# I'm looking for privacy focused backup alternatives as an iPhone user. What does the forum suggest? **URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/im-looking-for-privacy-focused-backup-alternatives-as-an-iphone-user-what-does-the-forum-suggest/25237 **Category:** Questions **Created:** 2025-02-23T16:31:00Z **Posts:** 38 ## Post 1 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-23T16:31:00Z Apple have now pulled E2EE for UK users (or ADP). From [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/news/617273/apple-removes-encryption-advanced-data-protection-adp-uk-spying-backdoor), > Some types of iCloud data are end-to-end encrypted by default, and will remain so even in the UK. This includes passwords, health data, payment information, and iMessage logs. iCloud file backups, photos, notes, and voice memos are [among the data types](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102651) that will no longer be encrypted. I wondered what my options are now. I never thought the UK could/would do such a thing or that it would happen but it has. I am happy to learn how best to protect my data. If I am completely off the mark and misunderstanding things, please inform me. I just feel really annoyed. I am not annoyed over this lack of data protection for UK users; I’m more annoyed over my own government. I feel cheated. This feels wrong to me. I have a lot of iCloud file backups. My photos are important as well others. Below are what I have backed up (will only include those that are vitally important to me) and how much space it takes. I want to know what service is best to back these up. Currently I am using up 448.8GB of 2TB and paying £8.99 per month (p/m). These are my important apps that I have backed up, and yes I absolutely must keep backed up (E2EE on): - Photos: 337.8GB - iCloud Drive: 42.4GB - Passwords and Keychain (can’t see how much space this takes up) - Notes: 777MB - Books: 269.1MB In your suggestions, can you please use easy to understand lay language? Thank you so much. All your advice is appreciated \<3 --- ## Post 2 by @jerm — 2025-02-23T16:39:35Z > **[The UK Made Data Privacy Illegal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ7W8AJTWbQ)** > > In this video I discuss how the Investigatory Powers Act in the UK is causing tech companies to stop providing End to End (E2E) encryption for their services... Some discussion was shared on [Lemmy](https://lemmy.ml/post/26300876) too --- ## Post 3 by @anon39279085 — 2025-02-23T16:42:35Z I would recommend what is listed in the privacy guides as always personally: > **[The Best Private and Secure Cloud Storage Providers - Privacy Guides](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/cloud/)** > > Many cloud storage providers require your trust that they will not look at your files. These are private alternatives! Photos: > **[Photo Management - Privacy Guides](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/photo-management/)** > > These photo management tools keep your personal photos safe from the prying eyes of cloud storage providers and other unauthorized parties. for password managers: > **[The Best Password Managers to Protect Your Privacy and Security - Privacy Guides](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/passwords/)** > > Password managers allow you to securely store and manage passwords and other credentials. Notes: > **[Notebooks - Privacy Guides](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/notebooks/)** > > These encrypted note-taking apps let you keep track of your notes without giving them to a third party. as for books I’m not sure which is viable though. --- ## Post 4 by @phnx — 2025-02-23T16:43:56Z Backup locally and store encrypted in the cloud. > **[Back up and restore iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with your Windows device or...](https://support.apple.com/guide/devices-windows/back-up-and-restore-your-device-mchla3c8ed03/1.5/windows/10)** > > On your Windows device, back up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your Windows device or iCloud and restore your device if needed. > **[How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with your Mac - Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/en-us/108796)** > > If you back up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you’ll have a copy of your information to use in case your device is ever replaced, lost, or damaged. * * * > **[The Best Private and Secure Cloud Storage Providers - Privacy Guides](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/cloud/)** > > Many cloud storage providers require your trust that they will not look at your files. These are private alternatives! or > **[Recommended Encryption Software: