IDrive Online Backup Reviews

by Brandon.pitterpatter

I probably will not continue service after my current term, as IDriveOnlineBackup is incredibly cumbersome and doesn't back up everything. I find accessing files is just as difficult as uploading files. I feel limited on what I can do and find this has been the most difficult cloud service I've ever used. I had also completely an in-app promotion to be reimbursed for my year membership and I was never actually reimbursed. The company seems scattered and wants to throw out half-baked promotions without following through. Cannot get IDriveOnlineBackup to stabilize long enough to upload images, just getting to the place to upload images takes so long, and once it opens, IDriveOnlineBackup crashes, despite how many times it takes. This is honestly the most difficult, temperamental app I've ever used, hands down, and I don't feel like my items are secured, and I will likely not be able to access them if I needed to. Definitely some major improvements with app function and marketing is needed. Stop lying to customers and offering promotions you will not follow through on!!!

by Island Life

IDriveOnlineBackup forces users to place an actual phone call to cancel their accounts. You will be put on hold for at least 20 minuets while they wait for you to give up. There is no online or in-app cancellation option. Do not support dirtbags like the folks at iDrive. They are hoping to take advantage of people with these shenanigans and deceptive behaviors.

There is no excuse for this type of cancellation process. I hope Apple takes apps like this off IDriveOnlineBackup Store until they play by the rules and offer a way to avoid scammy subscription “services”. Sign up for a dollar online and then get suckered into a high cost subscription you can’t cancel online - no thanks! You’ve been warned.

by Brodie B Nolan

I just signed up for this service, based on positive reviews in comparison to other cloud services. But when I opened IDriveOnlineBackup and tried to sync, it told me I had to give permission to access photos. This is, of course, completely reasonable and a requirement on the part of Apple. However, when I push the Continue button too be taken to Settings, it brings me to the settings for IDriveOnlineBackup , not Settings/Privacy/Photos, where it had told me to go. When I go to that part of the Settings menu, there is no request from I drive to approve, rendering IDriveOnlineBackup totally useless for backing up anything directly from my phone. Additionally, when I try to "Report Problem" in the IDrive menu, a message interface pops up for half a second before disappearing, forcing me to leave a one-star review in the hopes of reaching somebody at the company. Neither of these would require a major fix, so it's concerning to me that these basic functions of IDriveOnlineBackup are non-functional.

by JJMM1776

BEWARE! This company has a sneaky policy in their Terms & Conditions which allows them to bill your connected credit card for any overages at a very expensive business rate. IDriveOnlineBackup will not Sync your data quickly enough to keep up with any changes you make with your data but rather stores it up until able to sync your actual data which can cause overage problems. Even though you subscribed to a home/personal PC backup account you better not make a mistake and backup too much data or you’ll get slammed with a huge charge on your card. Surprisingly there are NO Failsafes to keep you within your account data limits. So if consumers aren’t aware of this they can be taken advantage of. Make sure you understand the agreement before you give iDrive your financial account information. Demand a Data Cap and Prepayment Limits on your account that can NOT be exceeded for any reason, get it in writing.

by Slvfly

Three main problems: (1) every time I click “sync” it tells me that there are files left remaining that are not backed up, even when I literally JUST synced and it told me everything was complete; this is not confidence inspiring, (2) in order to sync automatically in the background (which is 90% of the point of IDriveOnlineBackup ) you have to turn on location data at all times to give IDriveOnlineBackup access to track your movements, even when you are not using IDriveOnlineBackup - what? why? I’m not that paranoid but that’s going to be a no; and (3) you cannot ask reasonable questions about either of the previous two issues, because the “help” menu is just a pre-populated list of questions with 2-3 sentence answers with no apparent way to actually talk to a human being. Absolutely skip IDriveOnlineBackup and go to a more full-service solution. This is your data you’re talking about, take it seriously.

by Mmmmuzix

I will encourage everyone to go elsewhere for business. They are allowed to delete your files after 10 days of plan cancellation. I had an auto renew set up, had been a costumer since 2015 and because there was an issue with the auto renew they deleted all of my files. I was unaware of this possibility- I was unaware of the issue with auto renew. Now my files are gone forever. The money associated with my files will never come to fruition. Years of work is lost. Will very likely see them in court for damages. This is the one and only service of this business. To store and protect your files. They did exactly the opposite- they deleted them. I’m beyond crushed. In this age our lives are often created and stored as data. Family Pictures, written works, songs I’ve composed, business models, inventions.... are all gone. And I mistakenly trusted them with this data.

by Jskman

I bought space on IDrive to backup all of my devices in one easily managed place, perhaps share files, etc. I wanted a fully secure place to put everything in one place.

It turned out to be good for backing up data, but I was disappointed that it is very hard to do a full machine backup with a Mac. I chatted with tech support and they verified that trying to do a full system backup on a Mac will generally fail...this would have been good to know BEFORE I paid for the service (the website touts full machine backups). Then I discovered that it only backs up things like photos and contacts and such on my iPhone (not a full system backup), and the software is not compatible with my old iPad...

