How Your Data Is Stored
Your data lives on your device first, always. Here is exactly where it sits and what the server ever sees.
Your device is the source of truth. Every change you make in Kinu, whether you add a person, record a moment, or adjust a compass setting, is saved to your device the instant you make it. No loading spinners, no waiting on a server, no "connection required" message standing between you and your own notes.
This is what local-first means, and it is a deliberate choice. Kinu is built so that the people you care about are always one tap away, online or off.
Everything lives on your device
Your local database holds all of your Kinu data:
- People you have added
- Moments you have recorded, including any voice notes
- Important dates like birthdays and anniversaries
- Private notes, for your eyes only
- Relational Compass settings: closeness, intention, and per-person mode
- Lenses, the categories like Family, Friends, or Work that you use to organize people
On your phone this lives in a local database using SQLite. In the browser it lives in your browser's own storage using IndexedDB. Either way, it is not locked away on a remote server. It is right there on the device you are using, and the app reads and writes it directly.
Voice notes are local-only, on any plan: they stay on the device where you recorded them and are never uploaded to our servers. Photos are not local-only - once backup or Plus sync is on, they are encrypted and stored with everything else.
Your account
Kinu asks you to sign in with Apple, Google, or an email and password. Your account is what makes backup and restore, encrypted sync, and restoring a past purchase possible. It is also what keeps one person's data from ever appearing in another person's app on a shared device.
Signing in does not change the local-first promise. Once you are signed in, Kinu keeps working fully offline, and your data still lives on your device first.
What happens when you sync
Turn on free backup and your data is encrypted on your device and kept as one restorable copy on our server. Kinu Plus adds sync on top, which is what keeps your phone, tablet, and browser in step with each other rather than each holding its own set.
Here is the important part. Before anything leaves your device, it is encrypted on the device itself. The server receives and stores only encrypted blobs, protected in transit and at rest, and we do not access your relationship content as part of running Kinu.
To be precise about this, your encryption key is currently derived from your account, which means our server could in principle re-derive it. So we do not claim end-to-end encryption or zero-knowledge today. We are working toward user-held keys as a future improvement, and we will say so clearly when it ships. For the full breakdown, see Encryption Explained.
Sync is a Kinu Plus feature and it is opt-in. Backup is a free feature and it is also opt-in. Until you turn one on, your data lives only on your device and nothing is uploaded.
What the server stores
When sync or backup is on, the server holds a short, fixed list:
- Your account information: your email and authentication details, so you can sign in and recover access
- Your subscription status: so Kinu knows which features to unlock
- Encrypted sync or backup data: your Kinu data, encrypted on your device before it is uploaded
That is the whole list. No readable profiles, no relationship graphs, no analysis of who is in your life or what you wrote about them. The only things the server ever keeps in readable form are your email address and your plan, because we need both to run your account.
What free users get
On the free plan, your data lives on your device by default. There is no sync, since that is a Plus feature, but you can turn on a free encrypted backup any time in Settings: a single, restorable copy of this device's data on our server. Until you turn it on, none of your people, moments, or notes are uploaded.
This keeps things simple and private. If backup is off and you uninstall the app or sign out, your local data is removed for good. Clearing this browser's site data removes the browser's own copy, and backup covers the browser too, so a browser that is empty again can be restored from it. Browsers can also clear site storage that has not been used for a while, which is why turning on backup, or taking an occasional export, is a good habit on the free plan. If you want to keep a copy yourself, you can export your data first.
Backup on the free plan
Turning on backup gives you a single restorable copy: your latest snapshot, encrypted, held on our server. It is not a live sync between devices. If you want your Kinu to follow you across more than one device at once, staying in step continuously, Kinu Plus adds encrypted sync on top. See Sync Explained for the full walkthrough of how backup works day to day.
Quick reference
| Where it lives | Free plan | Kinu Plus |
|---|---|---|
| On your device (SQLite or IndexedDB) | Yes | Yes |
| Encrypted backup on the server | Yes, opt-in | Yes |
| Sync across devices | No | Yes, opt-in |
| Voice notes | On device only | On device only |
| Photos on your phone | On device only | On device only |
| What the server can read | Email and plan only | Email and plan only |
Learn more
Sync Explained
How Kinu keeps your devices in step.
What We Can and Can't See
A plain breakdown of readable versus encrypted data.
Encryption Explained
How your data is encrypted before it leaves your device.
What Happens If I Uninstall?
What is preserved and what is removed.
Still need help? Contact support