamp).then((diff) {
+      _downloadDiff(diff, prefs).then((_) {
+        _uploadDiff(prefs);
+      });
+    });
 
     // TODO:  Fix race conditions triggered due to concurrent syncs.
     //        Add device_id/last_sync_timestamp to the upload request?
diff --git a/lib/ui/image_widget.dart b/lib/ui/image_widget.dart
index 3425d8e99..cd18ac999 100644
--- a/lib/ui/image_widget.dart
+++ b/lib/ui/image_widget.dart
@@ -51,21 +51,8 @@ class _ImageWidgetState extends State<ImageWidget> {
   }
 
   Future<Image> _buildImageWidget(String path, num size) async {
-    var thumbnail = await photoLoader.getThumbnail(path, size);
-    if (thumbnail != null) {
-      return Image.memory(
-        thumbnail,
-        width: size.toDouble(),
-        height: size.toDouble(),
-        fit: BoxFit.cover,
-      );
-    } else {
-      return Image.file(
-          File(path),
-          width: size.toDouble(),
-          height: size.toDouble(),
-          fit: BoxFit.cover);
-    }
+    return Image.file(File(path),
+        width: size.toDouble(), height: size.toDouble(), fit: BoxFit.cover);
   }
 
   @override