Frequently asked questions

No… but one can copy paste passphrase to label (weakening security model).

No, absolutely not, and you will never be the product.

We aspired to turn Superbacked, Inc. into a financially viable business, but that meant making compromises that didn’t align with our values—like withholding our source code or preventing users from building the app from source.

Our mission hasn’t changed: to help you securely back up and pass on sensitive data across generations. We’re solving the “how can one’s 5-year-old inherit one’s Bitcoin 20 years from now” problem, and it’s not just about Bitcoin—everyone has data and devices that are increasingly encrypted.

We built Superbacked app because no one else had. Thanks to hard work and the support of generous patrons, we’re proud to make Superbacked app available to everyone, without a paywall.

If you love Superbacked, please star the repo and consider supporting the project.

Choosing the right hardware to run Superbacked depends on use case.

If secret is present or entered on computer (one’s password manager passphrase for example), one can use Superbacked on same computer to back up secret.

If secret is not present or entered on computer (one’s signing device mnemonic for example), one should NEVER use Superbacked on computer that isn’t air-gapped and one should ALWAYS use computer that one can secure-erase (Apple silicon Mac) or that has data persistence disabled by default (see Tails).

For sensitive use cases, when using Apple silicon Mac, we recommend factory-resetting computer once done using Superbacked given blocks sent to printer via CUPS are written to disk (among other data persistence issues).

Given Superbacked is designed to run offline on air-gapped computers, there is no automatic update mechanism in place.

To update Superbacked, download latest release.

Please visit https://github.com/superbacked/superbacked to learn how to verify integrity of releases.

It is highly recommended to verify integrity of releases before using Superbacked.

Superbacked requires a camera with a resolution of at least 1080p.

If you are having hard time restoring blocks, we recommend installing zbar (Linux-only) and using an external camera such as the Razer Kiyo X.

Superbacked runs on 64-bit ARM or Intel Linux computers running Debian-based Linux operating systems and on 64-bit Apple silicon or Intel Macs running macOS.

Check out hardware recommendations.

A signing device (also called hardware wallet) is a piece of air-gapped hardware that securely stores private keys and is used to sign cryptographic transactions.

COLDCARD, Ledger and Trezor devices are all signing devices.

An air-gapped computer is a computer that is completely and permanently isolated from all other computers.

For sensitive use cases, using Superbacked on air-gapped computer is not enough.

Check out hardware recommendations.

zbar is an open source command line utility used to decode QR codes.

On Ubuntu (or other Debian-based OS), run apt install zbar-tools.

The printer we recommend is the Brother HL-L2370DW given it supports AirPrint and CUPS custom paper sizes (Custom.4x6in).

The paper we recommend is blank 4x6in Oxford index cards (using acid-free paper is recommended).

The thermal laminator we recommend is the Scotch TL901X with Scotch TP5900-100 5 mil 4x6in lamination pouches.

Superbacked uses Electron’s desktopCapturer module to allow users to switch from camera to screen capture (using gear icon) to scan QR codes displayed on other apps or websites.

This optional feature is very useful to backup two-factor authentication TOTP secrets displayed as QR codes.

Audio is never captured even though permission prompt mentions audio.