Sync Explained

Sync lets you pick up Kinu on your phone in the morning, your tablet on the couch, and your browser at your desk, with the same people, moments, and dates waiting on each one. It runs quietly in the background. You never have to think about it.

Sync is a Kinu Plus feature. On the free plan your data stays on a single device, which keeps it simple and entirely local.

What you need for sync

Sync works across the devices signed in to the same Kinu account, so two things have to be true:

• You are signed in. Kinu uses an account (Apple, Google, or email and password) to back up your data and recognize your devices. Your data still lives on each device, and the app works fully offline once you are signed in.
• You have Kinu Plus. Sync, unlimited people, and desktop and web access at kinu.care all come with Plus.

To start, sign in on a second device with the same account. Kinu downloads your data and keeps both devices in step from then on.

How it works

When you make a change in Kinu, like adding a person, recording a moment, or adjusting a Relational Compass setting, that change is saved to your device first. Always. Then, after a short pause to batch a few changes together, Kinu encrypts everything and sends it to the server in the background.

Your other devices pick up those changes on their next sync, usually within seconds when they are online. If a device is offline, it catches up automatically the next time it connects.

There is no "sync" button to press. It just happens.

What gets synced

When sync is on, your relationship data travels between your devices, encrypted the whole way:

• People
• Moments
• Voice notes attached to your moments
• Important dates
• Lenses and how your people are organized into them
• Relational Compass settings (closeness, intention, and mode)
• Moment types
• Your reminder and notification preferences
• Private notes (kept isolated, more on that below)

What stays on the device

A few things are deliberately local and are never uploaded:

• Photos and voice recordings. The actual media files live only on the device where you added them. They are not copied to the server or to your other devices.
• Free plan data. On the free plan there is no server copy at all. Everything stays on the one device.

Private notes stay isolated

Private notes are for your eyes only, and that holds true with sync turned on.

So they are available on your devices and protected by the same backup, private notes travel as encrypted data like everything else. What sets them apart is that they are walled off from the rest of Kinu. No feature reads them, analyzes them, or surfaces them in a reminder, and they are never included in any analysis. They exist purely for you.

How encryption protects your synced data

Your data is encrypted on your device before it ever leaves. The server receives and stores only encrypted blobs, protected in transit and at rest.

We do not access your relationship content as part of running Kinu. The server simply stores and delivers encrypted packages between your devices. Your people, your moments, and your notes are never used for analytics, advertising, or any social features. Any analytics Kinu does collect are pseudonymous and never include names, content, or who your people are.

To be straight with you: the key that protects your synced data is currently derived from your account, which means it is not yet a setup where it is technically impossible for anyone but you to unlock it. So Kinu does not claim end-to-end or "not even us" encryption today. User-held keys are an improvement we want to bring you in the future.

When two devices disagree

If you make changes on two devices before they have a chance to sync, Kinu uses a simple, predictable rule: the most recent change wins.

Every edit carries a version number, and the highest version takes priority. In practice this almost never comes up. Sync is fast enough that you would have to edit the same person on two devices at nearly the same moment for it to matter.

Works offline, always

Kinu never waits for the network. Each device has its own local database, and the app works fully offline. You can add people, record moments, and adjust settings on a plane, on the subway, or anywhere your signal does not reach.

When you are back online, queued changes sync on their own. Nothing is lost, and there is nothing to do by hand.

Learn more

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