Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I lose my device?
If you’ve made an encrypted backup, you can restore everything — every profile, every record, every attached file — onto a new device. If you’re setting up a brand-new device from an existing install, the “Transfer to New Device” flow uses a one-time transfer code to move your full install over. Note that a transfer is a full replace of the new device’s data, not a merge — by design.
Can my family get in if something happens to me?
Partly, and it’s worth being precise about the line. The Emergency Access button on the login screen opens a printable medical summary — blood type, allergies, medications, emergency contacts — without needing a PIN, for a first responder or caregiver in the moment. It does not open the rest of your vault: your documents, financial accounts, passwords, and legal documents still require your PIN or your one-time recovery code.
The practical step: store your recovery code somewhere a trusted family member or executor can find it — with your will is a common choice. Family Ark can’t grant emergency access to everything else on your behalf, by design; there’s no company, no support desk, and no server that could do it even if we wanted to.
Is this a subscription?
No. It’s a one-time purchase, priced per platform or as a bundle covering both. Bug fixes and minor feature additions are free, forever. A future major version — a genuine redesign with new functionality, not a routine update — would be offered as a separate paid upgrade.
Does this replace a will?
No. Family Ark is where you organize and store information and wishes — it isn’t a legal instrument, and it doesn’t create a will, trust, or power of attorney on its own. We’d recommend working with an attorney to execute those documents, then keeping track of them here.
What if I switch devices, or lose my recovery code?
Use the same backup/restore or Transfer to New Device flow to move to a new device. If both your PIN and your recovery code are lost with no backup available, we want to be upfront: there’s no way to recover that data. Nothing about Family Ark is recoverable from our end, because nothing is ever stored on our end.