Private Cloud Backup for Photos and Documents on Android

To keep a private cloud copy of photos and documents from your Android phone, put them in your My NoteVault vault and upload them to Cloud Space, which encrypts every file on your device before it leaves. You choose what to upload: nothing uploads by itself, and MyNoteVault cannot read what you store.

What does Cloud Space store, and why is it private?

Cloud Space stores the vault files you choose to upload, as ciphertext. Your device encrypts each file before it leaves, with AES-256-GCM in 16 MiB parts, and file names and folders are encrypted too. The keys never reach the servers, which keep ciphertext, sizes and dates only, so MyNoteVault cannot read what you store.

There is no account. A Cloud Space is a Vault ID, an access file named MyNoteVault-<Vault ID>.vaultkey and a secret phrase. The access file is sealed with your phrase (PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256, 100,000 rounds), and signing in is an Ed25519 signature made on your device, so no password is ever sent. The activity history, which covers sign-ins, uploads and device changes, can't be edited or deleted.

The website that opens your files, space.mynotevault.in, counts page visits and purchases as daily totals on its own servers. It uses no cookies and no third-party trackers, and it counts nothing when your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control.

Why would I keep a private copy in the cloud at all?

Because a vault that lives only on your phone is lost if the phone is. My NoteVault opts out of Android's own cloud backup, so uninstalling the app deletes every vault, and a lost or broken phone takes them too. A copy in Cloud Space keeps your files after that. Premium's vault backup and restore is a separate feature.

The trade-off is the one in how to keep photos off the cloud on Android: any cloud copy is another place your files exist. Cloud Space is built so that place cannot read them. If you are weighing it against a mainstream drive, read Cloud Space vs Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox, which links the providers' own pages.

How do I put photos and documents in Cloud Space from my phone?

Move the files into a My NoteVault vault, open the vault, go to the Cloud Space tab, connect with your access file and secret phrase, and upload the vault files you want. You can preview them there, or import them back into a vault later. These steps assume you already have a Cloud Space.

1. Open My NoteVault and your vault. Photos and documents have to be in a vault first; see how to hide photos and videos on Android if the vault is new to you.
2. Open the Cloud Space tab and choose to connect.
3. Pick your access file and enter your secret phrase.
4. Upload the vault files you want to keep in Cloud Space.
5. Preview them in the tab, or import them back into a vault when you need them on the phone.

The Cloud Space page lists the plans and shows whether Cloud Space is open for purchase.

How do I open my files on another phone or a laptop?

On a laptop, open space.mynotevault.in in a modern browser and sign in with your access file and secret phrase, or by scanning a QR code with your phone. On another Android phone, install My NoteVault and connect from the vault's Cloud Space tab. There is no desktop app and no iPhone app.

To sign in by QR code, choose Open Cloud Space on the site, then Sign in with your phone instead. Then, in the app, open Devices and activity and choose Link a browser. In the browser you can upload, preview and download files, make folders, rename, move and sort. The site is in the app's 13 languages.

Files are decrypted whole in the browser and nothing streams, so a large file opens only once it has been fully decrypted. One Android phone and one browser can be connected at a time, and you can remove either at any time. To use a new phone, connect it the same way you connected the first, with the access file and your phrase, or with a QR code shown in the browser, then import the files you need into a vault. How to open Cloud Space on a computer walks through both ways of signing in, step by step.

How do I keep the access file and secret phrase safe?

You need both the access file and the secret phrase to open your files, and nobody, MyNoteVault included, can recover either one. Keep the access file in at least two safe places, keep the phrase somewhere separate, such as a password manager, and choose a phrase that is long and not used anywhere else.

• Save the access file twice. For example, on a drive you keep offline and in a second place you trust.
• Keep the phrase apart. The access file is sealed with your phrase, so a long phrase that you use nowhere else protects it better.
• Try it once. Sign in on a computer soon after you set up, so you know both work.
• Remove devices you no longer use. You can remove the connected phone or browser at any time.
• Share neither. Whoever has both can open your Cloud Space.

What does one year of Cloud Space include, and how do I renew or change size?

One payment covers one year of the size you choose, and nothing renews automatically. Premium in the My NoteVault app is included for that year. The plans are 1 GB at $19.99, 5 GB at $24.99, 10 GB at $34.99, 50 GB at $79.99 and 100 GB at $149.99, in US dollars.

Premium alone is $1.49 a month, and 5 GB is the size we recommend. After the year ends, uploads stop and your files stay readable and downloadable for 30 days, so download what you want to keep. When you renew, another year of the same size is added to the end date. When you change size, the new size starts a fresh year today, and the unused days are credited at the new plan's price. A Cloud Space renews, or changes size, in the same place it was bought.

The pricing page lists the plans next to Free and Premium, and Cloud Space yearly plans explains renewing and changing size, with examples.

What does Cloud Space not do?

It does not stream files, sync or upload in the background, or back up whole folders by itself. It has no sharing links, no collaboration, no search inside file contents, no desktop or iPhone app, and no reset for a forgotten phrase or a lost access file.

If you need to share files or work on them with other people, a mainstream drive is the better tool; Cloud Space is for files only you should read.

Does Cloud Space back up my phone automatically?

No. Nothing uploads by itself, nothing syncs in the background, and it does not back up whole folders. You upload the vault files you choose, and you can import them back into a vault.

Can I share a file from Cloud Space?

No. There are no sharing links and no collaboration. Cloud Space is for files only you should read.

How is Cloud Space different from Google Drive or OneDrive?

In Cloud Space the keys never reach the servers, so MyNoteVault cannot read your files. The full comparison, with sources covers what Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox do differently, including where they do better, and links the providers' own pages.

What happens to my files when the year ends?

Uploads stop, and your files stay readable and downloadable for 30 days. Download anything you want to keep in that time. Nothing renews automatically, so nothing is charged again unless you choose to renew.