Backup and Recovery
Buzzio keeps private chat history on your devices by default. Optional backup is for you — encrypted with a recovery key you control — not a readable cloud inbox for Buzzio staff.
Use backup when you change phones often, want a safety copy of private chats, or do not want a lost phone to mean a lost history.
Get started
- Open backup / recovery settings in Buzzio (from Help, Settings, or the backup flow in the app).
- Choose on-device encrypted export, or turn on encrypted cloud backup if offered on your plan.
- Create and safely store your recovery key.
- Run a backup.
- On a new phone: sign in with Buzzio ID + 12-word phrase, then unlock and restore the backup with your recovery key.
What “default” means (no backup)
- Private end-to-end chats are not kept as a Buzzio-readable cloud archive.
- Readable history lives in the encrypted local database on each device.
- Signing into a new phone restores your identity and keys, not a full automatic private chat mirror.
On-device encrypted export
- Creates an encrypted backup file on your control path.
- Unlock depends on a recovery key you set — separate from day-to-day “Buzzio can open my chats.”
- Useful when you want a local copy without relying on cloud storage.
Encrypted cloud backup
Optional cloud backup stores encrypted backup blobs so you can restore later. Recovery still depends on your recovery key.
| Plan | What the product offers |
|---|---|
| Free | About 100 MB for life · positioned as full text message backup |
| Premium | About 100 GB / year · $19.99 / year · positioned as full text + media backup |
After Premium ends, the encrypted backup is retained for about 60 days (2 months), then removed. The app can show Cloud backup locked until you renew.
Your recovery key is shown as a long hex string (groups of characters) — copy it offline. Losing the recovery key means that backup cannot be unlocked.
What backup includes
Current backup scope focuses on:
- 1-to-1 chats
- Permanent groups
- Related contacts / permanent group members in the archive shape
Explicitly not in that private backup scope:
- Temporary groups
- Whisper private chat sessions
Communities, broadcast channels, Stories, and Whisper Questions are shared or separate product surfaces — do not assume they restore from this private chat backup the same way.
What restore looks like on a new phone
- Install Buzzio.
- Sign in with Buzzio ID and 12-word recovery phrase.
- Unlock your encrypted backup with the recovery key.
- Wait for restore to finish before assuming history is complete.
Without an unlockable backup, you keep the account identity but start without that older private local history.
Tips and limits
- Recovery phrase ≠ recovery key. Phrase restores identity/keys. Recovery key unlocks the encrypted backup blob.
- Free and Premium backup limits differ — check the in-app backup cards before you rely on media size.
- Temporary groups and Whisper sessions are not part of this backup promise.
- Cloud backup Premium is separate from Whisper Link Packs.
- Keep the recovery key offline. Anyone with the key can unlock that backup file.
Related features
- Account and Buzzio ID — how ID + phrase sign-in works without a phone number.
- Security overview — why private history stays local by default.
- Download and get started — first install and account creation path.