Introducing Photos Backup Anywhere: A Simple Backup Solution for Your Photos

[gerdemb]

Have only just realised that PBA wasn't running on my M4 mini. Had to manually launch it - at which point it asked for location (effectively confirmed location), and updated the database seemingly just fine.

Maybe it would have launched if I had needed to log in (e.g. do a restart). But much of the time I simply leave it logged in and running. While my needs are very limited, so it had no actual impact at all, it felt a touch disappointing that I had not noticed that I needed to re-launch it.

Is there a simple way of establishing a watchdog that checks every so often and warns if it isn't running or needs attention?

Thanks for using the app and reporting this issue. To be clear, if you have enabled “Open at Login” and “Automatically start backup when opened” the app should open automatically open and start the backup when logging in.

From your message, it sounds like you have been upgraded to version 2.0.0 which may have caused the “Open at Login” setting to be reset. You can verify your login items in the “Login Items & Extensions” section of your Mac’s settings. If you see Photos Backup Anywhere in the "Open at Login” you should be OK.

That being said, this sounds like a possible issue with the settings getting reset during the upgrade. I will investigate and see if I can root cause this futher.

Thanks again for taking the time to write. Feedback like this really helps shape the next updates.

Cheers,
Benjamin

 

[gerdemb]

How do you get the update? No option in the program and nothing in the App Store.

Thanks for your message! The update is being rolled out gradually through the App Store, so it may take a few days before it becomes visible on your device. Behind the scenes, this is actually a significant upgrade to the database structure, so I'm rolling it out cautiously to ensure a smooth transition for everyone. If you do notice any issues after updating, please don’t hesitate to let me know—I really appreciate the feedback.

 

[mk313]

Thanks for using the app and reporting this issue. To be clear, if you have enabled “Open at Login” and “Automatically start backup when opened” the app should open automatically open and start the backup when logging in.

From your message, it sounds like you have been upgraded to version 2.0.0 which may have caused the “Open at Login” setting to be reset. You can verify your login items in the “Login Items & Extensions” section of your Mac’s settings. If you see Photos Backup Anywhere in the "Open at Login” you should be OK.

That being said, this sounds like a possible issue with the settings getting reset during the upgrade. I will investigate and see if I can root cause this futher.

Thanks again for taking the time to write. Feedback like this really helps shape the next updates.

Cheers,
Benjamin

FWIW, I had the same issue. Didn't realize it until I saw this post, but mine also stopped syncing with the introduction of v 2.

 

[polyphenol]

Thanks for using the app and reporting this issue. To be clear, if you have enabled “Open at Login” and “Automatically start backup when opened” the app should open automatically open and start the backup when logging in.

From your message, it sounds like you have been upgraded to version 2.0.0 which may have caused the “Open at Login” setting to be reset. You can verify your login items in the “Login Items & Extensions” section of your Mac’s settings. If you see Photos Backup Anywhere in the "Open at Login” you should be OK.

That being said, this sounds like a possible issue with the settings getting reset during the upgrade. I will investigate and see if I can root cause this futher.

Thanks again for taking the time to write. Feedback like this really helps shape the next updates.

Cheers,
Benjamin

Thanks for your reply. It is appreciated.

Yes - I have Open at Login and Automatically start backup when opened both set. And yes, it has updated.

I'm not entirely sure what happened when. I think I did restart the other day. Checking I find - Time since boot: 5 days, 23 hours, 54 minutes - which looks like Tuesday 29/04/2025.

Looks like it updated on Saturday 03/05/2025 but failed to relaunch properly. And, when I manually launched, it went through the database updating processes.

As I said before, the ONLY real issue was that I think I could have missed that it wasn't running for a long time. My eyes don't naturally look at the menu bar much.

 

[gerdemb]

Thanks for your reply. It is appreciated.

Yes - I have Open at Login and Automatically start backup when opened both set. And yes, it has updated.

View attachment 2508130

View attachment 2508131

I'm not entirely sure what happened when. I think I did restart the other day. Checking I find - Time since boot: 5 days, 23 hours, 54 minutes - which looks like Tuesday 29/04/2025.

View attachment 2508129

Looks like it updated on Saturday 03/05/2025 but failed to relaunch properly. And, when I manually launched, it went through the database updating processes.

As I said before, the ONLY real issue was that I think I could have missed that it wasn't running for a long time. My eyes don't naturally look at the menu bar much.

Thanks for your detailed update and screenshots — that helps a lot. I’m sorry for the confusion and inconvenience this issue caused.

