I am new to homey since about 1 month and I have signed up for the online backup functionality.
However, soon 1 month have passed and I am about to pay monthly for this online backup.
When I have search this forum it seems that to restore from this online backup is not as straight forward as Athom want us to believe.
So my first question to this forum is should I pay monthly for this online backup or is it just not worth it?
My second queestion is if the restore is as easy as Athom claims it to be?
I have 100+ devices and 200+ flows so it is totally worth it for me.
Maybe you have read about migration issues (Homey 2016-2019 to Homey 2023), it could be a challenge sometimes?
Yep, totally worth it!
If you ever have a problem or you Homey breaks down, you are VERY pleased that you have a nightly backup you can restore. The fee is very reasonable imo too.
You could make USB backups as well, but you don’t want to do that every night. And it’s a hassle, since you have to disconnect your Homey, connect it to a pc and backup manually. It takes some while too and your Homey won’t work during that time.
You will very soon forget to do such a USB backup (or at least don’t feel like doing it).
Migration from HP19 to HP23 by a backup did not work for everyone even well (mine was very smooth though), and a lot has improved since the first migrations.
But I understand you will only ever backup from HP23 to (the same or another) HP23, so that should not be a problem at all.
There is (was?) also a online backup subscription for 12 months, which is a bit cheaper than paying every month. But to be honest, I can’t find this subscription on the Homey website at the moment.
Why should restoring a backup be difficult? If you are referring to the migration, that is a different topic.
Btw, I don’t see the need to backup every day. Even though the online backup can create an automatic backup every night, I have disabled this option. I only create a backup when I made some changes or before a firmware update.
I have both automatic updates and automatic backup activated on my Homey.
So if I understand you correct I can’t use the my backup from the previous day if I get an update during the night that breaks something in my Homey?
You cannot “repair” your Homey with a backup if an firmware update breaks your Homey.
But if your Homey is up and running again, you can restore an earlier update to restore your devices, flows, etc.
Well, I have had home automation for more than 10 years now and in my experience, when my system is up and running in a stable condition i rarely change things.
I came over to Homey from a Fibaro HC3 and when I started the switch I hadn´t touched the HC3 for about a year.
My only fear is that something breaks while the unit is updated with new firmware. But as I understand the paid backup doesn’t cover that.
As with any update, there is always the possibility that something breaks after.
If all works well and you don’t need the possible new functionality: don’t update.
The backup subscription is there for a piece of mind.
My Homey once broke down and was replaced by Athom. I was very happy to have a backup then, which I could restore.
I guess I was a little bit unclear.
Once the system is stable I know I will do few or no changes, so it is better to do a local backup and keep it secure.
For me it is peace of mind that I always can return my Homey to that point in time. Not to worry about FW versions.
Since the restore process still requires me to fiddle with my Homey, no matter online or local backup the extra effort needed to create the local backup is negligible for me.
Question, how do you manage if your Homey fails during a firmware update and you only have the online backup?
I have never had that problem.
What I understood:
Homey has 2 partitions for it’s system firmware. It will update one and if that fails to boot, it wil start the other partition with older firmware.
well, I just cancelled my paid backup plan.
I will definitely rejoin if/when they improve how it works.
I don’t see any value to pay for a backup plan that with such limitations, it should be free.
In such case there could be a paid backup plan that covers all use cases.
“If all works well and you don’t need the possible new functionality: don’t update.”
That is a way forward but unfortunately you eventually will end up in a situation where you have to update due to circumstance’s you can’t control. Then you have to deal with update issues for as many updates as you have skipped. This can potentially be “near death” experience. I´ve tried this on other systems!
Cloud backups consist of straightforward configuration files that encompass your App List, Flows, Devices, and more. They do not create a comprehensive image of your device. If you wish to create a complete device image, you can achieve this through the use of USB Tools.
To avoid cases where software updates lead to issues, you have the option to disable automatic updates for your Homey Pro and all individual apps.
If a system update results in a problem, the device will either revert to the previous software version if it fails to boot or it may boot with the “broken” software. Manual downgrading is not possible unless you possess a complete image backup of your device created using USB Tools.
I would recommend opting for cloud backups at a cost of 10€ per year.
Edit: Cloud backups work by allowing you to select from the last 7 backups, typically one backup per day. When you choose to restore from a cloud backup, it downloads the stored configuration and applies it to your Homey. Consequently, all your devices, apps, flows, and more will be restored. However, it’s worth noting that you may need to reconnect all ZigBee and Z-Wave devices.
As of today, i have an annual subscription for the backup (one-time payment). After the first use I am very surprised to find that i have no download access to these backups, I can only use any of them for a restore.
I pay Athom to keep my data, so why can’t i download them and decide for myself if i want to keep 7 or maybe 20 backups?
What if i want to revert to an older backup than #7 (or maybe need to)?
What if i was absent for several days and an error occurred that is older than 7 days?
I think paying users should be able to download these cloud backups themselves and keep them as they like…
I´ve tried this on other systems!