Recovery and new phones: the complete guide

How getting back in works

boopr doesn't have passwords. When you signed up, the app created a set of encryption keys on your phone, and those keys are your account. We never get a readable copy, which is what keeps your posts between you and your friends. It's also why there's no "forgot password" button anywhere: we have nothing to reset.

Two rules follow from that design. boopr keeps you signed in on one phone at a time, so bringing your account to a new phone always signs the old one out. And there are exactly three doors onto a new phone:

• Transfer, when your old phone still works. The fastest path, and the right one for a planned upgrade.
• PIN Recovery, when your old phone is gone. A 6-digit PIN plus a Recovery ID you saved when you set it up.
• Your 24-word recovery phrase, when your old phone is gone. The backup that always works.

Set up your safety nets today

Both recovery doors have to exist before you lose the phone. Setting them up takes about five minutes, and they're the most important five minutes you'll spend in the app.

1. Write down your recovery phrase

   Go to Settings › Security › Recovery Phrase and confirm with Face ID, fingerprint, or your passcode. boopr doesn't show the phrase during signup; it's created quietly in the background, so if you've never looked, it's been waiting for you this whole time. Write the 24 words on paper, in order. Don't screenshot them or save them in notes.

2. Set up PIN Recovery

   Go to Settings › Security › PIN Recovery. You'll choose a 6-digit PIN, and boopr will show you a Recovery ID that starts with BPVR. That ID appears exactly once, right then. Write it down next to your phrase.

3. Keep a passcode on your phone

   boopr requires a device passcode or biometrics to protect your keys. On iPhone, turning your device passcode off deletes boopr's keys from the phone, and you'd need your PIN or your phrase to get back in.

New phone, old phone in hand

A planned upgrade never needs the phrase. Transfer moves everything directly between the two phones, and because your old phone approves it on the spot, there's no waiting period.

1. On the new phone, install boopr and open it

   Tap "Already have an account?", then "Transfer from another device".

2. On the old phone, start the transfer

   Go to Settings › Security › Transfer to New Device and confirm with Face ID or your passcode. A QR code appears. It's valid for five minutes, and both phones need an internet connection.

3. Scan the code with the new phone

   Your account moves over, and the old phone signs out. That's the whole thing.

One small thing stays behind: App Lock is a per-phone setting, so turn it back on if you use it.

Lost phone: recovering with your PIN

The app calls this the easiest path, and it is, as long as you saved your Recovery ID.

1. Install boopr on the new phone and open it

   Tap "Already have an account?", then "Restore your account". (On older versions of boopr the button reads "Restore with recovery phrase"; it's the same door, and the next screen offers the PIN path too.)

2. Tap "Recover with PIN"

   It's the option marked "Easiest".

3. Enter your Recovery ID

   The code starting with BPVR that boopr showed you at setup. Checking the ID never uses up attempts.

4. Enter your 6-digit PIN

   boopr unlocks your keys and signs you in.

The ten-attempt rule

You get 10 wrong PIN entries, total, ever. On the tenth miss, the locked copy of your keys destroys itself permanently, and the screen says so plainly: "Vault Destroyed". There's no timer that quietly gives attempts back; the only thing that resets the counter to 10 is entering the right PIN.

The self-destruct is there to protect you. It means nobody can sit and guess six digits forever. And it costs less than it sounds, because your 24-word phrase still works afterward, and once you're back in you can set up PIN Recovery again, with a new PIN, a new Recovery ID, and a fresh 10 attempts.

Lost phone: recovering with your phrase

1. Install boopr on the new phone and open it

   Tap "Already have an account?", then "Restore your account". (On older versions of boopr the button reads "Restore with recovery phrase".)

2. Tap "Recovery Phrase" and enter all 24 words

   Lowercase, in order, separated by single spaces. You can also paste them; boopr clears your clipboard right after, so the phrase doesn't linger there.

3. Tap "Restore Account"

   The button narrates its progress: authenticating, restoring sessions, restoring data, done.

