Settings
Settings let you manage your account, how zeitkapsl looks, and how it backs up your photos.
- Web: open settings from the menu while signed in.
- Mobile: tap the gear icon in the app.
Some settings apply to your whole account, others are specific to the device you are on. In particular, backup settings are per-device, so each phone or computer can back up different things. This is deliberate: you might want your own phone to back up everything automatically, but a shared family tablet to upload nothing.
Account and appearance
These live in the web app and apply to your account everywhere:
- Name shown on your account.
- Language for the interface.
- Theme: light, dark, or automatic (automatic follows your device's system setting).
- Newsletter: opt in or out of our email updates.
Security settings have their own guides: password, email address, two-factor authentication, and payment.
Subscription owners can also cancel their subscription here, or choose Withdraw from contract within the first 21 days of the paid contract. Withdrawal provides a full refund and schedules immediate account cancellation independently of refund processing; ordinary cancellation ends access at the end of the paid period without a refund.
On mobile, the settings screen also shows your account at a glance: your email, storage usage, and support token, along with a Logout button.
Backup
On mobile, the backup settings control what gets copied to your encrypted library:
- Automatic backup on or off.
- Backup over cellular network: off by default, so large uploads only run on Wi-Fi and do not use your mobile data. Turn it on to back up everywhere.
- Photos and videos: back up both, or just one. Videos are much larger, so turning them off saves space and bandwidth.
- Directories/Albums: choose which folders on the device are included. By default the app watches common ones like Camera, Screenshots, and Downloads. On Android there is also a shortcut for WhatsApp Downloads. On iOS, this entry appears when zeitkapsl has full photo-library access and albums are available; with limited access, zeitkapsl does not have access to Apple Photos albums.
For the full picture, see automatic backup.
Notifications
On mobile you can control notifications for:
- Backup: a heads-up about your backup progress.
- On this day: a reminder of photos taken on this date in previous years. You can pick the time of day it arrives. You can also browse these photos anytime via the on this day search filter.
Viewer
On Android, iOS, and the web app, open Viewer → Autoplay Live Photos to control whether Motion Photos and Live Photos play their short clip when opened.
Autoplay is on by default. Turn it off to show the still image until you tap or click it to play. This is an account-wide setting that syncs across your devices, unlike the per-device backup settings. It does not change playback of ordinary videos or what gets backed up.
Locking hidden photos
On mobile you can protect your hidden photos with biometrics, so viewing them requires Face ID, Touch ID, or your device biometrics. On iOS you choose how often it asks: never, always, after 5 minutes, or after leaving the app. On Android, opening the Hidden filter or unblurring a hidden photo asks for your device biometrics. This needs biometrics or a passcode set up on your device.
Location and the map
You can control whether location data is shown. This is off by default. When it is on and a photo has GPS information, its info panel shows a small map of where it was taken, and the photo appears on the Map. Turn it off to hide location everywhere. Your location data is end-to-end encrypted either way, this only controls whether it is displayed. See the map guide's privacy section for what turning it off does and doesn't prevent.