Back up a family space and move TraceNook to a new phone

Before you replace the phone that manages the family, export a family backup from that phone. It is one encrypted file you keep yourself; there is no account to sign into, and the file isn’t uploaded anywhere. Because the file also carries the owner rights for the family, guard it and its password like a house key.

Export the family space from the owner’s phone

1. On the owner’s phone, open Backup & restore from Me. If the export target shows your private space, tap it and pick the family space.
2. Only the owner’s phone can export this file, and it needs Max. On a member’s phone the app says so instead of asking for a password.
3. Tap Export backup, set a backup password and enter it again. Export the encrypted .tnk file, then save or share it somewhere you can reach from the new phone.

The file holds the family’s items, locations, quantities and dates, photos, TraceNook labels and settings, plus the owner rights. Anyone with the file and its password can take over the family, so treat it like a house key, not like a shopping list.

Restore the family on the new phone

Install TraceNook fresh on the new phone and use Restore Purchases so it has Max. Then open Backup & restore, tap Restore backup, choose the .tnk file and enter its password. The preview shows “Includes owner rights”; read the warning and tap Restore family space. Owner rights can only be restored onto a fresh install that has never joined a family.

If the owner turned on Google Drive auto backup, there’s no file to move: on the new phone, tap Restore from Google Drive on the first screen to restore as owner the same way.

The new phone is now an owner of the family, and the other family phones stay members with nothing to redo. Update both the new phone and one original member’s phone, then open the app on both on the same home Wi-Fi so they can check permissions and sync. If the app says the family connection is still pending, leave them open; don’t clear data or import the file again.

Restoring a new phone does not automatically remove the old phone. Check that the new phone has the family records and can sync before deciding whether the old device should be removed.

Choose data only when you want records without management rights

Restore data only copies the items, locations and photos into the private space you are currently in. That space stays private and the phone does not become an owner. Switch to a private space first; TraceNook saves a copy of its current contents on the phone, then replaces them. For a file with owner rights, this option needs Max as well.

If the old phone is already unavailable

If you have the family backup (an exported file or a Google Drive backup) and its password, restore it as above. Without a backup, there is no way to get the owner rights back. The records on family members’ phones stay, but if a phone goes 30 days without syncing with the owner’s phone, the family space becomes view-only. Versions before 1.0.8 had a family PIN takeover; it was removed in 1.0.8.

Keep the backup password separately: TraceNook cannot recover a forgotten one. For your personal records, use the private-space backup guide.