I’ve confirmed that the upgrade to version 2.0.0 can reset the “Open at Login” setting. You can check whether Photos Backup Anywhere is set to open at login by opening System Settings on your Mac, navigating to General → Login Items & Extensions, and verifying that "Photos Backup Anywhere" appears under "Open at Login." If it is not listed, simply launch the app manually and re-enable “Open at Login” from within the app settings.

This is a one-time issue caused by a change in the app bundle introduced in version 2.0.0, and you should only need to re-enable the setting once after the upgrade.

Please let me know if that’s not the case or if you have any other issues or feedback.

Thanks again for using the app!

 

[polyphenol]

This is a one-time issue caused by a change in the app bundle introduced in version 2.0.0, and you should only need to re-enable the setting once after the upgrade.

I'm pretty sure that I didn't change any settings. Simply manually launching it got it to update the database and start running just fine.

I still feel that if there is a way of alerting if it isn't running would be helpful. I've had a similar problem in the past with another app - Maestral. Works brilliantly until one day I found it not running. Really needs to be a macOS feature - it could be my ignorance and it might already be possible. Will have to do some searching.

 

[gerdemb]

I'm pretty sure that I didn't change any settings. Simply manually launching it got it to update the database and start running just fine.

I still feel that if there is a way of alerting if it isn't running would be helpful. I've had a similar problem in the past with another app - Maestral. Works brilliantly until one day I found it not running. Really needs to be a macOS feature - it could be my ignorance and it might already be possible. Will have to do some searching.

To clarify, the issue occurred during the upgrade to the new version and was not caused by anything you did.

Without getting too technical, the new version was a complete rewrite, and I accidentally released it with a different “app bundle” than the previous one. From the user’s perspective, it looks like the same app—same name and icon, upgraded through the App Store, etc.—but to the operating system, they appear as two separate apps.

As a result, when version 2.0.0 is installed, it is treated as a new app, and new apps are not allowed to set themselves as “Open at Login” unless they have been manually launched at least once.

If you’ve re-enabled “Open at Login,” there’s nothing more you need to do. I apologize for the inconvenience and thanks again for your patience and understanding.

 

[polyphenol]

To clarify, the issue occurred during the upgrade to the new version and was not caused by anything you did.

Without getting too technical, the new version was a complete rewrite, and I accidentally released it with a different “app bundle” than the previous one. From the user’s perspective, it looks like the same app—same name and icon, upgraded through the App Store, etc.—but to the operating system, they appear as two separate apps.

As a result, when version 2.0.0 is installed, it is treated as a new app, and new apps are not allowed to set themselves as “Open at Login” unless they have been manually launched at least once.

If you’ve re-enabled “Open at Login,” there’s nothing more you need to do. I apologize for the inconvenience and thanks again for your patience and understanding.

That make sense.

And I still rate it as a useful, good app which does what it claims. This truly minor hiccup meant that your excellent attitude towards support has also been on display.

 

[Astrohunter]

So if I have RAW files with edited metadata in Photos for Mac, will it backup these files and modify the metadata?

Because normally if you do “export as originals” it exports with original metadata sadly.

 

[gerdemb]

So if I have RAW files with edited metadata in Photos for Mac, will it backup these files and modify the metadata?

Because normally if you do “export as originals” it exports with original metadata sadly.

Thanks for your question.

Photos Backup Anywhere backs up the original unmodified files, including RAW files, but it does not apply any metadata edits—such as edits, locations, dates, and other metadata changes made within the Photos app. This is because Apple stores those edits inside the Photos Library database rather than writing them directly to the file.

Instead, the metadata is stored in a database within the backup. This database is then used to restore the metadata when performing a restore to a new photo library. You can find a list of all supported metadata in the FAQ: https://photosbackup.app/faq/.

Thanks again for using the app, and please let me know if you have any further questions.

 

[Astrohunter]

Thanks for your question.

Photos Backup Anywhere backs up the original unmodified files, including RAW files, but it does not apply any metadata edits—such as edits, locations, dates, and other metadata changes made within the Photos app. This is because Apple stores those edits inside the Photos Library database rather than writing them directly to the file.

Instead, the metadata is stored in a database within the backup. This database is then used to restore the metadata when performing a restore to a new photo library. You can find a list of all supported metadata in the FAQ: https://photosbackup.app/faq/.

Thanks again for using the app, and please let me know if you have any further questions.

Would be cool if there was a tool to export all as originals but with modified meta data, like GPS location, capture time etc.

This would allow me to store all of these on something like Google Photos or whatever, as a backup, without having to manually edit each RAW image.

 

[cl184]

Thank you for your feedback and for purchasing the app. I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing issues.

