Set up a recovery phrase
- Go to Account › Recovery phrase and create a phrase. If you haven't signed in within the last 30 minutes, you'll be asked to sign in again first.
- Your phone shows 12 words. Write them down on paper, in order.
- Type three of the words back when asked, to check you've written them correctly.
The setup screen blocks screenshots and screen recording, and there's no copy button. That keeps your phrase out of your photos, clipboard and cloud backups.
Where to keep it
Keep the paper somewhere safe and private, like you would a spare key. Don't store it in a notes app, an email or a photo.
Your other phones
Your other phones that are set up can already read your history, so they don't need the phrase. Setting it up needs a phone that can read all of your history. If yours can't, set it up from another of your phones.
Recovery phrase
A recovery phrase is 12 words that let you set up a new or reinstalled phone and read your encrypted location history, even if you have no other phone to link from. Your phone creates it and you write it down on paper. OpenBeacon never sees it, can't give it back to you, and can't use it to read your history.
Restore on a new phone
After you sign in on a new or reinstalled phone, it needs setting up before it can see anyone's location. Your recovery phrase is one way to do that.