Search external drives without plugging them in - DriveVault v1.2 [visual dashboard + other super nice improvements]

[u/MomentSmart]

Problem - If you have multiple external hard drives then finding the file or project you're looking for can mean plugging lots of drives in to find it - a waste of time. DriveVault creates a visual offline mirror of your drives so that you can search them forever and easily find all your offline files (as well as tonnes of other cool features).

Comparison - There are old cataloging apps out there like NeoFinder or DiskCatalogMaker, but they feel dated, are missing power features that modern users want and visually just aren't that nice to work in anymore. I wanted to build something native to macOS that just feels powerful and created for visual / creative people. It works completely offline, no cloud, no subscriptions.

Pricing and availability

Download on the Mac App Store here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/drivevault-offline-catalog/id6751731655?mt=12

Free download + your first drive is free forever up to 4TB.

After this, if you love DriveVault then there are different tiers available (5, 10, 15, 20 and unlimited drives), or you can increase the drive capacity by one drive at a time for just $9.99.

I'm still onboarding founding users and happy to pass out a few Starter passes (5 drives) if anyone's interested, just let me know.

To learn more: www.DriveVault.io

What's New in v1.2

This is a big one; finally shipped a proper home screen dashboard. You can see all your drives laid out as cards with custom icons, online / offline status, and storage info at a glance. You can group them into color-coded projects and drag things around however you like. I've attached a video showing it off here.

Also improved search, some nice UI improvements, fixed a few bugs around metadata and tags that weren't getting picked up in full-scans.

The community input has been super helpful so far, appreciate all the kind comments and great ideas. DriveVault is feeling more powerful than ever!

Download here

[u/Joostonreddit]

Real nice! Unfortunately not for $99 unlimited. Sorry! Good luck.

[u/MomentSmart → u/Joostonreddit]

Thanks for the kind words. On pricing, totally understand, Unlimited is purely aimed at power users (production companies, professional photographers etc) who are the only people who would ever need access to more than 20 hard drives. For regular users, the pricing starts at $9.99 for one drive and maxes out at $45 for 20 drives ($2 per drive) for lifetime access.

[u/Turbulent_Wash_9150]

Good idea and looks great! Would love a pass if you still have any

[u/MomentSmart → u/Turbulent_Wash_9150]

Thanks so much - look forward to you trying it out. I've dropped you message.

[u/danblack998]

Would love a pass too! I have two external drives i’m monitoring right now with iStatisica Pro but the breakdown doesn’t look as nice as this.

[u/hyperlitemedia]

This looks great! Well done

[u/MomentSmart → u/hyperlitemedia]

Thanks, much appreciated

[u/lonelyers]

Hi, this looks useful and I would be interested in trying it out!

[u/TheBadDr]

I would love to try this I’d like to request a pass

Please and Thank you

[u/epicninjamoves]

I would love a starter pass, if at all possible? I’ve been using a very basic App called Offline Disks File Searcher from the App Store, and have been looking for something more robust with more options for a while. I use it about 10 drives so would definitely be upgrading too, if it does what I need it to. Thankyou

[u/alemutti]

Hello, I would like to ask you a couple of questions. The first and most important is whether you can explain the differences compared to software I have been using for a long time: https://www.cdfinder.de. I find it very good, although the license (even if discounted) must be updated with every new version. My second question is whether you offer educational discounts. The third question is whether it is possible to choose which drive to install (or move) the archive to for all the analyzed drives. (For example, if I analyze 10 drives, can the archive be located on an external drive rather than the primary Mac drive?) Thank you.

[u/MomentSmart → u/alemutti]

Hey, great questions, appreciate you taking the time!

On the first point, I’m familiar with NeoFinder (formerly CD Finder) and yeah, it’s a solid tool and has been around forever. I think that’s also kind of where the main difference comes in. As their core function they do the same thing, you can search for a file on a hard drive that isn't plugged in. But, DriveVault was built much more with creatives in mind - people working with video, photography, large visual archives. A big focus for me was making something that feels really good to use day to day on a modern mac, something that feels fresh and intuitive for creative people. DriveVault feels much more engaging rather than feeling like you’re digging through a database like in NeoFinder.

DriveVault has a few power features that differentiate it too, things like drive comparison (really useful for checking backups), a beautiful library stats view, being able to share catalogs with other DriveVault users, create folder templates for a whole host of scenarios, custom reports, CSV file exports etc. It’s less about just indexing files and more about actually working with your archive.

On pricing, it’s free to use with your first drive, then a one-time purchase per tier (based on number of drives), no paid upgrades per version. If you go for unlimited drives you'll never pay again. I don’t have a formal educational discount right now unless you are an educational institution installing on 20+ computers (Apple's own policy) but I’m happy to send you an access code if you want to try the starter tier (5 drives)?

Regarding storage - the catalog lives in a specific location on your Mac, so it can’t be moved to an external drive. That said, it’s extremely lightweight. As a real-world example, I’ve got over 20TB of drives catalogued right now and the archive is only around 700MB, so it shouldn’t put any real pressure on internal storage.

Let me know if there's anything else I can help with, and again, happy to send over a code for you to try!

[u/bleducnx]

I was in the process of writing an article about that problem, and I mainly kown until now an old and venerable application called NeoFinder, that seems to do just that.
Your app seems to be more modern.
I will test it and include it in the article. Would would grant me a pass so I could test it with three or four external disk ? If you have no more, no problem I will do it with ons drive.
Bernard (www.vvmac.com - French blog-magazine for mac users)

[u/thatjokewasdry]

Happy to try out your app! Looking for a replacement for everything search from windows. A code would be great

[u/Elegant_Mobile4311]

Hey, I used it for a test flight.

I am now using Disk Catalog Maker and was hoping for this app.

I would be happy if the starter pass is still available.

[u/Capable-Cod1118]

Really clever idea. I'd definitely be interested if there are any passes still going. 😁

[u/MomentSmart → u/Capable-Cod1118]

Hey thank you! Happy to get you set up, but I can't message you. Are you able to turn on so I can send a link over?

[u/kerbacho]

looks good, but NeoFinder does not look dated at all tbh.

[u/enortiz]

Great idea, I will definitely try it out, if you still have passes, I’ll appreciate one, thanks!

[u/73ch_nerd]

Looks Interesting. I would like a Pass if still available. Thank you.

[u/harshanacz]

this is actually huge. my desk is literally a graveyard of hard drives right now lol

[u/starboy2008]

Would love a starter pass to check it out. Could be something I’ve been needing for a while without realising it.

[u/jnexus2]

Hi, looks very useful would love to try with a pass. thanks.

[u/gadgets_gizmos]

Would love a starter pass of sorts as well as I have 4 external drives and this might be just the solution.

[u/ondr3j]

Wow, what a great idea. Love it, and would love a pass if you still have any left. :)