r/AppHookup • u/appjun • Jun 25 '26
iOS Universal [iOS] [Watermelon Backup] [Lifetime IAP $7.99 → Free] [Back Up iPhone Photos to Your Own Storage Using External Drives, SMB, WebDAV, S3, or SFTP]
https://watermelonbackup.com/Hi, AppHookup!
I’m the developer of Watermelon Backup.
iPhone Photos take up most of the storage for me. I do have an iCloud plan, but after a few heart-stopping moments, I decided not to enable iCloud Photos and to manage my photos myself.
I had a Synology DS216play for years, and setting it up was not too difficult for me. But over time, the poor hardware became more and more slower.
Last 2 years, I bought a new device and started using unRAID to store all my photos and videos, and use a more powerful Mac mini to drive Immich and manage unRAID photo folder via External Library feature. Immich mobile is great, but it cannot backup photos directly to unRAID.
So I needed an app that could backup the photos from my iPhone while keeping the original files and metadata, without reducing image quality or removing EXIF data. Ideally, it should support background backups, not be tied to a specific brand or cloud service, perform well, and preferably be open source.
Eventually, I realized I probably needed to build the app myself. That’s how Watermelon Backup started.
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Compared with other similar apps, Watermelon Backup tries to offer all of these things together:
- The code is open source, which I hope can reduce some concerns about the privacy of your photos and videos.
- It supports multiple storage nodes. A node can be an external drive, SMB share, WebDAV server, S3-compatible bucket, or SFTP server.
- Carefully design and implement in code, not a toy project.
- No Subscriptions.
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Version 1.5.0 is a big update for Watermelon Backup, and it also has a new website:
I spent about six full weeks working on the update and the website. The “design → code → test” loop went on and on, and honestly, I’m a little exhausted now. I would really like to get more feedback from users.
So the in-app purchase free for a limited time.
I am waiting for your all feedback, no matter good or not good.
App Store:
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u/techbear72 Jun 25 '26
Thanks for this, it looks like a great idea for keeping an emergency backup in case of issues with iCloud or clumsy fingers.
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u/UtopianCobra Jun 25 '26
This looks amazing. Thank you for making it free. My phone storage is always a challenge
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u/appjun Jun 25 '26
I built it hoping to make some money, but after putting so much work into it, I’d still rather have real people use it than make no money and have no users at all.
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u/Bran__Stark__Is__Me Jun 25 '26
maybe you can add a donation button so users who want to donate voluntarily can donate.
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u/appjun Jun 26 '26
The free promotion ends on June 29, and then the money will start coming in. (I hope.)
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u/ibrahimhalilaktas Jun 25 '26
I just need to learn how to transfer photos/videos to external ssd but a little bit confused with the interface.
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u/appjun Jun 25 '26
That’s true. When I designed it, I grouped external drives and other storage protocols under one concept called a “node.” I can see how that may create a learning curve for many users and make the app less intuitive to use. I’ll think about how to improve it. I think a online doc system may can helps you.
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u/ibrahimhalilaktas Jun 25 '26
I think as a person who lacks the wider knowledge about technology, it must be simplified :)
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u/appjun Jun 25 '26
There is a simple version:
Tap `Node` Button in the right top area.
Tap `Add Node` menu
Tap `External Storage` menu item
Tap `Select Directory` and Select External Disk folder then Choose `Open` in the right top area.
Select Months and Run.
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u/hungry_hipaa Jun 25 '26
I will give this a go, just waiting on an external HD to arrive, will this auto backup my whole iCloud library including ones that my Mac has not kept local and are in iCloud or do I have to download them all first. Also would it be possible to backup other folders that have other files? It would be nice to have one app to backup things as I am using this on an iPhone and a Mac
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u/Feuerphoenix Jun 25 '26
Yes this!!! Extend it to more than just photos :)
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u/appjun Jun 25 '26
File Backup Support would be introduced in 1.6.0.
Due to the restriction of iOS, you need select files each time to backup manually.
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u/appjun Jun 25 '26
If you enabled iCloud Photo. Turn on Allow iCloud Photo Access in the Watermelon Backup app settings so app can fetch iCloud originals when needed.
And fetch content from iCloud sometime cost a lot of time.
BTW, an external HD can connect iPhone or not, please read Apple Support for more information. ( https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/external-storage-devices-iph95baac91f/ios )
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u/_Alpha-Ceph_ Jun 25 '26
Can it only backup by month and not by album?
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u/Spooky_U Jun 26 '26
Thanks a ton, looking forward to testing this. My backup practice has been atrocious and I should know better after losing years of pics to a cloud sync issue a while ago.
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u/ttthrowwawayyy Jun 26 '26
Hi. I've been trying to connect to my macbook's smb but i keep getting a "Login failed: Error code operation not permitted". Is there a way i can connect it to my mac's file sharing without errors?
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u/appjun Jun 26 '26
There is a bug, I will fix it in version 1.5.4.
Version 1.5.3 has been submitted, so we need wait...
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u/appjun Jun 27 '26
Updated:
It looks like a macOS system issue. You need find another way to setup SMB service in macOS.
Version 1.5.4 can not help.
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u/chinchindayo Jun 25 '26
Is it only one way sync or two way? Meaning when I delete a file on the server will it sync that to the iOS device?
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u/-bluu Jun 25 '26
Can it back up photos in Hidden folder?
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u/appjun Jun 25 '26
No, due to iOS limitation, all 3rd party apps can not access hidden assets after iOS 16.