VeraCrypt, Cryptomator, PicoCrypt, and...](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/encryption/#cryptomator-cloud)** > > Encryption of data is the only way to control who can access it. These tools allow you to encrypt your emails and any other files. Cryptomator may be a more compelling option if you live in the U.K. and are concerned that the authorities may have ordered other companies beyond Apple to circumvent E2EE. --- ## Post 5 by @anon36940904 — 2025-02-23T16:44:46Z This forum and Privacy Guides website has a lot of info and resources well explained for you to learn and choose the alternatives you want for all the apps/services. All of the options are great so you can choose the on you like with the price point you are comfortable with. This may time time because I recommend trying them out first and see what you like and what you don’t about the apps but they are all great options. My personal recommendations since you asked: 1. For Photos - Ente or Proton Drive 2. For iCloud Drive - any cloud storage service provider with Cryptomator or again, Proton Drive. I use Cryptomator + Koofr given the affordable plans. 3. For Passwords -Proton Pass or Bitwarden 4. For Notes - Notesnook or Proton Docs 5. For Books - Calibre, Koodo reader Please search through Techlore and Privacy Guides more and their videos. You will find all the answers. --- ## Post 6 by @anon39279085 — 2025-02-23T16:45:27Z yup that is a good addition to backup your things first. --- ## Post 7 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-23T16:46:21Z Thank you so much. I will bookmark this to watch later. --- ## Post 8 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-23T16:51:58Z Thank you so much. It’s my first time posting on this forum so didn’t know where to look for the articles you linked. I will read through them of course. I did do some research for Books and came across KyBooks 3 on the App Store but I am not sure how good and private that is. --- ## Post 9 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-23T17:04:45Z Thank you for all of the links. I am thinking of moving to a separate Cloud away from Apple. Whilst I am happy with what I am paying (£8.99 for 2TB (I’m likely having that space for a long time)), I am not happy with the actions of Apple. I will be looking through your links and see which service is best for me cost wise. I did an audit and the apps I mentioned are most important for me. I have not heard of Cryptomator before but will certainly have a look. Thank you so much. --- ## Post 10 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-23T17:08:31Z Thank you so much for your suggestions. I had been weighing up Proton v. pCloud. I have not heard of or come across Cryptomator or Koofr but I will do some research into this. Thank you. I was thinking KyBooks could be an alternative app for Books but I don’t mind looking at Calibre or Koodo reader. Would you be able to give a little more info on these? Thank you. --- ## Post 11 by @anon36940904 — 2025-02-23T17:11:04Z > [@SkyBlueSerenity](#): > > Calibre or Koodo reader. Would you be able to give a little more info on these? Well, they both are fantastic options for all your reading needs/wants. They both are FOSS and actively being developed and maintained. All info should be available online. Research should help you. Koodo will also release a Pro option soon per their website I’m looking forward to new improvements there. Try it out. And Cryptomator is highly revered and so is Proton Drive (though it doesn’t have a Linux app and won’t for a while). Cryptomator and Koofr have very stable apps so it works well across OSs if you want sync. --- ## Post 12 by @anon39279085 — 2025-02-23T17:15:30Z Cryptomator also supports iCloud so it’s a way to end to end encrypt it again I guess… --- ## Post 13 by @anon36940904 — 2025-02-23T17:23:28Z Yes. True. But not if you are moving to fully FOSS options with Pixel and Graphene. Which given Apple’s actions in the past few years - a lot of people are thining about it. And I plan on doing the same as soon as I am able to buy a Pixel. --- ## Post 14 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-23T17:27:23Z Thank you for your suggestions. I am looking into Calibre and Koodo Reader but not finding anything on how to have them on the iPhone. I will do some more research into these apps. Currently found KyBooks. I have been doing some research into it all and have also come across [sync.com](http://sync.com) and pCloud. They look good from what I can tell. --- ## Post 15 by @anon36940904 — 2025-02-23T17:33:25Z Those apps are not available for iOS. But if you’re planning to use any non recommended cloud storage provider, please use Cryptomator with it. --- ## Post 16 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-23T17:55:56Z