Simple Network Backup Public beta
Public beta for Apple Silicon

Encrypted Mac backups you can verify and restore.

Protect selected folders from one or more Apple Silicon Macs on storage connected to a target Mac you control. SNB encrypts data before transfer, verifies completed recovery points, and guides you through restoring files and folders.

See what is protected, how long each backup took, and whether it is Recovery Ready.

What SNB does

Clear protection from backup to restore

SNB keeps backup control on your Macs and shows whether a recovery point has actually passed verification. See the complete feature list and roadmap.

Protect selected folders

Choose multiple folders on local, external, or mounted storage and run scheduled or on-demand backups.

Back up remote Macs

Use an outbound-only Agent on each Mac, with folder, schedule, bandwidth, and network controls.

Know what is Recovery Ready

A non-empty recovery point earns that label only after the target verifies it with zero errors.

Transfer less data

Reuse unchanged data and compress only when it helps, while encrypting content before transfer.

Follow every backup

See preparation, transfer, verification, failures, and Agent-measured total backup time in Fleet.

Browse and restore

Review recovery history, verify a point again, and restore individual files or folders to a safe destination.

Beta downloads

Choose this Mac’s role

Install the Desktop / Target on the Mac that owns the backup destination. Install the Remote Agent on each Mac whose selected folders should be protected.

Backup destination

SNB Desktop / Target

Monitor protected Macs, manage backup destinations, review Recovery Ready history, verify recovery points, and restore files or folders.

  • Apple Silicon only
  • macOS 12 or newer
  • Local, external, or mounted storage

SHA-256d25d15448599137c5b5eeaaedf1294e6725606c8638325a0bef9fd62e78621fd

Download Desktop / Target

Version 0.4.12 public beta · 24.7 MiB · 15 August 2026 · Signed, notarized, and stapled for Apple Silicon

Protected workstation

SNB Remote Agent

Choose folders, schedule backups, follow progress and total backup time, and send encrypted data to your target Mac.

  • Apple Silicon only
  • macOS 12 or newer
  • Internet required for managed enrollment

SHA-256293167e4d0fac21123b807b93dfe804bb9e201f35314f6b2703ab9c7b99a3aee

Download Remote Agent

Version 0.4.12 beta 1 · 5.7 MiB · 15 August 2026 · Signed, notarized, and stapled for Apple Silicon

Evaluation release

Read this before using the beta

Not your only backup. Preserve at least one independent backup that SNB cannot alter, and test restoring from it.

No production assurance. This beta has no uptime, support-response, data-recovery, compatibility, or durability guarantee.

Expect change. Enrollment, storage formats, settings, and upgrade procedures may change before a stable release.

Use appropriate test data. Do not use the beta for regulated, legally preserved, safety-critical, or irreplaceable data until its suitability has been independently reviewed.

Prerequisites

Before you start

Plan the restore first. A completed job is useful only when its recovery point can be read and restored.

What you need

  • An Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or later) running macOS 12 or newer. Intel Macs are unsupported.
  • A separate destination with enough free capacity for retained recovery points.
  • Reliable power and networking during the first backup and restore test.
  • Administrator approval to install; Full Disk Access only when selected folders require it.

Safe first run

  1. Protect a small, non-critical test folder.
  2. Wait for backup and zero-error verification evidence.
  3. Restore to a new, empty folder—not over the source.
  4. Open and compare the restored files before expanding coverage.

Security and privacy

Know the boundaries

SNB separates central connection coordination from backup storage and recovery authority.

Designed to stay private

  • Backup content is designed to be encrypted by the source before remote transfer.
  • The central service coordinates enrollment and peer discovery; it is not the backup repository.
  • The central service is designed not to receive repository root secrets, backup decryption keys, plaintext paths, or plaintext backup payloads.
  • Remote agents are not given deletion, retention, or storage-administration authority.

What SNB still handles

  • The service processes bounded connection metadata needed for enrollment, authentication, abuse controls, and troubleshooting.
  • The apps access only folders you select, plus macOS-protected credentials and their application state.
  • Anyone with access to an unlocked Mac or its recovery credentials may be able to restore protected data.
  • Encryption does not replace endpoint security, operating-system updates, access control, or an independent backup.

Authenticity check

Verify before installing

Each release includes its exact SHA-256 checksum and Apple signing information. Confirm that the value calculated on your Mac exactly matches the value shown beside that release. Stop if Gatekeeper reports an unidentified, altered, revoked, or unnotarized package.

Optional Terminal verification shasum -a 256 "/path/to/downloaded/file" pkgutil --check-signature "/path/to/downloaded/package.pkg" spctl --assess --verbose=4 --type install "/path/to/downloaded/package.pkg"

Known limitations

This is not a full-system backup

Current product limits

  • Selected files and folders only; no bootable clone, bare-metal restore, or macOS system recovery.
  • No Intel Mac, Windows, Linux, mobile, or NAS agent.
  • No application-consistent backup guarantee for active databases or virtual machines.
  • No ransomware detection or immutable-storage guarantee.
  • Desktop 0.4.12 keeps Fleet updates pending until the restarted Agent proves its installed version, reports precise failures beside the update control, and shows Agent-measured backup duration without using it as recovery proof.
  • Desktop and Agent verify the central service protocol and supported version range before depending on it.

Remote beta limits

  • A target Mac must remain available with adequate destination storage.
  • Internet outages, sleep, firewalls, and changing networks can delay backup and verification.
  • Initial transfers may be large and may consume metered bandwidth.
  • Verifying one very large recovery point can delay another Agent long enough for that backup to time out. Existing recovery points remain intact; avoid overlapping large jobs and retry any failed run.
  • Remote schedules run in a logged-in macOS user session; logged-out system-level scheduling is not available yet.
  • Do not install an Agent update during an active backup. Wait for completion or stop the backup first.
  • SNB 0.4.12 retains compatible v1 control and small recovery points while large snapshots use paginated inventories, authenticated segmented manifests, and bounded linear transfer windows.
  • The first 0.4 Agent installation needs administrator approval. Later service-listed Agent updates can use the restricted verified updater.
  • Full Disk Access still requires local user approval or an organization-managed macOS privacy profile.
  • Exact tested features and unresolved issues will be listed with each published beta build.