FAQ
Questions, answered
Do I need an account?
No. There's no sign-up, email, or password. Family Manager generates a 24-word recovery phrase on first use — that phrase is your whole identity.
Can you read my data?
No. Everything is encrypted on your device before it's sent. The sync server only ever sees opaque ciphertext, so we — and anyone who runs a server — cannot read your events.
What happens if I lose my recovery phrase?
There is no reset. Because we hold no keys and no account, nobody can recover your data for you. If you lose every device and haven't written the phrase down, the data is gone. Write the phrase down and keep it safe.
Is it really free?
Yes. Family Manager is free to use. It's part of an open-source suite you can inspect or self-host.
Is it open source?
Yes — the apps, the shared encryption core, and the server are all public, in one repository. You can read exactly how the cryptography works, or run your own server.
Can I self-host the sync server?
Yes. The server is a single small binary, published as the Docker image darktrees/blind-sync with a ready-made compose file in the repository. Point the app at your own server URL and your ciphertext syncs through infrastructure you control.
Does it work offline?
Yes. It's a Progressive Web App with a local encrypted cache. It works without a connection and syncs when you're back online.
How do I use it on more than one device?
Scan a setup QR code from a device you already have (or type the 24 words) and the new device pulls your encrypted keystore — the same families appear everywhere. Every device stays live in sync, and one that's been offline automatically catches up the moment it reconnects, so they all end up showing the same thing.
How does sharing work — who can add or remove people?
Each shared space has owners and members. Whoever creates a family is its owner; they can invite others (a QR code or invite carries just that one space's key), hand co-ownership to someone they trust, or remove a member. An owner can also step down. Ownership is checked cryptographically by the server — which still can't read anything you store.
What happens when I remove someone from a shared space?
The space's key is immediately rotated and re-shared to everyone who remains, so the person you removed can't read anything added afterwards. What they already saw while they were in the space isn't clawed back — so removal cuts off future access rather than erasing the past.
What is The Mycelium?
The Mycelium is the suite Family Manager belongs to — five apps built on the same account-free, end-to-end encrypted foundation, plus one app of the same name that holds all of them at once. It's named for the fungal network that links separate trees underground and lets them share: decentralised, invisible, no central authority — and the trees stay separate trees.
Can I get every app in one install instead?
Yes — that's The Mycelium (themycelium.au). One icon, one recovery phrase, every domain in one list. It isn't a replacement: the standalone apps and The Mycelium share the same keystore, so you can have both installed on the same identity at once and both work.
If I switch to The Mycelium, do I have to move my data?
No. There is no migration and nothing to export. Your identity has always held one keystore covering every app; a single-app build just filters the rest out. Install The Mycelium, restore with your recovery phrase, and everything you already had appears. Uninstall the individual apps whenever you like — or never.
Do reminders work if the app is closed?
Yes. Your device tells the server what to wake it for, and the server sends a content-free push when one is due — the app then decrypts locally and shows the real notification. The server never learns what any reminder is about. If you never grant notification permission, nothing is registered and nothing is sent.
What does an emailed invite actually contain?
A standard calendar invite (iMIP/.ics) — the title, time, and who it is labelled for — sent from the server’s own address so that later edits and cancellations update the same entry. It reaches only people in your family who have an email address saved, and only once the family has switched email invites on.
Is email on by default?
No, and it takes three separate things to be true before a single message is sent: the server has to relay mail at all, the family has to switch invites on (confirming a dialog that says email is not encrypted), and the person has to have an address saved against them.
Who can see a private event?
Only the people it is for. Private entries are encrypted under a key derived from that exact set of people, so other family members hold a document they cannot open — including whoever administers the family. Changing who it is for moves it to the right key rather than editing an existing one.
Can I use it with someone whose phone I don’t control?
Yes — share the family by QR code or invite and their device syncs live. People and devices are separate: a child with no phone is a person on the calendar, and an adult with a phone links themselves to their own person.
Start using Family Manager
No sign-up, no email, no password. Open it and go — your data is encrypted before it leaves your device.