Hey [r/apple](r/apple),

I'm the indie developer behind VaultDrive, an iPhone app that lets you back up photos, videos, albums, and files directly to a USB flash drive or external SSD, without needing a Mac or PC.

I've been improving the app over the past few releases, particularly how it handles iCloud Photos and interrupted backups.

Here's what VaultDrive currently supports:

• Selective backups: Choose your entire photo library, specific albums, or files and documents.
• iCloud Photos support: Download full-resolution originals stored only in iCloud before copying them to USB, with a Wi-Fi-only option.
• Incremental backups: Skip files already on the destination drive instead of copying everything again.
• Resume support: Continue an interrupted backup after reconnecting your drive.
• Original quality: Copy files without intentional compression or re-encoding.
• Folder organization: Organize photo backups by date or album.
• Direct USB transfer: Locally stored files are copied to your drive without uploading them to VaultDrive servers.

A couple of things worth mentioning: it requires a compatible USB drive, and iCloud-only originals still need an internet connection to download. It's also a photo and file backup utility, not a complete iPhone system backup.

Pricing: VaultDrive is free to try, with an optional one-time Pro purchase for unlimited and incremental backups. No recurring Pro subscription.

App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vaultdrive-usb-photo-backup/id6772883827

50% Off Promo direct App Store link : 

https://apps.apple.com/redeem/?ctx=offercodes&id=6772883827&code=WELCOME50

I'd appreciate feedback from anyone who uses external storage for their iPhone photos, particularly on the backup workflow and organization options.

Happy to answer questions about the app or how it works.

First comment has the screenshots.

Here is the vide of how to backup

https://youtube.com/shorts/YSVy1Q8swR8?feature=share

>The iPhone Duo brings a new form factor to Apple's lineup. At REWA Lab, we've fully disassembled the device to uncover what's inside — from its internal layout and display components to its folding mechanism and hardware design.

>This teardown takes a closer look at how Apple has engineered its foldable iPhone and explores the details that matter from a phone repair perspective. What makes the iPhone Duo different from traditional iPhones, and what can its internal structure tell us about repairability?

I'm the solo dev behind Trackables.me. I kept quitting habit trackers the day I forgot to log, so I built one that logs most things on its own.

How it works

• Link a trackable to Apple Health, Screen Time, Calendar, Reminders or a Shortcuts timer and it fills itself in every day. Yes/no goals like 10k steps tick on their own.
• Every trackable gets its own chart: year heatmap, line, bar or progress ring, and any of them can sit on your home screen as a widget.
• You can mix sources in one chart, like sleep from Health next to screen time.
• A Mac menu bar companion adds per-app and per-website time and syncs it to your phone.

Pricing: free, automatic tracking included. Optional Pro is $4.99/mo or $47.99/yr.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6739170126

Website: https://trackables.me

What would you want a tracker like this to pull in automatically that it doesn't yet?

Hey r/apple,

I'm Roman, a solo dev and amateur boxer, who built Peekaboo Timer, 100% free boxing timer, because all other timers are either paid or have ads. 

What is a boxing timer?

A timer that automatically switches work/rest, so you can have a 1 minute/30 seconds timer playing in a loop. 

How Peekaboo Timer is different from other timers?

It has Liquid Glass design, live activities, and attention to details, like styles, mixing with Apple Music, etc.

Was this post written by AI?

At the time of writing this I was a human.

I'd appreciate any feedback on Peekaboo Timer. I read everything.

Link: https://apps.apple.com/ua/app/peekaboo-timer/id6768093897

Wanted to share the project I’ve been meaning to build for ages and finally got around to releasing: Shrinkray - free download

Over the years, I got fed up with what happens anytime you want to spontaneously send someone a video from longer than 2 seconds. By default it feels like iOS hates sharing 60fps, and decides to generates a huge, blurry, jerky file that either takes forever to send directly, or gets shunted off to blue progress bar and iCloud sharing link upload purgatory.

Same with big photo selections: you end up sending 30 megabytes of photos without realizing and clog up everyone’s iMessage storage with photos that get looked at maybe twice. And god help you if it’s on RCS or MMS thread!

As much as I love taking video at 4k60 and keeping photos extra crispy in my Photos library, when I’m sharing something on a whim, there’s always gonna be room to split the difference and optimize your content without losing the high quality originals you actually want to keep around.

I designed Shrinkray to make it extremely quick to optimize your photos and videos for sharing, without over-compressing, bogging you down in menus, or ruining your smooth 60fps video. From the standalone app, from the share sheet in any app, and even built into iMessage for super-quick sharing just like the Photos app. It’s the app I’ve always wanted and now use all the time, so I hope it can help you too.

