Forgot your PIN, or got a new phone

Short answer: On the lock screen, tap Forgot PIN, then Ask to reset the PIN. Your entries are not lost. They stay locked, and after 10 days you can set a new PIN. If the diary is still open on another phone of yours, you can approve it there and skip the wait.

I forgot my PIN

Tap Forgot PIN on the lock screen, then Ask to reset the PIN. Your entries stay locked while you wait, and after 10 days you can set a new PIN. The wait is on purpose. The diary has its own lock, separate from your phone’s, and the lock screen says it plainly: “Only you can open this.”

If you didn’t ask for a reset, open the diary with your PIN. You’ll see the request and can cancel it.

Skip the wait from another phone

If the diary is still open on another phone of yours, that phone shows New phone waiting. Tap It was me there, and the new phone opens right away.

I want a different PIN

If you remember your PIN, go to Settings → PIN → Change PIN. You’ll enter the current PIN first.

Bring your diary to a new phone

On your old phone, go to Settings → Keep it when you change phones and connect your Apple ID. On the new phone, install Diary BFF, tap Use your Apple ID, and use the same Apple ID. Your entries come back. Enter the PIN from your old phone and it opens.

Don’t remember that PIN? Tap I don’t remember it. Your entries stay locked, and you can ask to reset the PIN as above.

Didn’t connect an Apple ID? Make a backup on the old phone first (see Export and import), move the file over, and choose Import from a backup on the new phone.

I deleted the app and installed it again

On the same phone, your account comes back. The app keeps a sign-in key in the iPhone’s Keychain for this. For a different phone, use your Apple ID or a backup.

Still stuck? Write to hello@diarybff.app and tell us which iPhone and iOS version you have. · All help · Diary BFF on the App Store