rclone + PocketServer to sync data from iPhone to PC (Linux, Windows, Mac) without cloud or connected cable.
In the video, I use rclone + PocketServer to run a local background WebDAV server on my iPhone and copy/sync 3.8GB of data (~1000 files) from my phone to my desktop, without cloud or cable.
The iPhone is an iPhone SE 2020.
While 3.8GB in the video doesn’t sound like a lot, the iPhone background WebDAV server keeps a consistent and minimal memory footprint (~30MB RAM) during the transfer, even for large files (in GB), making it scalable for dealing with large amounts of data. .
The average transfer speed is about 27 MB/s on my iPhone SE 2020.
If I use the same phone but with a cable and iproxy(included in libimobiledevice) to tunnel the iPhone WebDAV server traffic through the cable, the speed is about 60 MB/s.
Here’s how it works
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Use PocketServer to create and run a local background WebDAV server on my iPhone to serve the folder I want to copy/sync.
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Use rclone on my desktop to copy/sync that folder without uploading to cloud storage or using a cable.
The tools I use
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rclone: a robust, cross-platform CLI to manage (read/write/sync, etc.) multiple local and remote storages (probably most members here already know the tool).
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PocketServer: a lightweight iOS app I wrote to spin up local, persistent background HTTP/WebDAV servers on iPhone/iPad.
There are already a few other iOS apps to run WebDAV servers on iPhone/iPad. The reasons I wrote PocketServer are:
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Minimal memory footprint. It uses about 30MB of RAM (consistently, no memory spike) while transferring large files (in GB) and a high number of files.
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Persistent background servers. The servers continue to run reliably even when you switch to other apps or lock your screen.
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Simple to set up. Just choose a folder, and the server is up & running.
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Lightweight. The app is 1MB in download size and 2MB installed size.
PocketServer pricing
All 3 main functionalities (Quick Share, Static Host, WebDAV servers) are fully functional in the free version.
The free version does not have any restriction on transfer speed, file size, or number of files.
The Pro upgrade ($2.99 one-time purchase, no recurring subscription) is only needed for branding customization for the web UI (logos, titles, footers) and multi account authentication.