Proton Drive: Cloud Storage Reviews

Encryption of our data at rest is essential for privacy. Proton Drive has a lot of important potential for the broader security-minded community.

To add a more seamless UX I would recommend the following:

- Allow “sharing” of files, photos, and the Notes App directly to Proton Drive. If I could long press and save a file directly from my browser to Proton Drive, that would offer a more seamless experience.

- Allow uploading all attachments in an email to Proton Drive. This should especially be a feature for ProtonMail.

- Improve ability to bulk upload iCloud Photos to Proton Drive, or even automatically sync. I understand this is a difficult ask.

- Refine the capability of creating whitelisted “groups” to view shared folders. You could add two levels of security by both requiring them to access via their Proton account and then also requiring an admin-set email to read/write.

- Improved “out of Proton” sharing of files and folders. ProtonMail on desktop does this effectively.

- Bulk imports and exports.

- Ability to create “rules” for automatic archiving of documents. If I receive X containing to my ProtonMail email, then save attachment and email to . I have to catalog a lot of travel receipts for work travel, for example. This would help with that.

Overall, love that Proton Drive is making headway on this important project and I wish the devs continued success down the stretch.

I am glad proton brought proton drive to iOS! But ProtonDrive is way behind other apps that are similar. One thing I wish proton will put in ProtonDrive is video streaming. I don’t like having to “download” the video just to view it. That takes up to much space on your device. When you have a video that is large it can take awhile to download. I just want to keep it in the cloud and stream it when I want to view a video file.

Great start to the Proton Drive app! Something that I’d love to see implemented that others have done is the ability to modify text files directly from ProtonDrive .

Having the ability to click on a text file, open it in a built-in text editor, modify the contents, then clicking done/save which will upload those changes automatically would extremely useful!

I’ve been waiting for YEARS for Proton to release the Drive and Calendar apps and they are FINALLY HERE!!! Thank you SO MUCH Proton team! I really appreciate your commitment to your customers and willingness to listen to feedback and deliver on your products.

I use all the Proton products and I’ve been waiting a long time for the iOS Drive app. It gets the job done. Looking forward to improvements and additional features.

Can’t wait for desktop version and auto sync features. Everyone pay for a membership you can afford.

So far it’s nice to have a safe place to keep my files that’s encrypted in travel and at rest. All I need to completely switch over from iCloud Drive is sure photo sync and I can make it my new main cloud storage.

I'm excited ProtonDrive is here, even if it's barebones right now. I do want to see integration into the share sheet, there is a workaround to save the content to the iOS files app and upload to Proton Drive from there but native sharing will be very welcomed.
Thanks Proton.

Love having an app, but agree with the other reviews. Need to be able to integrate the camera and gallery for Apple Photos iCloud like functionality. Then I can be free from iCloud entirely and be 100% Proton. Very happy about the application though.

Been using the Proton tools for years and they are amazing. So glad to see Drive finally being available for phones

5 star foundation. Excited for automatic sync! Keep it up ❤️

There isn’t much other than downloading and viewing files but we will see what the future brings.

Basic functions work, haven’t found any bugs. Hopefully the $100/year I pay helps them develop more features like auto sync.

Proton Drive is an OK app, but while it has better iPad support than the Proton email and calendar apps, iPadOS support is lacking. You can’t eve pin open the sidebar. Somewhat disappointing.

Great so far 👍

This is a great app but missing just one thing, syncing with iOS photos!

Upload and Download speed is incredible
Folder creation is simple
Moving files to other folders is simple and better than Google Drive iCloud
The amount of data Google Drive and iCloud are a fraction of what Proton Drive give you
ProtonDrive is available for Android and Apple, but you may access your data from any Web Browser of you choice. Chrome Users (hint hint)

Hands down, ProtonDrive is fast, solid, simple, and bug free. I’ve been using it since the day it became Beta. Well over 1 year.

It’s only going to get better. Get in now when it’s $ is super low.

Having 30+ years IT & Computing experience, this quick access encrypted storage solution is hands down the best I’ve seen in decades.

Not super robust yet, but I’m happy to have it!!! Already works better than the sync.com app. Keep up the good work, I’m thrilled to have a suite of encrypted apps!!

Proton’s concept of self is broken - I use a proton.me account and therefore that’s what my password manager has saved but ProtonDrive looks for a protonmail.com account in my iCloud Keychain. Plz fix bundle identifier or wherever that’s set - also plz fix for other proton apps.

If you value your time, do not use any service from this scummy company. They locked me, my brother, and my father from our accounts because we violated the TOS. According to them, the tos we violated was, and I quote, “operating multiple free accounts under a single individual.” You’d think a major company would know that 3 separate people can have the same last name, but nope. They refuse to fix their mistake, they refuse to do anything at all about it. Their customer service is godawful, I’ve reiterated the same information 3 separate times by email and they still keep asking for the same stuff. What a terrible terrible company. Run the other way, do not look back, you will regret using this company, they do not care about you or your information.

