Support

I forgot my passcode

Then your photos are gone, and there is nothing anyone can do. Not us, not Apple, not a support ticket.

Your passcode is the only thing that unlocks the encryption key, and it is never stored anywhere — only a value derived from it, which is useless on its own. This is the whole point of the app, and a way around it would be a way in for somebody else.

If you are still able to open the vault on another paired device, do that and copy what matters out before you lose access there too.

Syncing will not connect

• Both devices need Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on. Neither needs an internet connection.
• Both vaults must be unlocked, with Brass Key open and on screen. It does not sync in the background — that is deliberate — so a device with the app closed or the screen off cannot be reached.
• Pairing needs an active subscription on both devices. Devices already paired keep syncing after it ends.
• Tap the sync icon at the top of the library and choose Show Sync Status. It says whether the device is listening, connecting, or transferring, and with whom.
• iOS asks for permission to find devices on the local network the first time. If you declined, turn it back on in iOS Settings ▸ Brass Key ▸ Local Network.
• Some public and corporate Wi-Fi networks stop devices seeing each other. Turning Wi-Fi off on both forces Bluetooth, which usually works.

A locked album will not open

A locked album asks for Face ID, or your vault passcode, before it opens — the same passcode that opens the vault. If Face ID declines, the keypad is right there beneath it. Once the vault itself locks, every locked album is shut again, which is the point of them.

To take a lock off, open the album first, then choose ⋯ ▸ Remove Lock. That works whether or not you are subscribed; only putting a new lock on needs the subscription.

Suggested tags are not appearing

Suggestions are off until you turn them on: Settings ▸ Import & Export ▸ Suggest tags on import. They are made for photos added after that; for the ones already in the vault, use Suggest Tags for Existing Photos on the same screen, or Suggest Tags on any photo's info sheet. The analysis runs on your device while the app is open and unlocked, so a big library takes a while, and it does not run in the background.

A photo with nothing recognizable in it — a plain wall, heavy blur — may get no suggestions at all. Text is only read from photos that look like a document, a receipt or a screenshot.

Does a photo I share include where it was taken?

It does if the photo's file still carries its location. The vault keeps a photo's GPS coordinates inside the file, encrypted, and a photo you share or save out takes them with it. Open the photo, tap the info button, and look at Location data, which shows the coordinates if there are any. If it says Included, Remove Location Data takes the coordinates out for good. For many at once, select them and choose More ▸ Remove Location Data, or use ⋯ ▸ Remove Location Data… inside an album. To have it done for every new photo, turn on Settings ▸ Import & Export ▸ Strip location data on import.

Search is not finding a photo

Every word you type has to be found on the photo — in its caption, its tags, the name it came in with, the text read from it, or its date — so try fewer words. Write a word as #tag to search tags alone. Photos inside a locked album are left out of search until you open that album.

Managing your subscription

iOS Settings ▸ your name ▸ Subscriptions is the only place a subscription can be changed or canceled. We cannot do it for you, and any app claiming it can is not telling you the truth about how the App Store works.

Changed device or reinstalled? Settings ▸ Subscription ▸ Restore Purchases in the app.

The app crashed

A technical report is written to your device and stays there. Open Settings ▸ Diagnostics to read it in full — all of it, not a summary — and send it to us if you would like to. It contains no photos and no album names. Nothing is sent unless you choose to send it.

Get in touch

hello@brasskey.app

We cannot look anything up about your account, because there is no account. When you write, tell us what you were doing and what happened — that and a diagnostics report are everything we have to go on.