Backup and data

Where your data is

Everything is stored locally on your phone. There is no account and no server, and nothing is uploaded on its own.

The only exception is the Google Drive backup, which does nothing until you connect an account yourself.

Everything below is in one place:

Settings → App → Backup & data

The Backup and data page

The page has seven groups.

• Backup (no password): create a JSON or .db file, plus a single import entry that recognises the format on its own.
• Backup (password-protected): the same files, encrypted.
• Google Drive: connect your account and save to Drive whenever you want, without turning anything automatic on.
• Automatic backup: the daily save and its destinations.
• Available backups: everything the app found, to restore from.
• Maintenance: the database size and Optimize storage.
• Delete data: selective or complete deletion.

JSON or full database (.db)

Both back up everything. The difference is what happens when you restore.

The JSON backup is a readable, portable text file. It is migrated when imported, so it can be restored into a newer version of the app as well. It is the safer choice for keeping data over time and moving between devices.

The .db backup is an exact binary copy of the database: faster and more faithful, good for large diaries, but it can only be restored into the same version of the app or an older one.

In short: JSON for portability, .db for a quick full snapshot.

Password-protected backup

You can export JSON or .db protected by a password, with AES-256.

When you create one, the app can generate a strong password and copy it to the clipboard. It is worth using, because the strength of the encryption depends entirely on the password.

The same password is required to import the file again. If it is lost the backup cannot be recovered by anyone, us included. Keep it in a password manager.

Automatic backup

A daily save in JSON, taken when you open the app, at most once a day.

You can enable several destinations at once: the app private folder, a folder you choose, and Google Drive. A folder you choose is handy if you already sync it elsewhere, for example with Syncthing or to a NAS. Each destination works on its own: if one fails, the others carry on.

It is JSON rather than .db on purpose. JSON is migrated on import, so it stays restorable even after months of app updates.

For now the latest backup per destination is kept.

The app private folder does not survive uninstalling. It works as a quick recovery from a mistaken deletion, not as a long-term copy. For backups that outlive the app, use a folder you choose or Google Drive.

Files the app did not create are never touched. If you pick a folder or an account that already holds backups, the app tells you and asks whether to restore one, without overwriting anything.

Google Drive backup

Connect your account to Google Drive. From there you can save whenever you want, without turning on the automatic backup at all. If the backups are encrypted, not even Google can read them.

Backups go into a private folder inside your Drive, reserved for the app. You will not see it browsing Drive and no other app can read it. The app, in turn, sees nothing else in your Drive.

That folder survives uninstalling and changing phone, which is what lets you sign in on a new device and find your backups. If you connect an account that already holds some, the app tells you and asks whether to restore one.

You can disconnect the account whenever you want. Disconnecting does not delete the backups. To delete them, remove them yourself from Available backups, or revoke access at myaccount.google.com/permissions.

To follow Google’s rules the app uses the latest sign-in system. A small Google window showing your email appears for a couple of seconds when you open this page, and once a day when the app starts. It only re-attaches the account, closes by itself and needs no action from you.

Optimize storage

Optimize storage, in the Maintenance group, compacts the database and reclaims the space left behind by deleted data.

The message tells you how many bytes were freed, which is 0 if the database was already compact.

Moving to a new phone

Install Eudaemon and open:

Settings → App → Backup & data

If you have the backup file with you, import it directly: the import entry recognises the format on its own.

Otherwise turn on the destination where your backups are, connecting Google Drive or picking the synced folder under the automatic backup. The app will tell you backups are already there and ask whether to restore one. You can also open Available backups, where each one is listed with date, size and originating device, and choose which to restore.

Restoring replaces all current data.

If the backup is encrypted you will be asked for the password. It never left your old phone, so you need to have saved it somewhere.