KeePass Touch Alternative for iOS: Fix Offline Access with Strongbox or KeePassium

ByPriya Nair

When sync blocks you out of your own passwords

The problem isn’t KeePass. It’s how KeePass Touch handles the connection to OneDrive: the app tries to reach the cloud before it will open anything. No internet means no database. That decision is baked into the app’s sync model, and there’s no setting to change it.

Two iOS apps handle this differently — Strongbox and KeePassium. Both cache your .kdbx file locally after the first sync, so the database opens whether or not your phone has a signal.

Strongbox

Strongbox treats offline access as a first-class feature. Once the app has synced your database, it keeps a local copy. Pull it out on a plane, in a tunnel, wherever — it opens instantly.

The free version gives you read-only offline access: you can look up passwords but can’t add or edit entries while disconnected. Offline editing is a Pro feature. In Pro, Strongbox detects when you’re offline and switches modes automatically; you can also trigger it manually by long-pressing the database entry and selecting Open Offline if the app doesn’t catch the connectivity loss on its own. When you’re back online, it pushes your changes to OneDrive and handles conflicts if the file changed elsewhere in the meantime.

Setting up OneDrive in Strongbox

Strongbox connects to OneDrive directly using your Microsoft account. You authorize it once during setup, then point it at your existing .kdbx file. The file path and format don’t change, so your desktop KeePass client keeps working with the same OneDrive file without any adjustment.

KeePassium

KeePassium is open-source and takes a different approach. By default it works through the iOS Files framework — any cloud provider appearing in the Files app, including OneDrive, is supported without KeePassium ever handling your cloud credentials.

The catch specific to OneDrive: offline caching via the iOS Files layer has been unreliable across iOS versions. When Apple or Microsoft update how that layer works, the result can be the same hang-on-open problem that makes KeePass Touch unusable offline.

KeePassium added a direct OneDrive connection to get around this. Connecting through KeePassium’s own direct path — rather than the system Files picker — makes offline behavior much more consistent. That’s the route worth taking if OneDrive is your sync provider.

The free tier limits the number of databases and applies an inactivity timeout before locking. For a single OneDrive database that’s generally not an issue.

Which one fits your situation

If you need to add or update entries while offline — new logins added on a flight, password changes made without signal — Strongbox Pro handles that cleanly. Its offline editing doesn’t depend on iOS cloud caching being cooperative.

KeePassium is the stronger pick if open-source matters to you. The codebase is publicly auditable and the app has a solid privacy track record. Use the direct OneDrive connection rather than the Files picker and offline access is reliable.

Both are competent at the basics. The real decision is whether you need offline editing (Strongbox Pro) or whether read-only offline access alongside a more open licensing model (KeePassium) covers your use case.

You keep your existing database

No migration needed. Both apps read and write the same KDBX format KeePass Touch uses. Open either app, point it at the file already sitting on your OneDrive, and your passwords, groups, and attachments all appear. Nothing to export, nothing to convert, no new file to manage.

Sources


Similar Posts