I’m being a little generous in my star rating because I believe in Proton and their mission. ProtonDrive is missing a lot of features, but it will allow you to upload your files and picture to your encrypted cloud storage. There’s no sync and delete just yet but hopefully that’s coming soon

Thanks Proton for finally releasing this! It is barebones but it syncs well and the files can be off-lined on my devices.
Once they complete the PC app, this will really be a sweet encrypted drive system.
Here is my two cents for what I would like to see in the future as this continues to developer…..
1. The ability to scroll through photos in a file instead of having to open each individual photo file.
2. An automatic camera upload feature.

Everybody likes free stuff, but please consider supporting the Proton mission by purchasing a subscription.

I know that building a platform like this is no walk in the park. That being said, this app is off to a great start. Still needs work. Especially related to uploads. I should be able to upload more than 10 files at a time. Uploads also randomly fail.

Hoping to be able to use multiple logins so access files through different accounts via ProtonDrive . Would be nice to have edit capabilities similar to the google platform. This would help me transition entirely over to protonmail for good

Thank you for finally releasing this on iOS! I’ve been a long-time paid subscriber to proton services. Very happy to have a mobile app.

Fix this crap already sick of this. Paying for a service and it will NOT upload any of my files from my phone.

Now I’m unable to make a file unavailable offline. It downloads to 100% and then returns back to the un-downloaded state. This can go on in a loop indefinitely.

Needs syncing option for documents and photos. The only way to do it now is to manually upload them. Photos can only be manually uploaded 10 at a time. Quite cumbersome.

A few things I’d like to see implemented: Currently, PDF’s have the page overview on the left 1/8 of the screen; being able to have the sheet you’re working on occupy 100% of the screen would be great. DropBox has such a feature, for example.

Whenever you open another folder, the screen starts in the up, refresh position. You have to wait for it to refresh and settle before selecting your folder or risk hitting the wrong one because the screen moved down at an inopportune moment. Another means of signifying that ProtonDrive is refreshing its contents which doesn’t hinder file selection would be better. Right now, if I want to go through 3 folders to one file, I effectively have to wait for every folder I click through to refresh even if no changes were made.

Being able to save files straight to proton drive on iOS would be great. Right now I often have to download to iOS files and then import to proton drive. Just a redundancy I’d like to see eliminated.

Also, if you have a PDF open and you go to the iOS Home Screen on a different app, proton drive often either loses your place or ctd’s.

+ Beautiful interface.

- I’m not entirely sure what the point of ProtonDrive is if you can’t sync files between devices. I have cloud storage on my phone and on my PC so that I can send work and school documents on the go.

Following in the footsteps of their previous work, a solid end-to-end encrypted service.

The ability to share a link accessible by others with the password for specific folders, and putting time frames that access is granted is fantastic.

Definitely still room to grow, but this fills the core functions. I am sure there is a reason for it, but having a 10 item limit when uploading seems a bit harsh. My beat guess is it has to do with Apple still not handling background tasks well and long uploads would cause time-outs and thus higher failure rates. Meaning servers are have more wasted time.

Thank you again for these services.

Sometimes it’s impossible to find a file I’m looking for on the mobile app because there is no search. When will you implement this?

It’s also frustrating that you can only upload 10 photos at once. No way to easily back up 100s of photos directly from the phone. I had to transfer photos from my phone to PC to upload them all at once on the web app. Is there a reason for it??

I wish you’ll fix these soon since otherwise Proton Drive is helpful.

Last one is a suggestion, it would be neat if the color of the folders was customizable like the labels in Proton Mail or Calendar. I think Google Drive lets you do this. It’s good for organizing many folders.

I’m paying Proton User and will happily revise this review if it is addressed.

I am randomly signed out (though all other Proton apps are signed).

Most infuriating, I was told to use a CAPTCHA. First time ever on any Proton service I have seen a CAPTCHA. This has got to go. Proton is better than this. It is an archaic tool and generally used for crowd sourcing labor.

I would love to be able to sync my photos to Proton Drive from my iPhone automatically. They have this feature in OneDrive, I would love to get away from them and utilize this as my solution. Unless I am completely missing this while using ProtonDrive ?

Not only is there no way to search by filenames but most filenames are unreadable (the names are abbreviated and there's no way to extend them in ProtonDrive ). Cryptomator is definitely the way to go for encrypted cloud storage. Proton Drive is incredibly under-developed and missing many basic features.

I’m a big fan of all the Proton products, including Drive. The focus is on security and simplicity. My only complaint is that navigation within the UI is very slow. It is worse for large files, particularly large family videos I’m backing up using Proton Drive. Speed up the responsiveness and navigation and it’d be 5 stars.

The iOS app is still extremely delayed and laggy when all my files are ‘Available Offline’ and in ‘Detail View’ instead of files in ‘Thumbnail View’.

Support was notified of this shortly after release and I was told they were aware and had similar reports. Still to this day, ONE YEAR LATER IT HAS NOT BEEN FIXED.