I will look into Cryptomator. It’s my first time looking into this. [Sync.com](http://Sync.com) looks easy enough to use and it is pretty cost effective too. My research shows that both work together but only on desktop not on mobile/phone. --- ## Post 17 by @OldGuy — 2025-02-23T18:35:07Z How current does your iPhone back up have to be? For myself, once a month is often enough. So as part of my monthly chores I plug my iPhone into my laptop and make an encrypted back up of the phone. All baked into the iPhone and Mac OS so nothing to purchase. And I have my Mac laptop backed up hourly onto my local NAS. Pretty “old school” but I find it works for me and uses no cloud storage at all. --- ## Post 18 by @anon36940904 — 2025-02-23T19:17:38Z I would recommend backing up your iPhone atleast once a week if not twice a week. Make it a habit and you will be better off for it. And backing up to a Mac/NAS is perfectly fine and works. You don’t need iCloud backups for it. But I use all non Apple alternatives for all that iOS backs up so I don’t really need a back up as such other than just for settings and app list. But I will be moving to Graphene OS soon. --- ## Post 19 by @Plum — 2025-02-23T19:43:59Z [iMazing](https://imazing.com/) has some pretty robust backup options for Mac and Windows. It can do full backups or just export certain categories like photos. Also has a spyware indicators scanning function. --- ## Post 20 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-23T20:00:18Z I used to do it overnight every night whilst on WiFi. However, up until recently, it had been backing up every two months or so. I am wary this could be troublesome with current UK news. I would love to back everything up to a NAS locally but unfortunately I’m unable to do this. cost wise and also because I have never setup a NAS before. --- ## Post 21 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-23T20:05:10Z Well now that I have come across this bit of news, I’m going to take an active approach towards the protection of my data. I just need some help with my research into backing things up. I would love to move towards Graphene OS but I’m afraid my tech skills fall short of allowing me to do this. Thank you so much for your advice. --- ## Post 22 by @anon36940904 — 2025-02-23T20:10:29Z > [@SkyBlueSerenity](#): > > I would love to move towards Graphene OS but I’m afraid my tech skills fall short of allowing me to do this. This is very easy to do. There are many videos online for you to learn. Don’t think it’s difficult. --- ## Post 23 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-23T20:11:21Z Thank you for the link. I had not discovered this previously. Is this a Cloud service? Thank you. --- ## Post 24 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-23T20:13:19Z It probably is very easy. However, I sometimes get brain fog and frustrated when I can’t do it \*exactly\* how the YouTube video shows. I would blame it on my MS but I think it’s just really a me thing and something I need solve. Thank you for the suggestion though :slight_smile: --- ## Post 25 by @anon36940904 — 2025-02-23T20:14:02Z You don’t have to follow any one video. Following the instructions on the website they have should be enough. It really is a straight forward process. --- ## Post 26 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-23T20:22:13Z Thank you. I might give it a look. However, I have had my iPhone now for just over a year and it would feel a bit of a waste to switch now when my initial plan was to use it for its lifespan (I’m hypothesising until 2028/2030). Same thing for the MacBook though I scream silently inside when using the MacBook file system. Dear Lord, why so messy? :persevere: --- ## Post 27 by @OldGuy — 2025-02-23T20:25:51Z > [@anon36940904](#): > > I would recommend backing up your iPhone atleast once a week if not twice a week. Make it a habit and you will be better off for it. It depend on your phone usage. For me the phone is an accessory with nearly everything on it a copy of what is on my laptop. Anything I want to keep long term, like some photos, I transfer to my laptop as soon as I can. Usually the same hour if not the same day. Everything else on the phone is easily reinstalled from the Apple Store (apps) or from my laptop (music, keepass data, etc.) (Edit because autocorrect keeps wanting to change “keepass” to keeps.) I probably don’t need a backup of my phone at all but it does make it convenient if I need to send the phone out for repair. In those cases I just factory reset the phone before handing it over for repair then restore it when I get it back. If your phone is your primary device and there are things on it that you can’t afford to lose then your situation is different. > [@SkyBlueSerenity](#): > > I