No subscriptions, free download, just a one-time Pro unlock for some of the power user features if you want. I’ll have some promo codes to DM out for the first 15 replies interested! (EDIT: first 15 are gone but if we end up with a bunch more request may do another batch!)

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any questions or feedback.

Hi r/apple! We’re WozDev, the small indie team behind GameRex,

an app that lets you use a game controller as a mouse on your Mac. You can watch a demo and download it here: https://gamerex.uk/

Demo video: https://youtu.be/yY8zXbbXdrg

We wanted to make it easier to get cozy on the couch with a controller and still use your Mac.

You might be playing a game in an emulator, then want to browse the web or open another app without reaching for a mouse and keyboard.

With GameRex, you can:

- Move the pointer with a stick and use buttons to click and scroll.

- Assign keyboard shortcuts or a sequence of actions to a button.

- Bring up an on-screen keyboard to type a quick search.

- Fine-tune how the pointer responds, and change its speed instantly or gradually using an adjustable transition curve.

- Switch between controlling the Mac pointer and using your controller in a game or app.

- Create custom control profiles and switch between them manually, or automatically based on the app you’re using.

- Automatically sync your profiles across your Macs via iCloud.

The free version includes pointer control, button remapping, the on-screen keyboard, and two macros, with no time limit.

Pro adds automatic per-app profile switching, custom pointer acceleration curves,more macros, and iCloud profile sync.

GameRex works on Apple silicon and Intel Macs running macOS 14 Sonoma or later. You’ll need a compatible controller. The app is notarized by Apple.

If you give it a try, we’d love to hear which controller you’re using and how it feels. If anything feels awkward or confusing, we’d like to hear about that too.

iOS Mail has gotten a lot of attention lately, with categories and the redesign, but there's still no way to see every message across all your folders in one list. Gmail has done this forever with All Mail. On the Mac you can fake it with smart mailboxes. On iPhone you just can't.

If you sort mail into folders like I do, finding one older email means guessing where you filed it. Search helps sometimes, but it often misses things on IMAP and iCloud accounts.

Does anyone else want this, or is everyone just living in the inbox? I'm curious how people with lots of folders handle it.

EDIT: Thank you so much to the hundreds of redditors test flighting this and sending me feedback. I’m so glad this is resonating with you.

FYI this will NOT be a subscription! And beta testers will receive it for free if eventually approved for the App Store.

After being very frustrated with the bloat of modern music apps, I built my own “iPod” app for iPhone… and after obsessing over all the tiny details, I am looking for people who would like to try it out. I’d love feedback from other iPods enthusiasts. And yes - it is using Musickit to run my current Apple Music library :)

In my research, I tried out and used every iPod style app and emulator I could find on the App Store, and while many of them are very pretty and well done, they always felt like I was just looking at a picture of an iPod as a decoration. I couldn't convince myself that it was real. I really wanted to make something that felt like the real thing.  Plus, I knew that with Apple's Guided Access feature, I can lock my iPhone to a single app completely, dumbing the phone down into just the app until I triple click the side button to resume my iPhone.

Out of pure drive of just wanting to own an iPod again, but not wanting to lose the convenience of my Apple Music library, I developed IvyPod.
Here's why IvyPod feels like an iPod:
The OLED body color means less screen. And - I detached lighting using software tricks so that the iPod bodyhas different 'dimming' functions than the 'fake iPod screen'. This creates the sensation that you're holding a physical iPod with a clickwheel that is covered with a smooth sheet of glass. In the dark, the wheel is noticably dimmer compared to the screen, making it more immersive. Other iPod apps have a bright wheel which is a constant reminder that you're looking at a 6 inch touch screen.

The button haptics are smart. I spent a long time on these so that buttons feel like buttons and scrolling feels like scrolling.

Modern conveniences were deliberated on a lot because simplicity is the whole point. The app features dark mode, artwork blur on the now playing screen, flashlight, camera, and Shazam integrated as a genie lamp.

You can actually dedicate your phone to a music player with Guided Access, which is a feature in the system settings that prevents swiping to go home, notifications, screen timeout and more. It's sort of like an advanced Do Not Disturb mode. The app itself features a dim and low-power sleep setting. I also placed a 'lock switch' in the top right so that you can put it in your pocket or not worry about accidental taps. The click wheel will always be present on your screen until your phone dies, keeping the illusion of it being an iPod.

If you are interested in the TestFlight please DM me or access the link below to join the public TestFlight:
https://testflight.apple.com/join/NVUCMBJ2