HomeVault backs up your iPhone photos and videos directly to a NAS or SMB-enabled PC over your home Wi-Fi. The app automatically discovers servers on your network — just pick a destination folder and tap Start. Duplicate files are skipped automatically, photos are sorted into year/month folders, and screenshots can be excluded with a single toggle.
HomeVault combines Bonjour service discovery and IP range scanning to automatically find SMB servers on your local network. Enter your credentials, choose a folder, and start backing up — no cloud account required.
Files that already exist on the server are skipped automatically. No matter how many times you run a backup, the same photo will never be uploaded twice, keeping your NAS storage clean and efficient.
HomeVault creates subfolders like "2025/06" based on each photo's capture date and saves files into the right folder. Large photo libraries stay neatly organized by timeline without any manual sorting.
A single toggle in Settings lets you exclude screenshots from backups. Only the photos that matter get transferred to your NAS, helping you save storage space and keep your backup library clean.
HomeVault runs a Bonjour service browser and a parallel IP range scan (port 445) simultaneously to discover SMB servers on the same Wi-Fi network. You don't need to look up IP addresses manually. Tap a discovered server, enter your username and password, and you're connected. Credentials can be saved to skip the login step next time.
Before uploading each file, HomeVault checks whether a file with the same name already exists on the server. If it does, the upload is skipped. Filenames include a timestamp and a short asset ID prefix to prevent collisions between photos from different devices. After each backup run, the home screen shows the number of files uploaded and skipped.
HomeVault reads each photo's capture date and creates a folder path like "BackupFolder/2025/06" on the server automatically. If the folder already exists it is reused, so you'll never end up with duplicate directories. Even a library of thousands of photos stays organized chronologically without any manual effort.
Connection credentials are saved to the iOS Keychain rather than UserDefaults, keeping them protected even if app data is accessed by a third party. You can also disable the "Remember credentials" option to enter your password manually each session, so nothing is stored on-device at all.
Open the app and your NAS or PC will appear in the server list automatically. Tap the server you want, enter your username and password, and log in. Enable "Remember credentials" to skip this step on future runs.
Browse the shared folders on your server, navigate to the folder you want to use, and tap "Set this folder as backup destination." Year/month subfolders are created automatically, so this is a one-time setup.
Tap "Start Backup" on the home screen. Progress is shown in real time. When the backup finishes, the home screen displays how many files were uploaded and how many were skipped as duplicates.
"I've been looking for a way to back up my iPhone photos to my Synology NAS without going through the cloud. HomeVault was exactly what I needed. Server discovery worked instantly, and having photos sorted into year/month folders automatically makes everything on the NAS side so much easier to manage. Highly recommended."
"The duplicate skipping works perfectly. I run backups every weekend and I've never had a photo uploaded twice. Since enabling screenshot exclusion, only the photos I actually care about are transferred. It's the kind of thoughtful detail that makes an app a pleasure to use."
"Knowing that passwords are stored in the Keychain rather than plain storage gives me real confidence in this app. SMB connection to my Windows PC was seamless. The UI is simple but covers everything I need. It's become part of my weekly routine."
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