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u/Dhuce Jun 25 '26
Oh cool, any chance this can backup iphone to a pixel first gen?
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u/appjun Jun 25 '26
I think you can try to setup smb/webdav service in the pixel.
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u/Dhuce Jun 25 '26
That's very true, I guess I wanted to ask if there was a conversion from "live photos" to "motion photos"
Thanks for getting back to me
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u/-bluu Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
If I have my photos organized into different albums, when I download a backup, will those albums be restored as well, or will all the photos just appear together in the library?
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u/appjun Jun 25 '26
No. You need create albums at 1.5.x version now.
I think I can add this as a optional feature. But I need more information about this case.1
u/-bluu Jun 25 '26
Just to confirm, after restoring the backup, will all photos and videos appear in the same timeline order in the library as they did before the backup?
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u/appjun Jun 25 '26
It ia a big question.
For the photos and videos you choose to restore, Watermelon preserves the original creation date, so they should appear in the date-based Photos Library timeline in their original chronological positions.
If you restore only certain months/items, only those selected items will be added back, so the restored library will not be a complete match to the original full timeline.
Also, some Photos views and albums can be sorted differently by the user, and views like Recents/Recently Added may use the restore/import time instead of the original capture time.
So the date-based Library timeline should be preserved for restored items, but every album/view may not look identical.
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u/Anna-Smegmanova Jun 25 '26
This looks indeed promising. I will definately test it out.
In the meantime can you help me understand:
- What happens if delete a file from your phone, will it be deleted from the backup?
- And can I restore photo's and videos with your app as well?
Will leave a review after some use.
Thanks again.
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u/appjun Jun 25 '26
- No, it would be still in the backup.
- Yes, you can restore them.
If you want delete photo/video in backup. You need to wait for version 1.5.5. The deletion feature is built on the ‘remote gallery’ feature.
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u/Flaky-Tonight2117 Jun 25 '26
sorry could be noob question, will this save some space on my iphone? i am running out of space
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u/appjun Jun 25 '26
No, it can help you build your photos backup.
When your following 3-2-1 backup strategy to build your backup, then you can delete some photos to save space. But it is not an app can help you done alone, you need buy NAS or other devices.
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u/RGTMK Jun 25 '26
This looked really good, but I wasn’t able to connect to my machines using sftp. It just said “Couldn’t check the remote backup format (terminal)”.
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u/appjun Jun 25 '26
It is really a bug in SFTP for new connection. Please wait for newer version or change protocol. I will commit 1.5.3 asap.
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u/fizz_zix Jun 25 '26
thank you for this! i'm excited to try it out
how does it work when "optimize iphone storage" is enabled for photos? like when icloud stores the full resolution and the low res is on the phone?
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u/appjun Jun 25 '26
Great question. With “Optimize iPhone Storage” on, Watermelon does not back up the low-res optimized copy.
By default it checks what’s already available on the phone. If an original is only in iCloud, Watermelon will only ask iOS to download the full-resolution original when Allow iCloud originals is enabled. If that option is off, the backup stops instead of uploading a lower-quality version.
It does not proactively download your whole library at once. It fetches originals on demand for the items being backed up. That said, iOS/Photos may keep some downloaded originals cached for a while, so free space can temporarily go down during a backup. If the phone is already very low on space, the backup may be slower or fail until there’s enough room, but Watermelon is designed to avoid intentionally filling the device by bulk-downloading everything.
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u/tspwd Jun 25 '26
Great! Thank you! Backup to NAS looks handy, will have to try it out soon.
People, don’t forget to leave a good rating / review if this helps you.
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u/AvocadoBeforeToast Jul 03 '26
I can't seem to figure out how to do the free in-app purchase?
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u/appjun Jul 04 '26
Ends at 29 Jun…
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u/AvocadoBeforeToast Jul 04 '26
I see. Sorry... I didn't see it in the post.
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u/HandmadeJoking Jul 04 '26
Got your app when it was on sale, and it’s pretty neat. The PiP backup progress indicator is a nice touch. A few recommendations:
1. When I save cropped photos, it saves both the cropped version and the original. Could there be an option to save just the cropped version?
2. Could there be an option to skip organizing photos/videos into subfolders in the destination folder, so it’s more of a straight copy-paste? I use a Python script on my Raspberry Pi to organize my photos and videos, and editing it so that it fits my needs in conjunction with this app wasn’t hard, but a “flat” export option would be nice to have.
3. My family members can’t access the premium version even though I have it. Not sure if that’s an issue on your end or Apple’s.
Anyway, thanks for the great app!
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u/appjun Jul 04 '26
It should be a family sharing iap, I will check it after my returning home few days later.
Other suggestions I will add to my todo. Because my todo list has many high priority items, you need wait a bit longer.1
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u/appjun Aug 23 '26
In 1.9.0, I introduced the 'Drop Mode' feature. ( https://watermelonbackup.com/kb/use-drop-mode-to-send-photos-and-files/ )
You can export cropped photos without original version in the flat Inbox folder now.
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u/BeMaelle Jul 25 '26
this seems very promising:)
Thanks für your service!
What would you recommend for a first time ever backup of -perhaps- tens of thousands of photos? A full battery, keeping the app in the foreground, prepare for a hourlong process .. stuff like that.
Thanks!
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u/appjun Jul 25 '26
Connecting with a charger.
Place it in a well-ventilated place to facilitate heat dissipation.
Reduce screen brightness.
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u/kokokokosik Jun 25 '26
App looking promising. Can you add backup to Google-Drive - to exact folder? :)