Walkthrough: Back up & restore your data

Your care log lives on your device, protected by your iPhone's own encryption and lock — not on a company server. That keeps it private, and it also means a backup is yours to make and keep. A CareHaven backup is a single encrypted file, locked with a password only you know. Nothing inside it can be read without that password, not even by us.

This walkthrough shows you how to let backups happen on their own, how to make one by hand before a big change, what is inside the file, how to bring your records back on a new device, and how to keep the one thing that matters most safe: your backup password. Available

Tip: A backup is only as good as the password you can still remember. There is no way to recover a backup if the password is lost. Write it down somewhere safe before you go any further.

Set up a password for automatic backups

Automatic backups use a password you choose and save in this device's Keychain. Manual exports ask you to choose a password separately. To restore a file, enter the password used to create that file.

1. Tap the menu icon (three lines, top left) to open the hamburger menu.
2. Tap Settings, then Sync & Backup.
3. Tap the auto-backup row (it shows Auto-backup — off if you haven't set a password yet, or your current schedule if you have).
4. The first time you set this up: type a password in Password, the same one again in Confirm, pick Weekly or Monthly under Schedule, then tap Turn on auto-backup once it lights up. If auto-backup is already on, tapping the row skips this — it opens straight to your schedule and status instead, with no password step to redo.

The password is held securely on your device. It is never sent anywhere, and we cannot see it or reset it. If you ever lose it, the backups locked with it cannot be opened.

Keep the password somewhere outside the app, in a place you trust. A password manager, a note in a locked drawer, or with a co-caregiver who will be there in an emergency. If you lose the device and the password at the same time, the backup cannot help you.

Let backups happen automatically

CareHaven can keep a fresh backup for you on a schedule, so you do not have to remember. Each backup is a single encrypted file (a .chbak file) protected with strong AES-256-GCM encryption, so it stays unreadable to anyone without your password — including us.

1. Tap the menu icon (top left) → Settings → Sync & Backup.
2. Tap the auto-backup row (Auto-backup — off, or your current schedule name if one is already set).
3. The first time you set this up: type your backup password in Password and again in Confirm, then under Schedule pick Weekly or Monthly — Turn on auto-backup stays off until both are done — then tap it. CareHaven tries to write your first encrypted backup right away, to this device by default; if that first attempt doesn't land immediately, it tries again the next time you open the app instead.
4. The same screen then opens up to show more — your schedule, a Where to save section, Last backup status, Run now, and Open backups in Files — there's no need to back out and reopen the row. To point future backups at iCloud instead, under Where to save, choose iCloud (the choices read On this device / iCloud / Custom), then tap Run now to write a fresh one there, and tap Open backups in Files to confirm it actually landed under iCloud Drive → CareHaven → CareHaven Backups. Tap Done when you're finished.
5. If auto-backup is already set up, tapping the auto-backup row takes you straight to that same expanded screen — schedule, destination, last-backup status, and the rest — so you can check or change anything without starting over.

A new backup also gets written quietly when you open the app, whenever your schedule says one is due, so a recent copy is usually waiting without you doing anything. If you have not made a backup in a while, the Home screen gently reminds you with a small banner. Available

This automatic, on-a-schedule backup is one of two kinds CareHaven makes. The automatic one runs on its own so you never have to think about it; the by-hand one (further down) is the deliberate copy you make right before a big change. They serve different needs, and it is worth using both.

Tip: Point automatic backups at cloud storage you can reach from any device, so if your phone is lost or broken your most recent backup is already somewhere you can get to it. Better still, keep two copies in two places: one on iCloud Drive and one on an external drive (plug it in through Files over USB-C). A cloud-only copy is one failure away from full loss if your iCloud is ever compromised; an external-only copy is one disaster away. Two places, and a single mishap never wipes you out.

Make a backup by hand

It is worth making one yourself before anything big: a new phone, a major iOS update, or any change you might want to undo later.

1. Tap the menu icon (top left) → Settings → Sync & Backup.
2. Tap Export Encrypted Backup.
3. Type your backup password in Password, type it again in Confirm, then tap Create encrypted backup.
4. CareHaven builds a single encrypted file and opens the standard iOS share sheet.
5. Send the file wherever you want it: save it to iCloud Drive or Files, email it to yourself, AirDrop it to your Mac, or hand it to a co-caregiver.

The file holds your records for every person you care for, all of it scrambled. Without the password, it is unreadable. The next section lists what that includes and what stays out.

Tip: Keep more than one copy in more than one place. One in cloud storage and one somewhere physical (like an external drive plugged in through Files) means a single mishap never wipes you out.

