For the past three years, my family and I have changed cloud sync/storage providers each year. We started with Google Drive/Photos, then moved to Dropbox, and most recently to OneDrive. Don’t ask me why we’ve changed so many times. Maybe we’re cheap? Maybe we’re dumb? Probably both. Each provider has its pros and cons, but OneDrive has been the worst so far. I’m thinking I’ll switch back to Dropbox, which seemed to be the least evil.

As part of this, I thought about the features I need from a cloud storage provider. I’m writing them down so that next year, when I get annoyed (hopefully not!), I can remember what I actually need and see what’s out there.

Sync and backup, duh

This is the basics. I need to be able to sync with different phones and computers and count on the service to not lose my data. I don’t want all data in all places at all times, but I want to be able to pull files onto a device as I need them.

Mobile app with photo backup

I need an iOS app that backs up all photos and videos I take. I never want to think about this feature. It better just work day in and day out without me fiddling. I also want some sort of logic to decide how these photos are named. Ideally, they should be named using the date and time they were taken.

View pictures

I want to be able to view all my pictures in the web and iOS UIs. I want this to be fast. I don’t know what it is, but some services are just terribly slow when loading thumbnails.

CRUD with text files

I leave small text files scattered throughout folders I back up. For example, I have a folder where I store information about a snowmobile I’m bringing back to life. I have a shop_log.txt where I record reminders about the work I did, a todo.txt for work I need to do, and a to_buy.txt for parts I need to order. The UI for working with these files can be extremely simple, but I need to be able to access and edit them on both the web and iOS.

Google Docs/Sheets integration

For better or worse, I use Google Docs and Sheets when I have to create those types of documents. I’d like some sort of integration between the cloud storage provider and Google. Ideally, I want to be able to search for files on the storage provider, click on them, and have them open in Docs or Sheets. From there, I can do my work, and it should be automatically saved back to the storage provider.

Ability to ignore files/directories

I need to be able to ignore certain file types and directories. For example, I have multiple node_modules directories under ~/OneDrive. OneDrive diligently backs them up—even though I have no desire for that. To make matters worse, when looking at pictures in OneDrive, it shows me thousands of images from node_modules.

Nice to have: Photos AI

I should really organize my photos, but I never make the time. So, I like having the ability to use AI searches to have some shot at finding photos.

I think that’s all. I’ll update as I come across other things.