Application Description BETA

URVault — Personal Cloud Backup for People Who Want to Own Their Data

What Is URVault?

URVault is a self-hosted personal backup system made up of two parts: a server application that runs on any spare computer in your home or office, and a mobile app for Android. Together they give you a private, fully controlled archive of your phone's photos, videos, and files — stored on hardware you own, on a network you control, with no third party ever touching your data.

URVault is a backup and archive tool. It is intentionally not a sync service. Files flow one way — from your device to the server — and they stay there safely until you choose to recover them.

Purpose and Intended Use

Backup

URVault continuously monitors your device for new photos, videos, and files. When it detects new content, it quietly transfers a copy to your server in the background. You do not need to think about it or initiate anything. Every time your phone is connected to power and your network, the backup runs.

Archive

Once a file is backed up to your server, it lives there permanently — unless you delete it from the server. This makes URVault an archive, not just a temporary holding area. Years from now, every photo you took today will still be exactly where you left it, in its original quality, with its original filename and metadata intact.

Recover

When you need a file back — whether your phone was lost, reset, or you simply deleted something by mistake — you can log into your server's web dashboard from any browser, find the file, and download it. Recovering files is straightforward and does not require any special tools.

Not a Sync Service

URVault does not synchronize files between devices. If you delete a photo from your phone, it is not deleted from the server. This is by design. The server copy is your safety net. Deleting something on your phone simply means you no longer need it taking up space there — it is still safely archived on your server for as long as you want to keep it.

This is the opposite of sync services like iCloud, Google Photos, or Dropbox, where deleting a file on one device can delete it everywhere. With URVault, your phone is a temporary pocket — your server is the permanent record.

Benefits

You Own Your Data — Completely

Your files are stored on your own hardware, in your own home or office. No company has access to them. No algorithm scans them. No terms of service can change what happens to them. Your data belongs to you, and only you decide what is done with it.

No Subscription Fees

Cloud storage subscriptions add up fast. 200 GB of cloud storage can cost $30–$40 per year. 2 TB can cost $100 or more — every year, forever. URVault requires no ongoing subscription of any kind. Once it is set up, it runs for free. The only cost is the electricity to keep your server machine running, which for a low-power machine can be just a few dollars per month.

Put That Spare Machine to Work

Almost everyone has an old laptop, a desktop they no longer use daily, or a mini PC sitting in a drawer. URVault turns any of these into a capable personal backup server. It runs on Windows and Linux. It does not require powerful hardware — a machine with 1 GB of RAM and a modest processor is more than sufficient.

Free Up Phone Storage Without Losing Anything

Once a photo or video has been backed up to your server, you can delete it from your phone knowing it is safe. The file is not gone — it has just moved from your pocket to your permanent archive. You get your storage back without losing anything.

Keep Your Photos Forever — In Full Quality

Consumer cloud services frequently compress photos and videos. URVault stores every file exactly as it came off your phone — full resolution, original quality, no compression. Ten years from now, your backup will look exactly the way it was captured.

Works at Home and Away from Home

On your home or office network, URVault connects directly to your server at high local speeds. When you are away from home, it connects through a secure tunnel so backups continue running in the background no matter where you are. Setup for remote access is handled automatically during initial configuration.

Privacy by Default

URVault has no user accounts in the traditional sense — there is no cloud login, no profile, no company that knows you exist. The server is yours, the app is yours, and the connection between them is a private, direct link that nobody else is party to.

Your Data Survives Phone Loss or Failure

Phones get lost, stolen, cracked, and replaced. With URVault, none of those events mean losing your memories or your files. Everything backed up to your server is safe regardless of what happens to the device it came from.

Architecture Overview

URVault is a two-component system. Both components are required.

┌─────────────────────┐ ┌──────────────────────────┐ │ URVault App │◄────────►│ URVault Server │ │ (Android Phone) │ │ (Your Spare Computer) │ └─────────────────────┘ └──────────────────────────┘

The Server

The server is a Node.js application that you install on any computer on your home or office network. It provides:

The server stores files in a location of your choosing — an internal drive, an external hard drive, or a NAS. It runs as a background service and starts automatically when the computer boots. Once set up, it requires no day-to-day attention.

The Mobile App

The Android app runs in the background on your phone and handles:

The app is designed to be invisible during normal use. It does its job quietly in the background. You only need to open it to check status, adjust settings, or initiate a manual backup.

Pairing

The first time you set up the app on a device, you pair it with your server by scanning a QR code displayed on the server's web dashboard. This exchange establishes a secure, private link between that specific phone and that specific server. No accounts, no email addresses, no passwords for the app itself.

Connectivity

Local network (WiFi): When your phone is on the same network as your server, the connection is direct and fast. Large backups — hours of video footage, thousands of photos — complete quickly over a local connection.

Remote access: URVault supports secure remote connections so backups continue when you are away from home. Your server is reachable through a secure tunnel configured once during setup. The app switches between local and remote automatically.

Storage

Files are stored on the server in their original format, organized by device and backup session. The web dashboard lets you browse the archive, search for specific files, preview photos, and download anything you need. No proprietary format is used — your files are always standard files on a standard filesystem.

Security

All communication between the app and server uses HTTPS. Files can be stored encrypted on the server. Pairing tokens are single-use and expire automatically. The server is not exposed to the internet beyond the minimum necessary for remote connectivity.

Who Is URVault For?

URVault is for anyone who:

URVault is not the right choice for someone who needs to share files between multiple devices in real time, collaborate with others on documents, or access files from a device not paired to their server. Those are sync and collaboration use cases, and other tools are better suited for them.

URVault does one thing and does it well: it keeps a permanent, private, full-quality archive of your phone's contents on hardware you own.

Planned Platform Support

URVault is currently available for Android phones and Windows and Linux servers. Additional platforms are actively in development and will be added in future releases.

iOS App — Coming Soon

An iPhone and iPad version of the URVault app is currently in development. When released, it will offer the same automatic background backup experience as the Android app, pairing with your existing server via QR code. No changes to your server setup will be required when iOS support arrives.

macOS Server — Coming Soon

A native macOS server installer is in development for users who want to run their backup server on a Mac. Like the Windows and Linux versions, it will run as a background service and be manageable through the same web dashboard.

Current Platform Summary