Skip to content

Updates and your backup key

How Arkeep updates itself without putting your history at risk, how your encrypted index backups work, and how to use your recovery key on a new Mac.

Arkeep updates itself without interrupting your work, and it backs up your index so the record of what was on your drives survives even if something happens to your Mac. This page covers both, and the recovery key that opens your backups on another Mac.

How updates work

Arkeep checks for updates once a day. When there's a new version, it shows you an update window with release notes written in plain language, and you choose whether to install it.

To check yourself, use Check for Updates… in any of these places:

  • the Arkeep menu, under About Arkeep;
  • the Arkeep menu bar dropdown (the arrow button next to Quit Arkeep);
  • Settings, in the Updates section.

Update settings

In Settings, the Updates section shows your version and build number and when Arkeep last checked. It has two switches:

  • Check for updates automatically is on unless you turn it off. Once a day, Arkeep asks arkeep.app whether there's a newer version. It sends only Arkeep's version number, and your internet address as every website visit does. Nothing about your files, drives or cards.
  • Automatically download and install updates is off unless you turn it on.

Every update is signed, and Arkeep only installs updates carrying its developer's signature.

Updates never interrupt your work

  • An update only installs when Arkeep is idle. It never interrupts an index, a fingerprint pass, a card check or a copy, including a copy that's waiting for you to plug a drive back in. If an update is ready while Arkeep is busy, Settings says "An update will install when the current job finishes," and it installs once the work is done.
  • Your database is backed up before every install. Arkeep keeps the last 3 of these copies on your Mac. To see them, click Show Update Backups in Settings, under Backups.
  • If an update can't upgrade the database, Arkeep goes back to your previous database and keeps running on it. It tells you, "Arkeep could not upgrade its database and is using your previous one. Checks still work, without fingerprints. Please contact support." Email [email protected] if you see this.

Your year of updates

Coming at launch

Every license will include a year of updates. After that, renewing is optional. If your year of updates has ended and a newer version comes out, Arkeep won't install it. Instead it will show "Renew updates to install this version," with a Renew button and a Not Now button. Your copy keeps working on the version you have, for as long as you like.

Renewing costs $29 a year for Personal, or $79 a year for Studio plus $10 for each extra seat. Current prices are always at arkeep.app/pricing.

Index backups

Your index is the only record of what was on a drive that has died, so Arkeep backs it up. Each backup holds your whole history: every drive Arkeep remembers, every file on them and every copy it has made.

Choose a backup place

  1. Open Settings and go to Backups.
  2. Next to Backup place, click Choose….
  3. Pick a folder on another archive drive, or a cloud folder you already use, such as iCloud Drive.

Until you choose a place, Settings shows "Not chosen yet" in orange. Pick a place that isn't your Mac's own disk, so the backup survives if your Mac doesn't.

What happens after that

  • Arkeep saves a backup after every index and every copy, as long as the backup place is available. If it's on a drive that isn't plugged in, Settings says so, and the next backup happens when the drive is back.
  • It keeps the last 10 backups in that folder and removes older ones. It only ever removes its own backup files.
  • Every backup is compressed and encrypted. If a backup file gets damaged or cut short, Arkeep notices and won't restore it.

Settings shows when the last backup was made.

The backup buttons

  • Back Up Now saves a backup to your backup place right away.
  • Save a Copy… saves one backup anywhere you choose, for example before you move to a new Mac.
  • Restore From Backup… brings back the whole history from a backup file, including every drive Arkeep remembers. Arkeep saves your current history first, in case you need it back. If indexing or a check is running, Arkeep asks you to wait for it to finish.

Your backup key

Every backup is encrypted with a key that Arkeep makes for you the first time it needs one. The key is kept in your Mac's Keychain, on this Mac only. It isn't synced to your other devices, and it's never written to any file Arkeep makes.

Everyday backups and restores on this Mac need nothing from you.

Your recovery key

Your recovery key is your backup key written out as a short code you can keep. It's 28 letters and digits in groups of five, like this: 7QK2M-9XH4T-P0B6W-RZ3NC-5VJ8D-EAF.

  • It never uses the letters I, L, O or U, because they're easy to confuse with numbers. If you type one by mistake, Arkeep understands what you meant.
  • The last two characters are a check. They catch almost every typo, so a mistyped key is caught right away instead of failing quietly.

To see your recovery key:

  1. Open Settings and go to Backups.
  2. Click Show Recovery Key….
  3. Enter your Mac's password or use Touch ID.

Write it down, or keep it in a password manager. Anyone who has both your recovery key and a backup file can read your drive lists, so keep it somewhere private.

Recovering on a new Mac

On a new Mac, Arkeep makes a new backup key of its own. To open a backup made on your old Mac, you need the old key. There are three ways to give it.

By typing the recovery key

  1. Install Arkeep on the new Mac.
  2. Open Settings, go to Backups and click Restore From Backup….
  3. Choose your backup file.
  4. Arkeep sees the backup was made with a different key and asks for your recovery key. Type it in and click Restore.

After that, your recovery key becomes this Mac's key, so new backups use it too. The Mac's previous key is kept, so any backups it made earlier still open.

From your phone

Coming at launch In the same window, Restore from my phone will show a QR code for the Arkeep iPhone app to scan. The phone will then send the key over an encrypted connection on your local network, with nothing to type. You can see the button today, greyed out, until the iPhone app is released. See Mobile companion.

From your email

Coming at launch During setup, and in Settings under Backups, there's an Email me my recovery key checkbox. It's on unless you turn it off. When the Arkeep license server is live, your recovery key will be emailed to you through our email provider, once, to the address you bought Arkeep with. Arkeep's server doesn't keep a copy, not even in its logs; our email provider keeps its own record of sent emails. Until then, Arkeep saves your choice and the email waits.

Anyone who can get into that email account could use the key. If that worries you, turn the checkbox off and write the key down instead.

See also Mobile companion and Getting started.