Features
How recovery and backups could work in SeraShield
Understand the choice between a vault tied to one iPhone and a recoverable encrypted archive, including what a restoration test should cover.
A replacement phone changes the problem
Imagine your phone is replaced after a repair and you successfully restore your apps. The vault icon could reappear even if its old encryption key did not migrate. Apple’s Keychain has accessibility settings for items that are tied to the original device. If a design chooses one of them, it has to explain what a person can do when that device disappears.
A backup of encrypted files and possession of their key are separate. A key without the files cannot reconstruct them. A copy of the files without a way to recover the key remains unreadable. A recovery screen should tell people which of the two pieces they still need.
Separate a device backup, sync, and an exported archive
Apple distinguishes iCloud Backup from iCloud Photos and other services that keep data in sync. Changes made in a synced library can propagate to other devices. A separate, restorable archive is useful when you need an earlier independent copy. Apple also documents how the default and Advanced Data Protection modes differ for iCloud data, so a vault should say exactly where its own data and keys end up instead of relying on the iCloud name alone.
For SeraShield, a device-bound design could reduce the places a key travels. An encrypted archive could make recovery possible, but it adds decisions about who holds the recovery secret, how mistakes are handled, and how old archives remain readable as the app evolves. These are alternatives under study. We have not chosen a recovery model or committed to cloud syncing.
Define what a successful restore proves
The meaningful test is opening the right files on a clean replacement device using only the instructions and materials a user actually has. A test on the original phone can accidentally rely on an existing key.
- Restore an archive with known files on a different device and compare the recovered contents.
- Check the experience with a wrong recovery secret, missing key material, and a damaged archive.
- Restore an archive from an older version without overwriting the only remaining copy.
- Explain the loss scenarios in plain language before a user chooses a backup option.
A few things worth knowing
Would support be able to reset my vault key?
That depends on the recovery model. A design that gives only the user the means to decrypt an archive cannot promise support can recover it when those means are lost.
Does SeraShield back up files today?
The vault and its backup model are concepts. The current web tools process selected files in the browser.