Online backup from iCloud

[Xcav]

I have an older Mac Mini and an iPhone 13 Pro Max. I have iCloud Drive set up and I keep all of my files in the documents folder. I do all of my personal and business computing through my iPhone, the only time I have used my Mac Mini over the last year and a half is when I backup my documents folder and iPhotos library to an external drive.

I would like to get rid of my Mac Mini and just use my iPhone. I would still keep my files in the documents folder in iCloud and access them through the Files app on my iPhone. I assume they will remain the iCloud when I completely remove my Apple ID from the Mac Mini?

My concern is backing up my files. Is there any online back up that I could use to back up my documents folder using the iPhone? How about the iPhotos library?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I've not seen any "Cloud backup" services that can log directly into iCloud and back up data without it residing on a device. It's an interesting idea, for sure - and one I might be willing to subscribe to if anyone comes up with it.

In the meantime, my Mac mini is doing a full sync of mine and my wife's photos & documents, and is backing those up to Time Machine and to iDrive.

 

[Iwavvns]

I’ve not ever tried it, but can you plug a USB stick into an iPhone or iPad and copy files from the Files app onto that USB stick? I would think this would work perfectly. I have a friend who owns a Google Pixel 6 and she does this all the time. Does this work in iOS?

 

[Xcav]

I've not seen any "Cloud backup" services that can log directly into iCloud and back up data without it residing on a device. It's an interesting idea, for sure - and one I might be willing to subscribe to if anyone comes up with it.

In the meantime, my Mac mini is doing a full sync of mine and my wife's photos & documents, and is backing those up to Time Machine and to iDrive.

So the way you do it is similar to what I do now as well. For me it’s the only thing that I do with my Mac Mini, so it seems a little silly for me to need an entire computer set up just to make back ups.

I’ve not ever tried it, but can you plug a USB stick into an iPhone or iPad and copy files from the Files app onto that USB stick? I would think this would work perfectly. I have a friend who owns a Google Pixel 6 and she does this all the time. Does this work in iOS?

That would be great if I could attach an external drive or thumb drive directly to the iPhone to make the back up through the Files app.

With so many people using only their iPhone or iPad nowadays (and forgoing computers), I’m surprised backing up their iCloud account isn’t more common. Maybe because the average person doesn’t backup at all?

 

[Xcav]

Would you be able to transfer the files from the Files app to an app for another online cloud backup such as Dropbox?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Would you be able to transfer the files from the Files app to an app for another online cloud backup such as Dropbox?

Sure - but you'd have to download it to the device first, which is (probably) the issue. If you don't have room for it all on the device, you're stuck.

 

[Xcav]

Sure - but you'd have to download it to the device first, which is (probably) the issue. If you don't have room for it all on the device, you're stuck.

How would you download files to the device?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

How would you download files to the device?

Trying to copy them would do that automatically. You can’t copy a file (or photo, etc) that isn’t there. So iOS would need to download it if you tried to make a copy.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

So let’s suppose you have 200GB of photos & videos, like I do. Some people have a lot more, some have a lot less. I have a 128GB iPhone so there’s no way I could download them all, so doing a “local” backup from iPhone is right out. A 256GB phone might handle it, but just barely - I’d need 512GB to store the whole library and have room for other apps & data, and for growth. So that means I’m spending an extra $300 on my iPhone, which is maybe do-able. So I set Photos to not sync to iCloud, simple enough. Now how do I back up those photos?

The simple solution is iCloud - if I’m not storing photos there, then I can back them up there. The 200GB plan won’t quite do it so I’m still using the 2TB plan, which is $120/yr. Can’t save that to pay for the $300 more expensive phone.

Or I could save the $120/year and plug the phone into… hmm, in this scenario I don’t own a computer at all, right? I suppose you could plug in a flash drive and… then what? 🤔 Select and copy 200GB of files EVERY time? That’s a lot of work to do every day or week or whatever. Select only photos taken after my last backup? I’d miss any edits I make on older photos. And if I only do it once a week, I could potentially lose all the photos from an important event, if the phone gets lost/damaged before the next backup. So I guess I’d better not skimp on the $120/year and still sync to iCloud, but just set it to “download & keep originals” like i do on my Mac mini now. That also lets me continue to see the photos on my iPad.

Just doing some quick Googling, I am not finding any automated backup to directly-connected USB drives. You can manually select photos & files… but what about Messages? What about other apps & data? There are some iOS apps like “Backup+” that claim to work, on “certain” data (photos, files, contacts) but the latest release of that product touts “iOS 14 optimization” 🙄 and it still doesn’t handle Messages or other app data.

I think you have a good idea in the possibility of a service that automatically backs up your iCloud account to another destination, if you can convince Apple to give your backup app access. Trying to back up a local phone without using a computer, though, doesn’t seem (to me) to be a practical idea.

 

[Xcav]

I believe my iPhotos library is about 40 GB. All of my other documents are far less than 10 GB.

As we all know, iCloud is not a back up service, it’s just for syncing. So I’m surprised Apple doesn’t make a way that we could back up iCloud. I’d be happy to pay Apple directly to give me a secondary online back up to my iCloud account.

Most people don’t back up at all, the average person would have no idea how to do it. Whether it’s friend, family, or coworkers, every time I talk to someone about back up they don’t do it. I’ve talked to many of them into dragging and dropping important stuff to a thumb drive, and some of them have done it, but I doubt they continue to do it on a regular basis. This is a perfect thing for Apple to come in and make money doing it for them.

 

[Bichon]

As we all know, iCloud is not a back up service, it’s just for syncing.

C'mon, that's a bit of an exaggeration. iCloud backup is built into iOS and it's easy to perform on demand or automatic backups. https://support.apple.com/en-us/108366

For a non-technical user with modest needs, iCloud provides the kind of set-it-and-forget-it protection they want.

Sure, iCloud backups are not immutable, and many people can certainly justify the expense and effort of performing additional backups of important data to physical media or an alternate cloud provider. But no, iCloud is not just for syncing.

 

[Iwavvns]

So the way you do it is similar to what I do now as well. For me it’s the only thing that I do with my Mac Mini, so it seems a little silly for me to need an entire computer set up just to make back ups.


That would be great if I could attach an external drive or thumb drive directly to the iPhone to make the back up through the Files app.

With so many people using only their iPhone or iPad nowadays (and forgoing computers), I’m surprised backing up their iCloud account isn’t more common. Maybe because the average person doesn’t backup at all?

Actually, you can. There are many different types of thumb drives that have a lightning connector, others have a USB-C connector. Just the other day I noticed both of these types of thumb drives available at Best Buy. These types of thumb drives work well through the Files app on iPads, I see no reason they wouldn’t work on an iPhone.

 

[Xcav]

C'mon, that's a bit of an exaggeration. iCloud backup is built into iOS and it's easy to perform on demand or automatic backups. https://support.apple.com/en-us/108366

For a non-technical user with modest needs, iCloud provides the kind of set-it-and-forget-it protection they want.

Sure, iCloud backups are not immutable, and many people can certainly justify the expense and effort of performing additional backups of important data to physical media or an alternate cloud provider. But no, iCloud is not just for syncing.

Everything I’ve ever read here for the last few years I’ve been viewing this forum has said that iCloud is not a backup service and shouldn’t be used like that. A back up service doesn’t delete something just because you deleted it on your device. A back up service doesn’t edit something just because you edited it (often times accidentally) on your device. A backup service allows you to go back to different points in time via versioning.