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Settings

Your identity, the storage FEN syncs through, and everything that keeps your data safe.

Profile​

Your display name is what other members see. Change it whenever you like; it propagates on the next sync.

The name is not your identity — the account key created on first launch is, and that never changes.

Storage backend​

The storage FEN syncs your groups through — a Nextcloud instance you control. Enter the server URL and your credentials and tap Test connection; a successful test saves the configuration, there is no separate save step. The row shows a green dot when one is connected.

You need a backend to create groups, not to join them — those sync through the owner's storage. A group created without one stays on this device, marked Local only.

Whoever runs that server sees encrypted files, their sizes and their timestamps — not amounts, names or who owes whom. The privacy policy has the full picture.

:::info A server on your own network If the server runs on your home or office network — a NAS, a machine at 192.168.…, a .local name — iOS asks for permission the first time FEN connects to it. Allow it, or the connection test fails with no way through. You can change your mind later under Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network. :::

Additional devices​

Settings › Devices lists every device on your account, its platform, and when it last recorded a change. Only the current device — marked this device — can be renamed. Last active tracks changes, so a device you only read on sits quiet with nothing wrong.

:::caution Use FEN on one device at a time FEN has no server arbitrating between your devices, so two phones on one account can each record a different version of the same expense — and neither will show both. Adding a device is for replacing one: set the new phone up, then stop using the old one. :::

To put your account on another phone, see Backup & recovery.

If two devices do write as you, FEN shows a divergence warning at the top of the Groups tab and on the Devices screen, naming the devices involved. It blocks nothing; the fix is to pick one device and stop using the other.

Local store and backup​

Under Settings › Profile › Export & Backup. This is the difference between "I reinstalled the app" and "I lost everything" — Backup & recovery covers the whole story; here is what each control does.

Local Saving Path​

The folder FEN writes to. Pick it first — the other three options only become available afterwards. It holds two things: archives of closed groups, and your key backup.

:::tip Pick a folder that syncs off this device iCloud Drive, Nextcloud, Proton Drive, Dropbox. A folder that exists only on this phone is lost with the phone, and so is the one backup that could have brought your account back. FEN warns you when a folder looks device-local, but it cannot always tell. :::

Save closed groups locally​

When a group is closed, FEN exports its full history — expenses, receipts, settlements — into an archive in that folder. That archive is the long-term record: it is the copy that survives losing the backend, its credentials, or the keys on this phone. FEN also reads these archives back in, so closed groups return on a new phone (details).

Close a group with no folder set and the export is queued; the Groups tab shows a banner, and setting the folder writes the pending archives automatically.

:::caution Without a folder you lose the receipt photos Receipt photos live on the group's shared storage, and that copy is removed once the group has been closed and every member holds their own archive. The archive in your saving folder is the only place the photos survive — and FEN reads them back from there, so an expense you open after the shared copy is gone still shows its receipt.

Set a folder and you keep everything. Without one you keep the numbers, which are on your device anyway, and the pictures are gone. :::

Backup Profile​

Writes your account key and every group key you hold into the folder, and keeps the file current as you create and join groups. It is what Add device with backup file reads, and the only thing that can bring your account back.

On by default from the moment you set a folder — the person most likely to need recovering is the one who never opened this screen. Turning it off deletes the file rather than leaving key material behind.

:::danger With encryption off the backup is stored in plain form Anyone who can read the folder can read your groups and act as you — and the folder you are steered towards is a cloud-synced one. Turn on Encrypt exports and the file is encrypted instead. :::

Encrypt exports​

One switch for the whole folder: with it on, both your closed-group archives (written as .fengroup rather than plain .zip) and your profile backup are encrypted with the folder password. With it off, both are written in the clear.

Turning it on reveals the password field below it, and encryption only actually starts once you have set one. Turning it off rewrites the profile backup in plain form; the archives already in the folder are left as they are, so nothing you have is destroyed by flipping a switch — and the password is kept, which is what still opens them.

The folder password​

One password for everything FEN writes to the folder — profile backup and archives alike. It appears under Encrypt exports while that is on.

Setting or changing it rewrites the archives already in the folder so they stay consistently readable — that sweep blocks the screen for a moment.

FEN cannot reset it and no support desk can recover it. If you forget it, those files can never be opened, so keep it somewhere that survives losing the phone: a syncing password manager, or paper.

Minimum worth doing​

Pick a folder that syncs off this device, turn on Encrypt exports and set the folder password it asks for. Backup Profile switches itself on from there.

Expense Categories​

Your personal default category list, copied into each new group you create. Editing it later leaves existing groups alone; those have their own ⋮ › Categories.

Notifications​

A master switch plus three kinds: new expenses, group invitations, group closed.

They are generated on your device when a sync finds something new. FEN has no push server, so nothing about them crosses the network and nothing arrives while the app is closed and idle.

Help & Support​

Help & Support shows the app version, links to this guide, and has a Contact support row that opens your mail app addressed to info@fenapp.net. That is the support route — see Support for what to include so we can answer in one round.

Show Log opens the app's local log with a level selector — the thing to check when sync isn't doing what you expect, and to quote when reporting a problem. Read it before sharing: entries can mention group and member names.

Reset App​

Returns this device to its first-launch state: your account key, every group and expense, your friends, backend settings and saved passwords are erased, and the app restarts at onboarding.

It does not touch your key backup, your archives, or your groups on the backend — other members are unaffected and are not told anything. So a reset is undoable if you have a backup: choose Add device with backup file on the first onboarding screen instead of typing a name.

:::danger Anything that exists only on this device is gone A Local only group was never on a backend and is in no backup — a reset ends it. Close it first, which writes an archive to your saving folder. :::

Restore before creating a new account on the device: a fresh account starts writing its own backups into the same folder, and telling the two files apart afterwards is guesswork.