What’s the point of having TBs of storage if you can’t back up your entire system? I have a lots of specialized apps and things I would want to restore 100% if my system were destroyed.

So the bottom line, if you use this you still have to have another way to do “true” backups on your devices using iTunes, iCloud, time machine with external drive, etc.

So it’s useful, but not “the solution” they claim it is. After my year runs out I’ll probably dump it and look for something better.

by KMBaum

I purchased this because I am a graphic designer who works with extremely large files that quickly clog up all the space on my hard drive. Not needing to carry around an external hard drive for all the things I need to access daily that don’t fit on my hard drive is GREAT!

I am very new to using this and had a technical question/problem, so I started a chat with a customer service representative and I couldn’t understand what he was trying to tell me AT ALL. You need to hire people who can communicate in good English rather than foreign Indians who communicate in very broken English that is hard for an American to decipher. I ended the chat in the exact same spot as I began and had to figure out the issue for myself. Other than that, this service is GREAT! I would just like to be able to communicate with your customer service people if I need assistance with something and that is something I just can’t do unfortunately.

by Choadib

So IDriveOnlineBackup is great to backup, along with a great rate for service. However, the newer feature that allows uploading in the background is crazy. I get about 60+ notifications/day that state IDriveOnlineBackup has paused uploading. IDriveOnlineBackup states it will backup in the background but only if you have changed locations? It uses the gps to determine if it should upload. This strains the battery. I just don't understand why they can't simply give it background upload permission and leave it on until I turn it off? Just give me an "upload until it is done" button and that way I don't have to keep opening IDriveOnlineBackup all day.

by BruceInBama

This mobile app has been so frustrating over the years. I’ve never know it to accurately display the amount of new files to be backed up. Right now there’s a 51 showing on the iDrive icon. I don’t have anywhere near that in new files to back up. One of the other issues is even though I have it set to automatically back up it doesn’t. So when I open IDriveOnlineBackup sometimes it might show me 10 files to back up sometimes it might show show me three or 400. It’s never accurate. I have every setting set that would allow it to back up automatically and it never does even though I’m on Wi-Fi all day long.I now have cloud iPhone back up that I pay for because this mobile app just isn’t trustworthy. I do like their desktop application.

by Cooidude0

Since google photos no longer offer unlimited storage I needed to find an alternative for my iPhone photos and videos. Some website suggested iDrive as the best alternative. So far it’s decent, but lacks a lot of functions. The iPhone app does good at backing up files and folders. However, accessing these files elsewhere is very limited and not too intuitive. No facial recognition, no photo location data or a way to search, group functions or anything else like google photos. You can create a shared album that expires after 30 days.

-2gb max file size, so no-go for 4k video backups.
- No photo albums, except what’s on the iPhone.
- Can’t download more than 1 photo or video
- Web interface can be slow to load (I’m on a 10gbs fiber connection), but uploads are fast both from the PC and iPhone.
- Web interface is very basic, and very limited.
- iDrive windows software is confusing at first, and only shows file names for photos, does not show thumbnails or anything. Can select individual files to download, but you’ll need to know you photo file names.

by OpenTable

IDrive is a good resource for backing up multiple devices and accessing them remotely. The iPhone app has changed over the years and has never been easy or reliable, but generally has gotten better. It still fails to download and archive files automatically as every time I start IDriveOnlineBackup it searches and finds files it has not stored. In addition, it used to have an option for controlling photo resolution (original, or something else) and that is now gone. Getting it to do a job, checking to make sure it did, and then finding the right settings to do that is more difficult than it should be.

by Gene Ricky Shaw

IDrive has some really good features but needs a little work before it moves into the “excellent” category.

The good: iDrive uploads photos and videos from your PC and/or iPhone and works fairly well at managing them.

iDrive is affordable and offers a great amount of storage for the price.

The bad: it automatically pauses when IDriveOnlineBackup isn’t in the foreground so to completely load your photos from your iPhone, you need to have it running in the foreground.

To see your uploads on the website, all pics get loaded into THE SAME FOLDER, meaning you can’t organize your upload space. The problem with this is that you can have THOUSANDS of photos in the same folder and there’s no logic to it. Plus it takes time to load the folder in your browser so the more you upload the more time it takes. This is a simple fix but iDrive refuses to make any changes to this.

iDrive’s customer service isn’t that good and they’re hard to contact.

Conclusion: iDrive is a food, affordable backup but has some flaws that keep it from being a killer app.

by JBS Africa

I rive has served us well for a few years but I find myself a bit disappointed that it doesn't run and backup in the background very well. The mobile app pauses if you aren't actively in IDriveOnlineBackup which is a bit if an inconvenience when you'd like to use your phone otherwise. I also don't like that you have to open IDriveOnlineBackup every so often to get it to protect your files. I would prefer to keep it open and have it run consistently in the background to continually protect my data.