When in ‘Thumbnail View’, meaning it doesn’t show the size, last modified date, etc and just shows your file picture and name, things load quickly and without delay.

BUT;

When in ‘Detail View’ mode, where it shows your file picture, size, date, offline status, etc, AND you have your files Available Offline, ProtonDrive is EXTREMELY DELAYED AND LAGGY.
I click somewhere and it sits for a few seconds before going anywhere. Sometimes I’ll click somewhere and then have to click it again because it didn’t even register it.

I’ve also noticed the more files you make available offline, the more delayed it gets. A few hundreds MB’s and you should be fine. Anything over 500MB-1GB and ProtonDrive is darn near a hassle!

Do something about this Proton!!!

It’s been 4 months and your app hasn’t had an update!!

I paid for Proton Unlimited so I could switch from OneDrive to Proton for email and storage.

Unfortunately, Proton Drive only allows 10 photos to be backed up at a time. And it doesn’t do it automatically. You have to keep track of which photos have been uploaded and which haven’t. Uploading is a cumbersome and time consuming task.

Since photos are the main thing most people want to back up on their phone, and ProtonDrive isn’t really capable of backing up more than a few photos, it’s a rather pointless app. I would recommend Mega Storage or something similar if people want private storage.

Seems this was made with a pretty limited audience in mind.

Reliable but frustratingly incompatible with even basic iOS design patterns. Who wants to select a *single* file for upload? Seems no mind was paid to migrating from other services, let alone adding any amount of data other than single files or at most 10 photos at a time.

3 stars for encryption and relatively stable build but this needs to catch up fast with backup or I’m downgrading my subscription

If you can afford to subscribe a little why not? Without our financial support these organisations wont acheive their goal of protecting privacy. If you can afford it, splurge on them and give a kick in the balls to fascistbook and googley eyes

U fortunately it hardly works on my phone and when it does it’s extremely slow. Just navigating files is extremely slow. It doesn’t show my files in the apple files app. And when I try to ‘make available offline’ with in pd app, it will be stuck in download loop for ever. Sometimes it works, not often though. I pay for proton because I like it, but it doesn’t play nice with my phone or Linux unfortunately.

I read a review of the product and wanted to test as a replacement for my 2TB google drive. I installed ProtonDrive on my one Mac desktop, created free account, uploaded file, shared it and got extra 500gb bonus for taking those steps. I went to my email tab, saw thanks email, went back to proton app and account was locked for TOS violation! App was on ONE computer, accessed by one user at same ip address I had just created it on. I submitted the appeal form, after 4 days, no response and access still locked. Clearly, if this was my real data locking it would be a true disaster.. Fortunately, just a small test file. I am still awaiting unlock so I can delete the account.
I have never experienced this in any other app. Security is fine but this is unacceptable. BTW, I had even entered a recovery phone and email but of course these don't help when you can't even login!

I am using Nordvpn and have been testing their secure storage app, no issues at all.
Take a lesson from them Proton.

I am a big fan of Drive. It has become my photo storage place so I imagine auto photo device upload and delete from device could be a wanted feature in development. The interface now is pretty solid as is

ProtonDrive is great for storing encrypted photos and pc files. The only thing I didn’t like was setting up my photos and files to be uploaded from my iOS device. Proton Storage has a photo or file maximum upload size of 10 items. So I can upload 10 items at once then have to go back and start the process all over again to upload the next 10 photos or files. This ended up taking me quite a bit of my time.

I don’t understand this at all. Every other cloud storage app I’ve used you could simply select all the photos or files and upload all at once.

Even considering the 10 photo or file upload at once max I still prefer and trust Proton Drive over any other cloud storage because I trust the company to do the right thing. So small inconvenience but worth the extra work.

Hate to write this but strongly recommend against use of PD if iOS is ones primary platform. I have been a Proton user since early on. Sadly PD is a nightmare to use with iOS. Whether via web and or using ProtonDrive it is completely lacking.
I could go on but suffice it to say that I have spent more time trying to research how to access and salvage my docs than all the time combined where access was useable. Only success has been with very small pdf files.

I've lost access to my passwords! My account was blocked on the second day of using proton after purchasing a plan for two years, I sent a message to myself - from one proton mail to another my proton mail, they considered it spam, the support service takes a long time to respond, I wrote two letters, but the answer came with a question - why did I open an account, there are no more answers! But what does proton pass have to do with it? Proton drive? If the company believes that my mail does not comply with policy, block the mail and sort it out!!! But why block access to all applications!? There are passwords, keys to sites! Personal information on proton drive. I've lost access to my passwords! This is just terrible, a waste of money and the saddest thing is that I have to do a lot of work to recover my passwords. The lowest rating is for proton services.

I hear good things on the windows side. But in the iOS / Mac world, this app is barely enough to upload files to an app predetermined folder and just leave them there. That is if you can get all your files up in a timely and reliable manner. Email is great, VPN is awesome, drive not so much. And waiting 9 months and not one update, doesn’t help it any. Next update must be huge.