Regarding the behavior you described — the app's menu bar icon disappearing and the NAS volume unmounting overnight — this is a problem that I have already identified and I believe should be fixed in the beta version. Basically, the app didn't respond well when losing the connection to the NAS volume and would crash. When the app crashes, the menu bar icon disappears without an alert. The new beta version, responds better to losing access to the backup destination and will retry the connection before displaying an error and stopping the backup cleanly.

However, I believe the root of your problem is that your NAS volume is being unmounted overnight. There is only so much the app can do when it looses access to the backup volume.

If you have time, I would love to hear how the beta version performs for you. One word of warning though--DISABLE "Automatically start backup when opened" and select a new backup destination BEFORE opening the beta version. This step is crucial because using the beta version on an existing backup destination will automatically upgrade the backup database to the new beta version. This is a one-time irrevocable process which means that after the upgrade you will be unable to downgrade and use currently released version of Photos Backup Anywhere for this backup destination. The beta version is available here: https://testflight.apple.com/join/TcDH3ccO

Thank you again for your support. If you decide to try the beta version, I would really appreciate your feedback.

I am delighted to find your app and to support the work! Thank you for taking this project on and providing us with the ability to optimize our libraries, reclaim some storage space, and still have a realistic way to maintain backups.

I am having the same issue during my first full backup to an external SSD (APFS). The app (from the app store) appears to backup a few thousand photos and then it disappears as if quit or crashed (except for the lack of crash notification or option to send a log). The SSD still shows in Finder, so IDK if it's actually losing a connection or if this is, in reality, a different issue.

Edit: I have downloaded the beta on test flight and this issue persists.

 

[cl184]

I seem to have run into another issue with the app store version. I have made it through backing up the vast amount of the >43k photos in my library; I only have 1,428 remaining to back up. I know this 1,428 number precisely because I have tried to back it up numerous times. Sometimes the attempted backup will get through a couple hundred photos (I've seen it down in the 600s on some attempts), and sometimes it gets through a couple of dozen photos. Most times it gets into the 800s. At any rate, the app will eventually close itself, but when I start it back up to resume backing up, it starts over from the 1,428 number.

 

[gerdemb]

I seem to have run into another issue with the app store version. I have made it through backing up the vast amount of the >43k photos in my library; I only have 1,428 remaining to back up. I know this 1,428 number precisely because I have tried to back it up numerous times. Sometimes the attempted backup will get through a couple hundred photos (I've seen it down in the 600s on some attempts), and sometimes it gets through a couple of dozen photos. Most times it gets into the 800s. At any rate, the app will eventually close itself, but when I start it back up to resume backing up, it starts over from the 1,428 number.

Apologies for the delay in responding — I seem to be missing notifications from MacRumors no matter what settings I try. (If anyone knows a fix for that, I’d love to hear it!)

Anyway, thank you again for the detailed post and especially for sharing the crash reports in our private thread — that was a huge help.

I’ve just released a new beta version of the app (2.0.1) that I believe should solve this crashing issue. If you're still experiencing problems with your backup, please give the latest beta a try and let me know how it goes:

TestFlight Beta Link:

Join the Photos Backup Anywhere beta

Using TestFlight is a great way to help developers test beta versions of their apps.

testflight.apple.com

And for anyone else experiencing crashes: please let me know if the beta helps. Since I don’t collect any analytics, I don't receive any crash reports in the app. if you do have a crash, I’d really appreciate it if you could send me the logs via the Console app. (Feel free to message me if you’re not sure how to find them.)

Thanks to everyone for your support and patience while I work through these edge cases!

Cheers,
Ben

 

[polyphenol]

I just looked and found PBA not running on my M4 mini. Launched and it is backing up 110 items right now.

I know I looked the other day and it was OK. If you want me to look for any evidence, let me know, I'm willing but ignorant of what to do to provide it to you.

 

[JemTheWire]

Thank you for this app. I have just stumbled upon this thread. It is just the type of backup program for my iCloud Photos I have been looking for. Sees to me to be £9.99 well spent.

 

[gerdemb]

I just looked and found PBA not running on my M4 mini. Launched and it is backing up 110 items right now.

I know I looked the other day and it was OK. If you want me to look for any evidence, let me know, I'm willing but ignorant of what to do to provide it to you.

Thank you for reporting the issue--that sounds like it might be an app crash. I sent you a PM with information about look for crash logs.

 

[JemTheWire]

Great application it works like a charm, thanks. However, is there an option to adjust the backup frequency? I find that every 60 minutes is just a bit overkill for me and it would be great if the were some other options, every 24hours for example.