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.