On what do you base your assumptions? Using AWS/Azure isn’t in any way a guarantee that data is stored safely or securely. There have been plenty of data breaches the last couple of years where data stored on big cloud provider platforms wasn’t secured correctly, so as with storing the data yourself, it all comes down to proper configuration.
And since we have no idea how Athom stores these backups, we can only assume. And to be honest, with their knack for NIH, I don’t immediately trust them.
I base my assumptions on good faith that Athom knows how to work with cloud providers… combined with me being a cloud architect at one of these two companies. The amounts of discussions I have with customers that think an on-prem solution is more secure… simply because they have no idea how cloud computing works. Gets me choked up sometimes
There is zero percent chances that my backup is more secure in the cloud then if I have it on my local storage with end user encryption replicated on two locations. Yes, not everyone can do that but who ever has good nas can.
My company migrated to office 365 from onprem. In matter of few months we filled the newspaper articles as some accounts were breached while my company is relatively big contractor in specific regions. Sure not a Microsoft fault nonetheless before it was almost impossible to penetrate inside. Azure and Amazon gives you all the means necessary to lock it down but those measures needs to be implemented properly.
[Edit] after a second read i realise you where not sarcastic/ joking [/Edit]
“ Azure and Amazon gives you all the means necessary to lock it down but those measures needs to be implemented properly”.
Exactly this. Whenever a company/CEO decides he or she wants to go cloud computing, they tend to push hard. What it ends up in is everyone migrating 1on1 to the cloud without proper planning or knowledge. Not from a security perspective nor anything else. This is where you tend to get breaches.
In the case of Athom… if they would use general storage blobs and dedicate them per user it is as secure as you mention because the data is encrypted both in transit as well as in rest. Why I assume Athom did this is since it is default behavior… storage accounts (or buckets in AWS terms) are the most simplest of paths so this is why I sincerely hope and think that we should not worry about it…
No backup is not an option. If I had known upfront that a backup feature would only be possible when paying for cloud storage, I probably would have had second thoughts. The main reason I bought Homey was privacy based. Why do you think I spend €399 when I could have bought Echo for €30? I don’t want to have anything to do with Amazon, Google, Facebook for a reason…
But… if I want full (normal) functionality I have to not only pay extra, they want my name and address and then I’m allowed to upload to Amazon servers? If you read Athom privacy statement you would know they share data with their associates. So… Amazon is allowed to harvest my data.
Luckily you don’t HAVE to understand why I’m on the Internet. Being on the Internet doesn’t automatically mean I don’t have to care about my privacy, does it? I don’t have or want Facebook, Twitter, Insta and all those other sneaky so called services for a reason. I don’t have Ring doorbell for a reason. I pay for my email service for a reason. I use a VPN for a reason. Finally… I bought a Homey for a reason.
Besides all this, a backup should not ONLY be stored in one place.
Now lets get back on topic, and talk about the cloud backup feature (part of the Homey+ subscription).
And there is no necessity for any assumptions here, contact Athom support for an official answer if you are concerned of your privacy.
@ Hannes85
I’m not stating the cloud is free. But hiring cloud space is even cheaper then having your own (simple) server.
These backups are small. Do you know how many flows can be stored in a *.txt file of 1 mb !
Apps are bigger … but only a TXT reference to an app can be stored ( if backup is restored then install app blah blah ).
Meaning that if Athom rents 1tb they can probably store everyones backup … and we all know how much 1tb of cloud space cost 
Just for some people that find the backup thing should be standard, for free!, and Homey is the only one that didn’t offer this, has it now, but you have to pay for it!
Philips Hue, has no backup feature, this can also be called a home automation device now that it supports plugs and has a few rules.
Logitech Harmony, has no backup feature, but can also control a few automation devices besides your IR devices.
Amazon Alexa, doesn’t offer a backup feature, they have their own cloud service so they could offer it for free in their own cloud.
Google Home, doesn’t really have a backup feature either if I remember correctly.
These are some pretty big companies that don’t offer it at all “either”
As for the price, the price is for Homey+, not necessarily (just) the backup service which is only part of Homey+ (more will be added), but that isn’t what this topic is about.
I’ll start deleting any post unrelated, also before this post, as it is getting a little out of hand.
when my logitech harmony is reset i can just connect to my laptop and download the settings again from the logitech app.
There are a lot of other ( small ) companies that DO offer a free backup. So bit of a childish response in my humble oppinion
And why delete stuff that is a living subject by the buyers / Customers of Homey / athom ?
As stated before, cause this topic is about the backup feature, which is what people most likely will search for now (and in the future) if they have questions about Homey’s backup, and don’t need to read anything about Homey+, which is unrelated.
I have my Homey Pro now for 9 weeks and i was wondering that there where no backup feature in the past. Now there is a backp available that is not free. And than it does not work stable.
But i think when i pay for such a featuer then it have to work.
On my Homey PRO it doesnt work.
Due to my specific concern of passwords (possibly) being stored unencrypted:
Can you completely disable automatic back-ups (even the initial one!), but still make manual backups?
My plan would be to:
Can this work?
I am starting to feel like this thread offers nothing other then a place for people to complain about how unfair life is.
Some other smart home items allow back ups, some don’t, some ask you to pay for it some offer it for free, some are on the cloud, some are local, some are all of the above. However the options you have with Homey are :
You can either spend $1 for the convenience of backing up in the case the your Homey crashes. Or you can just spend time and manually re-add everything.
No one else forcing you to do anything, but please keep in mind that this is a community forum.
@AlexEbner have you contacted support?
Yes i have contacted the support.
But there in no reaction on it. I think it hav the same root. Because the homey insights are not working. And the app export insinght is also not working. That all on an Homey pro.
Hi
I guess you have to realise that you cannot view homey as a consumer grade product made for the consumer market at the level of Apple or Amazon. It’s smth done by a small group of young people for a bunch of enthousiasts. They can’t provide you everything for free, in part because they aren’t making money on you in any other way like eg Amazon does.
And actually there’ve been a free backup app for a while now. (Here is the link, until Atom removes it:) https://homey.app/en-gb/app/nl.regoor.flowbackup/Flow-Backups/
The cloud backup is a good thing. It’s better to have this option rather not have it, right?
If you haven’t used the free backup app in the past may be you don’t need backup at all.
Its just a flow backup and its not compatible with FW 2.0 and above. So useless for majority of users.
Yes, you have definitely a point here.
I still don’t know myself if I need the back up feature.
The flows and overall home performance is rather unstable and I keep redoing the flows to achieve at least some stability
My Homey is pretty rock solid. Over 70 devices, full home automation (lights, heating, security, presence, garden watering, blinds, access to home… and Homey runs without problems. Its Homey Pro.
