Mobile companion

Coming at launch. The free iPhone app will pair with a QR code, search your backup history, check cards and tell you when an offload finishes.

Coming at launch

The Arkeep iPhone app isn't out yet. It's coming at launch, free with every license. This page explains what it will do, so you know what to expect.

The idea is simple: check whether a card or a shoot is backed up, and where, when your Mac isn't with you. An Android app is coming later, together with the Windows version of Arkeep.

What the app will do

Search your backup history for any card, file, client or shoot.
Check a card plugged into your iPhone.
Show your recent offloads, and flag any shoot that lives on only one drive.
Tell you when an offload on your Mac finishes or fails, if you turn that on.

The phone app will only read. It won't change your history, and it won't delete or format anything on a card.

Pairing your iPhone

Pairing will take a few seconds, with no account and nothing to type.

Install the free Arkeep app from the App Store.
On your Mac, open Arkeep's Settings and go to Mobile. A QR code will appear. Your Mac needs an activated license for this.
Open the app on your iPhone and scan the QR code.
Your Mac will save an encrypted copy of your history to your iCloud Drive. See below.

Your phone will never use one of your license's computer slots. A Personal license covers 2 computers plus your phone. See Licenses and devices.

Pairing will also pass your backup key to the phone, where it will be kept in the iPhone's Keychain. That's what lets the phone read your history, and it's also what will let you restore your backups on a new Mac from your phone. See "Restoring your backup key from the phone" below.

How your history will reach the phone

Arkeep doesn't run its own cloud storage. Your history will travel through your own iCloud Drive.

After every index and every copy, your Mac will write an encrypted copy of your history to a folder called Arkeep in your iCloud Drive.
The key to open it will travel only inside the QR code, from your Mac's screen to your phone's camera. It won't be uploaded anywhere, so neither Apple nor Arkeep will be able to read your history.
The phone will only read the history. It won't change it, so your devices can't get out of step with each other.

Searching on the go

Search works the way it does on your Mac, even with your drives at home. Type part of a file, client, shoot or card name, and the app shows just the matching files and folders, each with its size and a chip saying where it is ("on 24TB BLTF A", or "on 2 drives"). Tap the chip to see the full folder path on each drive, when that drive was last plugged in, and Show in Drive Browser to open that folder. Tap a result to see when it was copied, and whether the copy was verified.

Like the Mac, the answers will come from each drive's last index, so a drive you haven't plugged in for a while may be out of date. See Backup history and search.

Checking a card on your iPhone

Plug the card into your iPhone with a card reader.
Open the Arkeep app and choose the card.
The app will read the card and compare every file against your history.

It will use the same matching rule as the Mac: same name, exact same size, same date and same fingerprint. See Checking a card. The result will say how many files are backed up and list the ones that aren't.

Under the counts, Safe to delete in the camera or recorder lists, by recording day, the clips, photos and recordings that are backed up, for example "Oct 29: C0633–C0670 safe to delete, C0671–C0702 not yet." Only files that count as backed up are ever listed as safe. Delete them in the camera or recorder (Format or Delete), not on a computer, so its card index stays correct.

The app will never delete or format anything on the card. Clearing a card will always be up to you.

Recent offloads

The app will list your recent offloads, newest first, with the drives each one went to and whether each copy was verified. Any shoot that lives on only one drive will be flagged, so you know to make a second copy.

Notifications

If you turn them on, your phone will get a short alert when an offload on your Mac finishes or fails, for example "Offload finished: 87 files on 2 drives."

Notifications will be off unless you turn them on.
The messages will never include file, folder, client or drive names.
They'll be sent from your Mac to your phone through the Arkeep license server and Apple's notification service.

Your Mac already shows its own notifications when a copy finishes. This is for when you've stepped away.

Restoring your backup key from the phone

Coming at launch

If you move to a new Mac, or your Mac is lost, you'll need your backup key to open your index backups. With a paired phone, you won't have to type it:

On the new Mac, start restoring a backup. See Updates and your backup key.
Click Restore from my phone. The Mac will show a QR code.
Scan it with the Arkeep app on your iPhone.
The phone will send the key straight to the Mac over an encrypted connection on your local network. It won't go through the internet.

You can already see the Restore from my phone button in the restore window today. It's greyed out until the iPhone app is released. Until then, type your recovery key instead.