Using Ovillo

More than one person

Ovillo keeps one person's record in one vault. If you look after more than one person, for example both parents, each gets their own vault and passphrase on the same Mac. This page shows how to add someone, switch between people and back each of them up.

One vault each, never mixed

Every person has a separate encrypted vault, with their own documents, record, assistant connection and passphrase. Opening one person's vault says nothing about the others. Ovillo never merges records and never moves anything from one person to another. A document that names someone else is held for you instead of being filed, so a letter for the wrong person does not end up in a record by accident.

The first person you create keeps the original vault. Each person you add after that gets a folder of their own beside it, with their own document files.

The start screen: Whose record?

When Ovillo is locked, the start screen opens with Whose record? and a button for each person. The one you will open is highlighted. A person with no vault yet carries the tag new. Press a name to choose that person, then type their passphrase and press Open vault. If they have no vault yet, the same screen asks you to create one.

A person with no nickname shows as First record (the first one) or Unnamed.

Add someone

1. On the start screen, open Add someone.
2. Type a Nickname, up to 40 characters, such as "Dad".
3. Press Add. Ovillo says Added. Create a vault for them below, with its own passphrase.
4. Choose a passphrase of at least 12 characters, confirm it, tick the box that says losing it means losing access, and press Create encrypted vault.
5. Go through setup as for the first person. In Whose record is this? in Settings, enter their full name so documents are checked against it.

Use a different passphrase for each person if you can. Each one is the only key to that vault, and there is no recovery if it is lost. See First run.

Nicknames

The nickname is the one piece of information Ovillo stores unencrypted, because the start screen has to show it before anyone unlocks. Anyone who can use your Mac can see it. Use a nickname that is not a full name: "Dad" or "Mum", not "Carlos Martín Ruiz".

To change it, unlock that person's vault and open Settings, then Whose record is this?. Edit Nickname on the start screen and press Save nickname. The nickname is separate from the full name used to check documents.

Switch person

While a vault is open, Switch person sits in the header. Pressing it locks the current vault and takes you to the start screen with the message Locked. Choose whose record to open. Nothing from the first person stays on screen. Choose the next person and enter their passphrase. Auto-lock and Lock vault also return you to the same screen.

The auto-lock time is a setting for the Mac, not for a person. The assistant connection is stored inside each vault, so you connect it separately for each person.

How many people

One computer keeps up to 20 people. At 20, adding another gives the message That is as many people as one computer keeps. The sample person, if you added it, counts as one.

The sample person

On the start screen, Try with a sample person adds a made-up person so you can look around. It is labelled Sample (not real), and a banner on every screen says nothing in it is real. Its passphrase is shown on the start screen. Remove the sample deletes it and everything in it, after you confirm.

Backups and restoring across people

A backup is per person. Download encrypted backup in Settings, under Vault & portability, backs up the person whose vault is open, and only that person. To back up everyone, open each vault in turn and make one backup each. Ovillo keeps the date of the last backup separately for each person for its reminder.

Every backup file has the same name, health-picture-encrypted-backup.json, so your Mac will rename the second one. Rename each file with the person's nickname when you save it, so you can tell them apart later.

A backup is opened with the passphrase of the vault it came from. Keep that passphrase with the backup in a safe place.

Restore for a person

1. On the start screen, choose the person whose record you want to restore (add them first with Add someone if this is a new Mac).
2. Under Restore existing backup, press Choose encrypted backup and pick that person's file.
3. Type the Passphrase for selected backup and press Preview backup restore.
4. Check the name in the Restore preview. If it is the right person, press Confirm restore.

You can also restore from inside an open vault, in Settings, with Preview restore. The steps and limits are on Settings.

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