LegacyFolio User Guide

1. Welcome to LegacyFolio

LegacyFolio helps you collect the information, photos, and documents that your executors and substitute decision-makers will need, and brings them together in a Folio: a well-organized, password-protected PDF that you share with the people you trust.

You fill in LegacyFolio during your lifetime. The people who receive your Folio never need the app. They open your Folio in any regular web browser or PDF reader, using the password you give them.

LegacyFolio collects no data and requires no account. Your information stays on your devices and, if you choose to sync, in your private Apple iCloud.

2. Getting Started

• App Password: LegacyFolio asks you to set an App Password that locks the app. It must be at least 8 characters. It is stored in your iCloud Keychain and protects LegacyFolio on every device signed in to your iCloud account. You can also turn on Face ID or Touch ID, which asks for your App Password first. If you forget your App Password, LegacyFolio cannot recover it, and reinstalling the app will not reset it, so choose one you will remember.
• The Essentials: The Essentials are a personalized list of some of the most important records. A few quick questions when you first start help you begin with the Essentials.

3. My Profile and Message to Reader

My Profile

My Profile holds your own details. It is the starting point for your Folio.

Message to Reader

Message to Reader is a personal message from you to your Folio recipients, and it is the first page of your Folio.

4. Adding Your Records

Your records are organized into eight categories, listed in the sidebar:

• Identity & Official Documents: passports and IDs, vital records, immigration and visas, professional credentials, licenses and permits, and military service.
• Dependents & Pets: minor children, dependent adults, pet care, and other care arrangements.
• Legal Records: your will, powers of attorney, trusts, and family law documents.
• Health & Medical: medical directives, health insurance, doctors and care team, conditions, medications and allergies, housing and personal care, and organ donation.
• Finances: bank accounts, credit cards, investments and retirement, income and benefits, insurance, debts, taxes, and more.
• Property & Business Interests: real estate, vehicles, business interests, personal property, secure storage, and property services.
• Digital Devices & Accounts: devices, password managers, email, cloud storage, subscriptions, and websites.
• Wishes & Legacy: funeral arrangements, notifications, charity, last messages, and sensitive personal items.

Not sure where something goes?

Each category has a guide, shown with the information (ⓘ) button, that lists the kinds of records each section can hold.

Missing information

LegacyFolio identifies the most basic details your executors or substitute decision-makers will likely need for the most important records. A small orange dot beside a field means it has not been filled in yet. You can turn the dots off using a switch in Settings.

Photos and PDFs

You can attach photos and PDF documents to your records. Photos are optimized to save space.

5. The Directory: Entities, People, Pets, and Places

The Directory, below the categories in the sidebar, holds Entities (such as a law firm, a bank, or another organization), People, Pets, and Places. Enter each one once, and link it to any record that needs it.

Importing from Contacts

• Import: You can import people from your Contacts. LegacyFolio only reads Contacts. It never changes them.
• Stay current: If a contact’s details change, LegacyFolio shows the old and new details side by side, and you can choose which changes to accept.
• Turning it off: A switch in Settings turns Contacts sync off.

6. Keeping Your Information Current

LegacyFolio can help you keep your information current.

Records to Review

• Out of Date: Lists records you have not updated for 6 months, 1 year, or 2 years. You choose the period.
• Missing Basic Information: Lists records that are missing basic details.
• Remind Me Later: Swipe a record, or use its menu, to set it aside for 3, 6, or 12 months without changing it.

Review reminders

LegacyFolio can send you a notification, on a schedule you choose, to remind you to review your information. The reminder does not check your records. It simply prompts you to look.

7. Creating Your Folio

Choose Create Folio in the sidebar when you are ready.

• Folio Password: Your Folio is protected by a password. Let LegacyFolio generate a random Folio password, or select your own. A Folio password you select must be at least 12 characters, using standard letters, numbers, and symbols, with no accented characters. The Folio Password is stored in your iCloud Keychain, and you can see it again whenever you print a Folio Password Card.
• Text size: Choose how large the text in your Folio should be.
• Size: LegacyFolio shows the upper size of the Folio before it is created.
• Password Card: Print a Folio Password Card. It shows the password and tells the reader how to open the Folio.

What is in your Folio

• A cover and a table of contents with clickable links.
• Your Message to Reader, if you have written one.
• Your records, organized by category, with numbered pages.
• Your attachments. PDFs are included as real pages, and each photo has its own page.

Preview Folio

Every record has a Preview Folio button that shows the record content that will appear in your Folio. You can hide the Preview Folio button using a switch in Settings.

8. Sharing Your Folio and Password

You decide when and how to share your Folio and its password, together or separately.