would love to back everything up to a NAS locally but unfortunately I’m unable to do this. cost wise and also because I have never setup a NAS before. Cost might be an issue but setting up a NAS should not be a barrier. I haven’t worked with all brands and models but I have set up several over the years and most are very straight forward. --- ## Post 28 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-23T20:32:26Z > If your phone is your primary device and there are things on it that you can’t afford to lose then your situation is different. There are \*definitely\* things on my phone saved that I absolutely cannot lose access to. They are my life. > Cost might be an issue but setting up a NAS should not be a barrier. I haven’t worked with all brands and models but I have set up several over the years and most are very straight forward. Thank you. For me, the more I research into this the more I’m inclined to set one up. However, I still have a niggling voice that makes be scared to start unless I have 1:1 help. I’m terrified of losing (very important) data. --- ## Post 29 by @Plum — 2025-02-23T21:05:44Z Nope. Just an alternative/enhanced way of interacting with and extracting data on iPhones. Some functions in imazing are not available on the native MacOS iPhone backup function. --- ## Post 30 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-23T21:11:30Z Hmmm. For 3 devices (iPad, iPhone, and MacBook) a €59.99 one time charge (according to their website) does seem like a bargain. Would think to consider it if it was a backup service. --- ## Post 31 by @ihateKYC — 2025-02-24T01:41:34Z Backup with iMazing and move to Proton suite. --- ## Post 32 by @anon73250778 — 2025-02-24T06:39:57Z Ok for a longer term project, I would suggest that you learn how to self host the services that you depend on. This may be time to go into things like converting an old PC to a network attached storage or NAS and self host from there. Look into TrueNAS, or if you are less tech inclined, something like HexOS. From there you should learn about how to do backups and how to add apps. Its a rabbit hole for time and money. Do have a look into it if you have a deep need of owning your data. Its a bit unfortunate for Apple but they were legally forced and there is not much they can do. Its up to you to secure and make private your own data. --- ## Post 33 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-24T16:51:11Z I am researching into both of these suggestions. There are two things that are making me cautious w/ Proton. There’s no middle tier storage size. Either it’s 1tb or 3tb. And if I pay for 12 months and cancel in month 1, I won’t get to use the rest of the months I purchased. This seems consumer unfriendly. I will still look into iMazing. Thank you for your suggestions. --- ## Post 34 by @Shampoo — 2025-02-24T17:00:36Z > [@SkyBlueSerenity](#): > > And if I pay for 12 months and cancel in month 1, I won’t get to use the rest of the months I purchased. Are you sure this is the case? The cancel subscription button says “When you cancel, your subscription won’t be renewed, but you can still enjoy plan benefits until the end of the subscription period. After that, you will be downgraded to the proton free plan.” --- ## Post 35 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-24T17:29:48Z Thank you for your suggestions. The issues are that I don’t have any spare PC laying around. I will look into TrueNAS however, with me being somewhat less tech literate I will also be eyeing out HexOS. TrueNas is free afaik so it is looking to be the one I go with. Lots more research will need to be done by me. --- ## Post 36 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-24T17:36:45Z > [@Shampoo](#): > > “When you cancel, your subscription won’t be renewed, but you can still enjoy plan benefits until the end of the subscription period. After that, you will be downgraded to the proton free plan.” I haven’t read this on their website. I am looking at the terms in their Proton Drive section found [here](https://proton.me/legal/terms). --- ## Post 37 by @Shampoo — 2025-02-24T18:04:36Z > **[How to upgrade or downgrade your Proton plan | Proton](https://proton.me/support/upgrade-downgrade#how-to-downgrade-your-proton-plan)** > > You can upgrade or downgrade your Proton subscription plan anytime. Find out how. Apparently VPN and pass plans cancel at the end of your subscription period but the others just give you credits. Weird. I’d suggest emailing them directly and asking because I’ve seen 3 different things so far. --- ## Post 38 by @SkyBlueSerenity — 2025-02-24T18:23:20Z Thank you so much. I will make an email account (take advantage of the 5GB for my notes in the meantime) and email their CS. Thanks again.