What travels in a backup

A backup carries saved care records rather than a summary. Some things stay out: device-local settings such as Care Stance; shared to-do lists and their tasks; sharing permissions and sync history; cached lookups and generated insights; and imported chart evidence you have not added to your records. Keep original chart files if you want to import that evidence again. Coverage highlights: Available

• The daily log and the charts behind it. Feedings, sleep, behavior, potty, regulation check-ins, diary entries, routines and every step inside them, custom trackers, the full cycle history, and your growth chart — height and head circumference along with weight.
• Saved medical records. Medication details, immunizations, lab results saved in CareHaven, visit questions, recorded medication changes, and baselines.
• The people and the paperwork. Contact cards, and your files — documents, visit recordings, and scans — which arrive as files you can open, the same as before.
• The reflective side. Your wellbeing ratings and notes, caregiver screening results, mood or anxiety episodes, wins, burnout check-ins, Share the Load items, and break plans.
• The family picture. Siblings and their check-ins, sensory-diet logs, pumping sessions, and the care profile you built for each person.

Small things hold too. If you logged two entries in the same minute — two doses, two feedings — both of them come back, not one.

Restore on a new device

Your backups move freely between iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Setting up a new device, or recovering after a reset, is the same simple flow.

One rule: update CareHaven first. A backup made on a newer build can hold record types an older build has never seen. Install the current build through TestFlight on the new device, then restore.

1. Install CareHaven on the new device.
2. Get your backup file onto that device (download it from cloud storage, or open the email or message you sent it in).
3. On a new phone, the Terms screen comes first — scroll to the end and tap I Accept. Then on the Welcome to CareHaven screen, tap Restore from backup — or, if you already have CareHaven open, tap the menu icon (top left) → Settings → Sync & Backup → Import Backup.
4. Tap Choose backup file to open Files, then pick your backup file.
5. Enter your backup password, then tap Restore.
6. CareHaven unlocks the file and imports its supported records. Review the restore summary for anything not imported, links still waiting on another record, and warnings, then tap Done.

If you are not certain the restore finished, you can bring the same file in again. Restoring the same backup twice does not double anything up — you end up with one copy of each entry, not two.

If you already have some data on the new device, CareHaven asks whether to combine the two or replace what is there. Changed your mind right after a restore? There is a short window to undo it, so a restore is never a one-way door.

After a restore: entries that need a second look

Now and then an entry points at something the backup did not include — a log tied to a tracker, a medication, or a food that is not in that particular file. Those entries stay. CareHaven gathers them into their own clearly labeled section after the restore instead of letting them slip out of sight, so you can see exactly what came through.

Nothing in that section is removed for you, and there is no rush. Read through it when you have a minute so you know what is there — every entry is still your own record, exactly as you wrote it, and it stays visible in that section.

If the password is the problem

The most common backup trouble is a forgotten password, because the password is the only key.

• We cannot recover, reset, or bypass a backup password. This is the same protection that keeps a thief from reading your file.
• If a restore says the password is wrong, check for typos and that you are using the password from when that file was made (not a newer one, if you changed it).
• Going forward, store the password the moment you set it, and update your saved copy whenever you change it.

More help with backups and other snags lives in Troubleshooting.

Emergency snapshots — a frozen copy if data ever goes unreadable

This is a safety net for your data — not a medical card. On the rare chance that CareHaven opens and finds its own local database damaged or unreadable (for example, after an update that didn't finish cleanly), it does not just start over. First it sets aside a frozen copy of your whole store before it resets, so nothing is quietly lost. That frozen copy is called an emergency snapshot. Available

You can find and manage these snapshots here:

1. Tap the menu icon (top left) → Settings → Privacy → Emergency snapshots.
2. Each snapshot shows when it was saved and how big it is.
3. Share a snapshot using the standard share sheet — Mail, Messages, AirDrop, or Files — for example to send to support if you ever need help recovering.
4. Once you have confirmed your data is back, you can delete old snapshots to free up space.

Good to know: An emergency snapshot is a raw copy of the database, so the app cannot open it in place the way it opens a regular backup. It is also separate from your encrypted .chbak backups — keeping your own .chbak backups is still the reliable way to bring your data back. If what you need is an emergency card a first responder can read, that is the Care Card, not a snapshot.

Related

• Privacy & security (in depth) — how your data is kept on your device and what encryption protects
• Sharing care with others (sync) — keeping data current across your own devices and with co-caregivers
• Across your Apple devices — using CareHaven on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
• Setting up for the first time — getting started on a new device