Overall it does its job to protect my files but functionality could be improved.

by GaSeminole

I’ll be honest, I don’t see why others are having issues and complaining about IDriveOnlineBackup. I think it works fine. It needs a facelift...but so does all of IDrive. The entire software hierarchy looks like it’s just post the “Web 2.0” phenomenon...which isn’t really a compliment. But IDriveOnlineBackup works. My only complaint is that IDriveOnlineBackup is somehow associating itself with certain file types on my iPhone. So, when I get attachments in email, they have an iDrive icon on them. It’s odd, but it doesn’t seem to impact performance of the attachment itself.

Couple of minor improvements and this becomes a 5-Star app.

by Tech_Support79

This backup solution works extremely well and comes at a great price. The fact that it can back up multiple devices without crazy additional fees is really great. I’d give it 5 stars but the UI for Windows desktop could use some improvement. Sometimes it’s a bit sluggish. That being said, this runs in the background and does scheduled backups and I can’t tell it did. No major performance hits during backup operations. On top of the gigs price, they offer student and education discounts.

by TechEdProf

The IDrive app could be improved by providing an option to sort photos by date created or date modified, instead of only by date uploaded. For example, all the photos uploaded from my phone at the time when I installed IDriveOnlineBackup , now appear in reverse order. Also, it would be helpful when viewing the backed up computer files on the iPhone, for there to be an option to view these in the typical file and folder structure of the computer, rather than only by the order uploaded, which makes it difficult to locate a file from some time ago. Hope these features can be implemented soon.

by Uploads Pause Issue

I have turned on background uploading for idrive on my iphone 7. However, i keep getting this message saying that idrive has paused uploads when I open another app on my iphone. I have to go back to idrive app to resume my uploading of my photos every time. And i have to keep idrive app open in order to finish uploading all my photos. Kind of annoying!! Please fix this issue.

by Pastorlarry

I picked up this handy lil app from StackSocial when it was offering a Lifetime Unlimited Backup for a one-time payment. I was a little hesitant to part with my hard-earned money, but I am so glad that I took the plunge! Sure, there are some things that I wish were different about IDriveOnlineBackup , but it has 100% lived up to EVERYTHING the company behind it promised me it would do. I rated it 5-Stars because everything was spelled out upfront, there were no surprise charges, and IDriveOnlineBackup just keeps on doing what it was designed to do! Great job, Devs!!

by Wluhan

IDriveOnlineBackup/service lets me back up files from my macbook pro and lets me access them on my iPad IN THE SAME FILE STRUCTURE that I organized them in. I can see folders on my iPad the way I organized them on my laptop. This is so much better than apple’s iCloud. iCloud has to separate your files into photos, videos, documents, music, etc. when backing them up into the cloud. iDrive, on the other hand, keeps your own file management system. Now I can access all my files anywhere I go while my main computer remains at home, and knowing how my files are organized makes a huge difference. I live in Asia, yet the backup speed to iDrive’s service is still fast enough. I am very satisfied with its service. Now I can relax since all my documents along with their file structures are protected off-site. Great product!

by MAdrianB

The encrypted Local Backup to IDrive One feature has been removed from IDriveOnlineBackup. I called Support and complained, and they said they would route my request to have it added back to the product. Well, they never should’ve removed it in the first place, and their IDrive One web site still idiotically states this feature’s available in IDriveOnlineBackup . This is false and misleading advertising to an extreme! I strongly recommend not buying an IDrive One device if you intend on using it for encrypted backup from your mobile devices using IDriveOnlineBackup until they restore this feature.

by Mudmasher

Back ups are way too slow. It took almost a week to back up 11 video files (I have fiber optics with over 150 mbs upload speed). Google drive still out performs - and it’s less expensive. I uploaded the same 11 videos to Google cloud and it only took about 10 minutes.

I like the idea of IDrive and the UI is great, but I can’t use it with such slow upload speeds. Plus it won’t upload in the background. I had to keep my phone on and IDriveOnlineBackup open or else the uploads paused. Fix upload speeds and background uploads and maybe I’ll reconsider.

by Clay3521

The speed of the backups seem to be better in the newer version of IDriveOnlineBackup . However, could you have been ANY more vague with info of the backup process? Last night I did a sync of 1,300 images, and today I open up IDriveOnlineBackup and it keeps telling me it could sync 174 (somerthing...) there’s just the spinning colors with 174 in the middle. You can’t get more details than that. Come on guys, build something that is clean yet informative at the same time. The flashy spinning colors with zero details means nothing.

by LoneBandit

I had a few pre purchase questions so I opened chat up and my response was within 30s. After purchase I had a few more questions and they answered them just as face.
Some reviews claim they don’t have Touch ID but IDriveOnlineBackup certainly has that. I don’t think 2FA is available yet but since I was able to use my own private key I’m not concerned about that and will wait until it comes. I’ve tried other services but this one is priced right, works as it should and I can’t beat the support. I emailed SpiderOak weeks ago and still waiting on a reply.,,