How J-Vault works

1. Getting started

1. Tap Start free with Google and choose your Google account.
2. J-Vault creates your vault and trusts this device. You land inside your account straight away and your 14-day trial begins. The days left are shown at the top of the app.
3. Save your Recovery Kit when asked: a one-page PDF with your 8 words.
4. Add your first document or diary entry.

No Google account, or prefer not to use one? You can create a vault with a username instead. Your 8 words, and an optional PIN on each device, then open it.

2. Your Recovery Kit

Your Recovery Kit is a PDF with 8 words. Together they are the master key to your vault. You need them to open your vault on a new phone or computer, or after your browser data is cleared.

• Print the page and keep it with your important papers.
• Keep a second copy somewhere else, for example with a family member you trust.
• After printing, delete the PDF from your phone and from cloud storage.
• Never send the words by message or email, and never type them into any other website.

Seven days after you save the kit, J-Vault asks you to type the words once to confirm they work. If you lose them while you still have a trusted device, you can create a new Recovery Kit in Settings; the old words then stop working.

Nobody can recover lost words: not support, not anyone at J-Vault, not anyone with a court order. That is exactly what keeps your vault private.

3. Trusted devices, and when we ask for your words

The device you sign up on becomes a trusted device. On a trusted device, signing in with Google opens your vault directly. We ask for your 8 words only when something is not routine:

• a new phone or computer, or a different browser;
• browser data on the device was cleared;
• the device was removed with Sign out of all devices;
• the device has not been used for 90 days;
• your key was changed with My Key Was Exposed.

Passkey for other computers: add a passkey once in Settings. It is saved in your Google Password Manager, iCloud Keychain or phone. After that, on a new computer you sign in with Google and confirm with your passkey (fingerprint, face or phone), and your vault opens without the 8 words. That computer then becomes trusted too. The passkey's secret never reaches our servers, so we still cannot open your vault.

You can protect any device with a 4-digit PIN instead. After five wrong PINs, that device's half of the secret is erased and the 8 words are needed again.

4. Saving documents

Open the Add tab, take a photo or choose one, pick a mode and tap Quick Save. The title and category can wait; J-Vault asks for them before you export or share.

Book page	Printed text, books, typed letters. High-contrast grayscale, about 60 to 80 KB.
Medical / color	Reports, prescriptions and scans where color matters. About 120 to 180 KB.
Legal / stamp	Deeds, contracts and anything with a signature or seal. Drag a box over the stamp to keep a lossless close-up. Under 280 KB in total.

On Android you can share a photo from your gallery straight into J-Vault once you have opened the app at least once. On iPhone, use the Take photo or Choose image buttons.

5. Writing in your diary

The Diary tab is for notes, events and memories. Choose the date the event happened, write, and save. The entry is encrypted, receives a receipt and joins your chain. Diary text cannot be edited later, which is what makes it useful as a record; its title and tags can still change.

6. Sharing proof with an Evidence Pack

1. Open Export and select the records you want to disclose.
2. Add your name as it appears on your ID card if you want it printed on the pack.
3. Tap Issue Evidence Pack. The file downloads and its verification link goes live.
4. Send the file, print it, or save it as PDF. The QR code on it leads to the live check.

Only the records you select are disclosed. Evidence Packs are included in your plan, and the trial includes one.

7. For the person checking a pack

If someone handed you a J-Vault Evidence Pack:

1. Scan the QR code or open the link printed on it.
2. Confirm the banner says ACTIVE.
3. Drop the .html file you received into Check This Evidence Pack File. A green GENUINE & UNALTERED means it is identical to the file that was issued.
4. Read both dates for each record. The Document/Event Date is what the holder stated. The Vault Ingress Timestamp is when J-Vault received it.

The pack is supporting evidence. How much weight to give it is your decision.

8. Backups and storage

Master Capsule: in the app, open Export and tap Export Master Capsule. You get one or more encrypted .html files. Keep them on a USB drive, in a second cloud account, or with family. To read one, open the Vault Opener, select the file and type your 8 words. It works offline.

Storage limit: each account has 200 MB for original files (PDFs and full-quality photos, up to 10 MB each). Records, notes and the lighter viewing copies do not count. Settings in the app shows how much you have used. When it is full, new photos are saved as lighter copies only and new PDFs wait until there is room. To get more, delete records you no longer need, or add MB for more per month by writing to us.

Storage: your encrypted images stay on our servers while your trial or subscription is active. If your plan ends, they remain for 30 more days, so export a capsule to keep them for good. Records, titles and receipts stay readable either way.

9. If something goes wrong

I lost my phone, or I have a new one

Sign in on the new device and type your 8 words. It becomes trusted. Then use Sign out of all devices in Settings to remove trust from the lost phone.

Someone saw my 8 words

Open Settings and tap My Key Was Exposed. You get new words, every record is re-encrypted on your device, and the old key is marked revoked. Then export a new capsule and replace old copies.

I forgot my PIN

Use your 8 words instead, then set a new PIN.

I lost my Recovery Kit

If you still have a trusted device, open Settings and create a new Recovery Kit. Without a trusted device and without the words, the vault cannot be opened by anyone.

My trial ended

Your records stay readable and exportable. Subscribe in the Plan tab to add new records and issue Evidence Packs.

Google sign-in is not working

You can always open your vault with your username and 8 words: tap Sign in with your 8-word key.

10. Words worth knowing

• Encryption: scrambling data so only someone with the key can read it.
• Hash (fingerprint): a short code calculated from data. Change one dot in a file and its hash changes completely.
• Receipt: the server's signed statement of when a record arrived and where it sits in your chain.
• Hash chain: records linked so that each one includes the fingerprint of the one before it.
• Bitcoin anchor: a timestamp written into the Bitcoin blockchain, which nobody can change afterwards.
• Evidence Pack: the file you share to prove selected records, with a live verification page.
• Master Capsule: your full encrypted backup in one or more files.

11. Frequently asked questions