Mistyping is safe. The app counts your words, flags anything that isn't a real recovery word, and points at the exact position that's wrong. A bad attempt never erases anything, and there's no limit on tries. If every word looks valid but you see "Account not found for these keys", one word is still wrong somewhere. Check each one against your paper copy, slowly.

The waiting period

Recovery has one deliberate speed bump, and it exists to protect you from a stolen phrase.

If your old phone was used within the last two weeks, recovering on a new phone doesn't finish right away. The new phone shows "Confirming it's you" and waits, with no access to your account yet. Meanwhile your old phone gets an alert titled "New device detected" with two choices:

• "This was me, switch over" finishes the recovery on the spot.
• "Not me, block it" rejects the new device and erases your keys from it. For about the next two days, recovery can only finish if you approve it from the phone you're signed in on, so a thief can't simply wait you out.

If you don't answer at all, say the old phone is at the bottom of a lake, the recovery completes by itself within about a day. And if your old phone hasn't been used in over two weeks, there's no wait at all.

Transfer skips all of this. Scanning the QR code with your old phone is the approval.

After any recovery, the old phone shows "Account recovered elsewhere" and signs out. It isn't erased. If that recovery wasn't you, tap "Recover account" on it right away to take your account back and sign the other device out.

What comes back, and what doesn't

Recovery brings back your account, not just your login. All of this returns on its own:

• Your profile: name, photo, bio, and birthday.
• All of your posts, and everything your friends have shared with you.
• Your friends and your lists.
• Who you've blocked and muted.
• Boops, comments, and likes.
• Your notification settings.
• boopr+, if you subscribe. It reactivates on its own after you sign in.

A few things are per-phone on purpose:

• Streaks reset to zero. That's by design, not a bug.
• App Lock, autoplay, and data saver are device settings. Set them again on the new phone.

In rare cases the app shows "Restore Incomplete" and names exactly what didn't make it back, usually your lists or your blocked and muted lists. Everything else is unaffected, and the named items can be set up again in Settings.

Deleting and reinstalling on the same phone

On iPhone, deleting the app doesn't delete your keys; they live in the phone's protected storage. Reinstall boopr, open it, and you'll usually be signed straight back in without typing anything.

On Android, don't count on that. Treat a reinstall like a new phone and expect to use your PIN or your phrase.

Either way the safe habit is the same: never delete the app as a troubleshooting step unless your phrase is on paper.

Hard limits, honestly

These are the edges of the system. They aren't bugs; they're the cost of nobody but you holding the keys.

• Your phrase never changes. It can't be reset, rotated, or reissued. If someone else ever learns your 24 words they can open your account, and the only complete fix is to start a new account and delete this one.
• We can't look anything up for you. Not your phrase, not your PIN, not your Recovery ID. PIN Recovery stores a locked copy of your keys with us, but it's sealed so that only your PIN opens it.
• Your Recovery ID is shown once, at setup. No screen in the app shows it again.
• Phone backups don't carry boopr. Restoring an iCloud or Google backup onto a new phone brings the app back, not the account. Getting in is always the phrase, the PIN, or a transfer.
• On iPhone, removing your device passcode deletes boopr's keys from that phone.
• Deleting your boopr account is immediate and permanent. Afterward, no phrase, PIN, or transfer can bring it back.
• "Start Fresh" erases the keys on that phone. It's on the restore screen for people who genuinely want a new account, not as a troubleshooting button.

If you're locked out right now

• Old phone still works: use Transfer. Five minutes, no waiting period.
• Phone gone, Recovery ID and PIN saved: use PIN Recovery.
• Phone gone, phrase on paper: restore with the phrase.
• You see "Account recovered elsewhere" and it wasn't you: tap "Recover account" immediately to take the account back.
• You see "Vault Destroyed": the PIN path is gone for good, but your phrase still works.
• You see "Recovery declined": the signed-in phone blocked this device. If it's your account, use the phone you're already signed in on.

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