The latest articles on DEV Community by Mahdi Salek (@mahdi_s24). https://dev.to/mahdi_s24 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F125589%2F5834a7a5-b26c-4166-9998-a025ff7bede5.jpg https://dev.to/mahdi_s24 en Mahdi Salek Sat, 14 Nov 2026 10:48:03 +0000 https://dev.to/mahdi_s24/how-i-built-an-incremental-iphone-backup-tool-for-windows-using-tauri-and-rust-37e1 https://dev.to/mahdi_s24/how-i-built-an-incremental-iphone-backup-tool-for-windows-using-tauri-and-rust-37e1 <p>If you shoot high-bitrate 4K videos on an iPhone and edit them on a Windows PC, you already know the pain: transferring gigabytes of footage via Windows File Explorer over MTP is unreliable. Connections randomly drop mid-transfer, transfers freeze, and resuming requires manually checking which files already made it to your external drive.</p> <p>I wanted a lightweight, single-purpose, local-first utility without iTunes bloat or cloud subscriptions. So I built <strong>iphone-backup-sync</strong>, an open-source desktop application powered by <strong>Tauri v2</strong>, <strong>Rust</strong>, and <strong>Vue 3</strong>.</p> <h2> The Architecture </h2> <p>Instead of relying on Windows' built-in MTP layer, the Rust backend interfaces directly with the device over USB using <code>libimobiledevice</code> and <code>ifuse</code>. </p> <p>The frontend is built with Vue 3 and TypeScript, keeping the UI minimal and responsive while Rust handles the heavy lifting of file system scanning and byte-level comparisons.</p> <h2> Key Engineering Decisions </h2> <ol> <li> <strong>Incremental Syncing:</strong> Before transferring anything, the backend scans the target directory on your Windows drive and compares it against the iPhone's DCIM structure. Already-backed-up files are skipped automatically.</li> <li> <strong>Non-Destructive Conflict Handling:</strong> Interrupted transfers often leave behind partial or corrupted files. If the app finds an existing file with the same name but a different byte size, it never overwrites your existing backup. Instead, it saves the incoming file with a <code>_new</code> suffix so you can inspect both safely.</li> <li> <strong>Automated CI/CD Releases:</strong> Every version tag (<code>v*</code>) triggers a GitHub Actions workflow that compiles and attaches clean Windows <code>.exe</code> installers directly to the GitHub Releases page.</li> </ol> <h2> Try It Out or Contribute </h2> <p>The project is 100% open-source. You can inspect the Rust/Tauri source code or grab the latest Windows binary directly from GitHub:</p> <p>🔗 <strong>Repository:</strong> <a href="https://github.com/mahdis24/iphone-backup-sync" rel="noopener noreferrer">github.com/mahdis24/iphone-backup-sync</a></p> <p>I am currently working on automatic USB plug-in detection and expanding support for Android devices. If you run into Windows driver edge cases or have ideas for improvements, feel free to open an issue or drop a comment below!</p> windows opensource tauri rust