Still Unbuilt

All 100 ideasFiles and backup

#23 of 100 · Files and backup

Back up your cloud accounts

Automatic, scheduled exports of Google Photos, iCloud, Gmail, Reddit and other accounts to storage they own, keeping albums and metadata.

22asks, each re-read
21separate threads
12of 19 years
2since 2024
2011first asked

Asks per year

’08’106’121’141’1611’1823’2013’221’2411’26

What the askers want

  • Would pay27%
  • Want it local or private45%
  • Object to subscriptions5%
  • Want it open source or self-hosted18%
  • Want AI to do it0%

Share of the 22 asks that say so, as judged by Jev.

What exists on Show HN

Built, still asked for4 Show HN launches do this job, and 5 more do part of it. People still ask, so the launches are missed, unknown, or not what they want. Ask what they’re missing before you build.

Instead of: Google Takeout, Google Photos, Gmail, iCloud

The idea, as matched

A tool that automatically exports and backs up my data from cloud accounts (Google Takeout, Google or iCloud Photos, Gmail, social media, SaaS) to my own storage, keeping albums and metadata, ready to restore.

Jev first matched 31 requests to this idea; a second reader kept 22 of 31.

Every ask, newest first

Each line is an AI paraphrase of what the writer wanted. The link goes to their own words on Hacker News.

Reader’s note. Google Photos and Gmail dominate.

  1. Jan 2026Wants a tool that exports iCloud Photos with albums and tags preserved, usable from a PC. Read it: a comment in “Darwin-photos: Back up iCloud Photos without bloating your Mac”
  2. Jul 2025Wants a youtube-dl style local tool with community plugins to export and move data from any web service. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Why isn't there a universal tool for exporting/transferring our data?”
  3. Mar 2023Seeks a trustworthy tool for pulling photos out of iCloud without handing over credentials carelessly. Read it: a comment in “Is something wrong with Amazon Photos? I lost 240k photos”
  4. Jul 2022Wants an open-source scraper to pull their own complete Facebook data, since the official export is incomplete. Read it: a comment in “Taking action against scraping for hire”
  5. Feb 2022Wants to download Facebook group posts and comments in an open text format for local storage and search. Read it: a comment in “Facebook loses users for the first time”
  6. Jan 2022Would pay for automatic monthly archiving of iCloud photos to Amazon Glacier. Read it: a comment in “Ask HN: What is your system for backing up family photos and video?”
  7. Mar 2021Wants a tool to archive their entire Reddit history, including comments, saved posts, threads and linked media. Read it: a comment in “Reddit nuking accounts of anyone who mentions a new employee or their history”
  8. Sep 2020Wants a good way to back up Google Photos, since the API exposes only partial metadata. Read it: a comment in “They're deleting my channel, but they don't know why? [video]”
  9. Aug 2020Wants a hardware and software backup setup tied to Google Takeout and Facebook, ideally the main local store. Read it: a comment in “Local-first software (2019)”
  10. Jul 2020Wants a simple way to dump Spotify playlists to text or CSV instead of odd commercial tools. Read it: a comment in “Anti-algorithmic music: How Bandcamp is helping artists beat the odds”
  11. Nov 2019Seeks a reliable personal Google Apps backup covering email, calendar and docs, since Backupify dropped individual accounts. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Backup for GSuite?”
  12. Jun 2019Wants a tool that copies Dropbox, Drive and Amazon cloud contents onto a different backup provider. Read it: a comment in “How to Automatically Backup a Linux VPS to a Separate Cloud Storage Service”
  13. Dec 2018Would pay for automated Google Photos backup, since manual Takeout downloads are cumbersome and account loss is feared. Read it: a comment in “Ask HN: How do you store photos and videos?”
  14. Oct 2017Wants a Google Drive backup and restore tool equivalent to Got Your Back for Gmail. Read it: a comment in “Draft of a story about wildlife crime was frozen for violating Google Docs' TOS”
  15. Jan 2015Wants a one-time-fee tool to back up inactive Google Apps users and restore them in one click. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Sunsetting Google Apps Accounts?”
  16. Apr 2013Wants a tool to back up everything held at Google. Read it: a comment in “Dumped by Google”
  17. Dec 2011Would pay for one service that pulls data from major internet services into an S3 share. Read it: a comment in “Gowalla Founders v. Gowalla Investors”
  18. Sep 2011Wants an easy app to back up a Google Analytics profile. Read it: a post: “Google Analytics profile”
  19. Jul 2011Would pay for a restore-only Gmail backup kept offline, so they hold a real copy. Read it: a comment in “Ask HN: Would you pay for an online, restore-only Gmail backup?”
  20. Jul 2011Would pay for a restore-only online Gmail backup. Read it: a comment in “Ask HN: Would you pay for an online, restore-only Gmail backup?”
  21. May 2011Wants a working way to export Netflix ratings into another shareable service. Read it: a comment in “Show HN: IMDb Top 250 available on Netflix Instant”
  22. Feb 2011Wants a paid service to back up a Tumblr blog after losing half of it. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Pay for Tumblr Backup Service?”

Building this?

Read ten of the asks above first, because they say what the existing launches miss. If you ship it, post it as a Show HN so the next run of this list finds it.

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