• Together or separately: Give someone the Folio and the password at the same time, or at different times, or by different methods. For example, you could send quarterly updates of your Folio to your executors or substitute decision-makers, and leave the password with your lawyer to share when the time comes.
• Updating: Create a new Folio whenever your information changes, and give your trusted people the new Folio. The current Folio password will apply to the updated Folio.
• Changing the password: You can change your Folio Password at any time, but the new password will apply only to new Folios. A Folio you have already shared will open with the password it was created with.

9. Backing Up

• If you use iCloud sync: Your information is kept in your private Apple iCloud as well as on your devices, and it is there if you replace a device or delete the app. Sync is controlled in your device’s Settings.
• If you do not use iCloud sync: Your information exists only on the device where you entered it, so if you delete the app or lose the device your information cannot be recovered unless you have a securely stored Archive.

Archives

An Archive is an encrypted copy of everything in LegacyFolio. It is meant for people who do not use iCloud sync.

• Export/Import Archive: You can export and import an Archive using controls in Settings.
• Archive Password: An Archive is protected by its own password, at least 12 characters. It is separate from your App Password and your Folio Password. It is stored in your iCloud Keychain, so your other devices can make and restore Archives without asking for it. If you forget your Archive Password, LegacyFolio cannot recover it, so choose one you will remember.
• Only LegacyFolio opens it: An Archive can only be imported into LegacyFolio.
• Importing adds, never replaces: Importing an Archive adds records that are missing. It never deletes or overwrites what you have.
• Reminders: LegacyFolio can remind you to make a new Archive. You can control the reminders using a switch in Settings.

10. Privacy, Security, and Sync

LegacyFolio does not store any data on its own servers, and it never shares anything automatically. Your data stays on your devices and, if you choose to sync, in your private Apple iCloud.

• iCloud sync: LegacyFolio can sync across all your Apple devices signed in to the same iCloud account, so your information is current on your Mac, iPad, and iPhone. If you would rather not store any data with Apple, turn off iCloud sync for LegacyFolio in your device’s iCloud settings. Your information then stays on that device only, so keep your own copies, such as a current Folio or Archive.
• Encryption: ID and account numbers, access and recovery codes, seed phrases, medical details, legacy letters, and your Message to Reader are end-to-end encrypted in iCloud. For everything else, Apple holds the keys unless you turn on Apple’s Advanced Data Protection (ADP).
• Advanced Data Protection (ADP): You can turn on ADP in your device settings to apply end-to-end encryption to all of your iCloud data, so that Apple cannot access it. If you turn on ADP, only you can recover your data. If you lose access to your devices and your recovery method, your data cannot be restored, not even by Apple. Set up a recovery key or recovery contact when you turn on ADP.
• On a Mac: iCloud settings protect your data in Apple’s iCloud, but not the data stored on your Mac. FileVault encrypts the data on your Mac. You can turn it on in System Settings > Privacy & Security > FileVault. Many newer Macs turn it on automatically.
• Your passwords: LegacyFolio uses three passwords: the App Password, the Archive Password, and the Folio Password. All three are stored in your iCloud Keychain, so they are available on every device signed in to your iCloud account. LegacyFolio cannot recover your passwords, so choose passwords you will remember.
• Address search: When you search for an address, what you type is sent to Apple Maps to find matches.
• Original documents: You can attach PDF documents, scans, and photos to each record in LegacyFolio. Legal compliance may require your substitute decision-makers and executors have original documents. You should retain original documents in safekeeping and include information about the storage location in LegacyFolio.

11. Deleting and Restoring

• Recently Deleted: A record you delete goes to Recently Deleted for 30 days. You can restore it during that time. After 30 days it is permanently deleted.
• Attachments: Deleting an attachment is immediate and permanent.

12. Customizing Your Experience

You can use Settings to customize your use of LegacyFolio:

• General: Show or hide Preview Folio buttons, The Essentials, and the information (ⓘ) icons that give help and tips.
• Records to Review: Choose whether to flag out-of-date records and missing basic details, how long a record can go without an update reminder, and how long Remind Me Later lasts. These settings apply on all of your devices.
• Review notification: Turn on a notification reminder to review LegacyFolio every 3, 6, or 12 months.
• App Password & Biometrics: Set, change, or remove your App Password, turn on Face ID or Touch ID, and choose how soon LegacyFolio locks after you leave it.
• iCloud Sync: See whether iCloud sync is active.
• Contacts: Turn on or off the checking of imported or linked Contacts for changes.
• Export & Import: Export or import an Archive, set the Archive Password, and choose Archive reminders. See Archives.

13. Licenses and Limits

• Free version: A free license allows creation of a Folio with up to 10 records.
• Full version: A paid license removes the record limit.
• iCloud Storage & Sync: iCloud storage and sync capacity is determined by your personal Apple iCloud subscription and available space.

14. Support

• Contact us: Contact technical support by email at support@legacyfolioapp.com.
• Diagnostic Reports: Use the “Send Diagnostic File” feature in Settings to create a technical log you can send to technical support.