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Install Ovillo

Ovillo is a Mac app. This page covers what it needs, which download to pick, how it keeps itself up to date, how to move your record to a new Mac and how to remove it.

What you need

• A Mac running macOS 13 (Ventura) or newer. There is no Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad or web version.
• Apple silicon or Intel. Both are supported, with one difference described below.
• Disk space. The download is about 360 MB and the installed app about 630 MB. Your own documents take room on top of that, roughly the size of the files you add.
• Internet is needed to download the app, to check for updates and, only if you connect one, for the assistant. Reading your documents and searching them work without it.

Apple silicon, macOS 27 and the reader helper

The Apple silicon app includes an optional reader helper. It only works on an Apple silicon Mac running macOS 27. With it you get:

• dictation by voice, on this Mac;
• a translation shown beside the original page in the document viewer;
• a rough one-line description of each document (this also needs Apple Intelligence turned on);
• an extra check for people's names when personal details are replaced before anything goes to an assistant;
• table reading on documents, and hints about near-duplicate photos.

On an Intel Mac, or on an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 13 to 26, those features are not available. Everything else works: reading PDFs, photos, scans and Word files, search, the record, review, backups and the assistant.

To see which Mac you have, open the Apple menu and choose About This Mac. A line starting with Chip (for example Apple M1) means Apple silicon; a line starting with Processor means Intel.

Download

Get the latest version from the releases page. Pick the disk image (.dmg) for your Mac:

The other files on that page (.zip, .blockmap and latest-mac.yml) are what the app uses to update itself. You do not need them.

Install and open it

1. Open the .dmg you downloaded.
2. Drag Ovillo into your Applications folder.
3. Open Ovillo from Applications.

The app is signed with a Developer ID for Almost a Lab S.L. and notarised by Apple, so macOS can check it. The first time you open something downloaded from the internet, macOS may ask you to confirm; choose Open. Ovillo opens in its own window and starts its small local server on your Mac only. Next: your first run.

Automatic updates

Ovillo looks for a newer version when it starts and again every 6 hours while it is open. A newer version downloads in the background while you work. When it is ready, a sheet appears on the window:

• Title: Ovillo <version> is ready, with the new version number in place of <version>.
• Text: It installs when you close Ovillo. Your record stays as it is.
• Buttons: Restart now installs it straight away and reopens Ovillo. Later leaves it; the update installs when you next close Ovillo.

macOS only accepts an update that is signed with the same Developer ID as the app already installed. Your record and settings are not touched by an update.

Because updates arrive on their own, you do not need to download the app again. If an update ever fails, download the newest .dmg and drag Ovillo over the old copy in Applications; your data folder is separate and stays as it is.

Moving to a new Mac

Your record lives on the Mac that holds it. There is no cloud copy, so the way across is an encrypted backup file.

1. On the old Mac, unlock the vault and open Settings, then Vault & portability.
2. Choose Download encrypted backup. You get one file, health-picture-encrypted-backup.json, holding the encrypted record and every encrypted document. It opens only with the same passphrase.
3. Copy that file to the new Mac (a USB drive or your own cloud drive is fine, because it is encrypted).
4. Install Ovillo on the new Mac. On the first screen, find Restore existing backup.
5. Choose Choose encrypted backup, pick the file, type the backup's passphrase into Passphrase for selected backup and choose Preview backup restore.
6. Check the preview, then choose Confirm restore.

Nothing changes until you confirm. Each person in Ovillo has their own vault and passphrase, so a backup covers one person; repeat the steps for each. Restore also works from Settings, under Restore a backup, if you want to replace a vault that is already open. A backup is the only way back if a Mac fails. More on backups in Settings.

Removing Ovillo

There is no separate uninstaller. Two things are on your Mac:

• The app. Quit Ovillo, then drag Ovillo from Applications to the Trash.
• Your data. Your encrypted vault and documents are in a folder named .health-picture in your home folder (~/.health-picture). It keeps the old name from before Ovillo was renamed, on purpose, so existing vaults carry on working. The folder name starts with a dot, so Finder hides it; press Cmd Shift . in your home folder to show it. Ovillo's window settings (language, last person, auto-lock time) are in a folder called Health Picture under ~/Library/Application Support.

Removing the app does not remove your data. If you want the record gone, use Delete this vault in Settings (you type DELETE to confirm) before you remove the app, or delete the data folder yourself. Either way it cannot be recovered unless you kept a backup, and a backup file you saved earlier still holds everything, so delete those too if that is the point.

Something unclear or out of date? Tell us on GitHub.