Keeping your data safe
Updated
What happens to your inventory if you change phones, and how the two platforms differ.
GearCache stores your inventory on your device. That’s good for privacy and speed — your data never leaves the phone — but it raises the obvious question: what if I lose my phone? The honest answer differs slightly between iPhone and Android. This page lays out where you stand on each platform.
On iPhone#
If your phone is backed up — to iCloud, or to a Mac — GearCache’s data is included. That’s the simplest answer for most iPhone users: keep your phone backups on, and a lost phone is recoverable to within a day or so of where it left off.
To check: Settings → [Your Name] → iCloud → iCloud Backup. If it’s on, you’re covered automatically. Restoring to a new iPhone from this backup brings GearCache back with everything in place — items, photos, conditions, checklists.
If you’ve turned phone backups off, your inventory lives only on the device.
On Android#
GearCache on Android is genuinely device-only. Your inventory is not included in Google’s automatic phone backup, and it isn’t part of the device-to-device transfer that runs when you set up a new phone. The app’s storage is deliberately kept out of those flows.
The practical implication: if you lose, break, or wipe your Android phone, your GearCache inventory goes with it. Treat the device as the only copy.
If your Android inventory matters enough to lose sleep over, the safest belt-and-braces is to keep a small parallel record somewhere outside the app — a notes app, a spreadsheet, a few photos of your trailer drawer. It’s not elegant, but it’s the only off-device copy you control.
Moving to a new phone#
iPhone → iPhone. Restore the new iPhone from your iCloud (or Mac) backup. GearCache reappears with all data intact, including photos. Nothing extra to do.
Android → Android. Because GearCache isn’t part of Android’s standard backup, the new phone starts with an empty inventory. You’ll need to rebuild it on the new device.
Switching platforms. There’s no cross-platform path between an iPhone install and an Android install. Each device’s GearCache stands alone.