But of course this is a different use case and not always an option. Not if you want to use Tailscale. Probably unless that Apple TV is already connected to one of this “VPN WiFi” with Tailscale on top (no idea what the functionality or performance impact is).
Anyone using glinet routers for that purposes and have any tips?
The Mango I have is on the slow side, specs say max 45Mbps over WG as a client, and I measured ~25Mbps when using a Mango as the server. But it’s tiny and very low power so perfect for travel.
No tips, it just works, but test it out before you leave for your trip!
It may just be a problem for me, but as i have ~3TB of photos in iCloud (2 x 2TB), and unless i want to buy laptops with 2TB storage, there is no practical way of backing up the contents of iCloud, so i use a Mac Mini M1 with an external drive, syncrhonize data locally, and then back it up from there.
Do you use any special tools?
It does require each user to login again every time the mac mini is rebooted, but fortunately that only happens when new releases come around, so 3-4 times every year.
I do periodically check if new photos have been downloaded. I care less about documents as the relevant documents are more likely to also be stored on the laptops, and thus backed up through the normal backup routine on the laptops.
I do wish Apple would come up with a solution to this problem though. The official instructions[1] feels like something from 2003.
That wish is in the opposite direction of Apple’s brand identity: “let us handle everything for you with our white glove service [you can pay, right?]”
Pretty much everybody agrees that you need to backup your cloud storage as well as your local computer, and Apple even backs up your i-devices to the cloud, and yet, there is no automated way of backing up your iCloud storage.
About a decade ago, Google initiated the Data Transfer Framework[1] that allows you to transfer data from one cloud provider to another, directly from provider to provider instead of downloading it first. It sadly appears to not have gotten enough traction to be of any use.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Apple say that you need to back up your Apple Cloud data.
> I would argue that it is exactly in line with Apple's brand identity.
I’m not following you. Can you explain what you mean by that?
Usually when Apple does something, they make it so it "just works" and usually stays out of the way of the user. To bake iCloud backups into Time Machine would do just that, backup your cloud data without bugging you.
Linus Tech Tips has a video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vpepaQ-VQQ&themeRefresh=1
At $200, it was 4x the price, though.
My friends have Apple TVs that don't stutter, for 3+ years.
Why would a non-techy user want to volunteer to be an exit node?
The terms "VPN gateway" or "VPN server" are still valid and less easily confused with Tor's use of "exit node".
In a tailscale setup, an "exit node" has specific meaning and the term makes sense as far as I'm concerned:
This potentially would be even easier for me, given they all have Apple TVs already. This isn't a public exit node - it's only available to other users (i.e. people you know and have granted access to) of your own TailScale setup.
Same for non-techy folks who have second homes in foreign countries, or even just travel a lot - an Apple TV running this new app back in their main property will allow them for free to browse the web as if they are actually at their main property, including any TV services they enjoy.
My Apple TV constantly goes to sleep.
Is Tailscale doing some type of “busy wait” to prevent tvOS from going to sleep?
Pretty huge. Many non-techy users don't like the idea of keeping a computer on 24/7, but a smart TV is just fine.
Also, the Apple TV 4k only draws 0.5 watts at idle and less than 3 watts when streaming movies[0], so I imagine it pulls less than 1 just tunnelling traffic. Computers pull 15W+ at idle, and that's with low end components.
0: https://www.apple.com/environment/pdf/products/appletv/Apple...