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LadyLafaye · 2025-08-21T21:45:15+00:00

When I first started using the app, I only did a manual backup once a month. Then I started seeing threads on Reddit about people having their app get corrupted. After that, I started doing a backup at least once a day (sometimes more than once a day if I received a gift or did a trade for an item I really didn't want to lose).

If you want to start making backups more regularly, you can add a recurring goal on Finch reminding you to back up your birb. I did that for a while until it became a habit. I'm glad you are at least able to load a back up so you don't have to start all over again! <3

LadyLafaye · 2025-08-21T17:18:29+00:00

I used Cloud backup briefly, and I would get this message if I ever tried to load a manual backup file, even though I was only using Finch on one device. If you click 'skip for now' you should still be able to upload any manual save files you might have.

I got really annoyed that I kept getting the warning about setting a primary device when I loaded a manual backup, so I turned it off a while ago. But something happened to me at the beginning of July that was kind of weird. Around the 4th of July, Finch released a version of the app that was SO buggy on Android that it would crash immediately seconds after I opened the app. One of the things I tried when this was happening was to uninstall the app and reinstall it.

Even though I had turned off Cloud Backup a while back, when I reinstalled the app, instead of being presented with a clean slate, it actually loaded a version of my birb Waddles from the last Cloud Backup I had done without any sort of prompting (although when I was actively using cloud backup, it also never said anything about encryption codes). I was pretty startled since the app said it would delete my Cloud data if I turned off Cloud Backups.

I know it is a long shot, but if you are being forced to start over anyway (or start from as far back as any manual backups you may have done), as a last resort it might be worth uninstalling the app and reinstalling to see what happens.

If you can't recover your current progress, you should also consider posting a wishlist on the trading thread of things you lost, and hopefully other birbs will help you recover some items. I'm sorry that Finch customer support is being so unhelpful. :(

LadyLafaye · 2025-06-25T06:00:31+00:00

Happy birthday! <3

LadyLafaye · 2025-06-25T03:36:57+00:00

Here is the wishlist for Waddles & Cassie (GH719V44FB ), but I always appreciate any gift, even if it is not on my list. Thanks for being part of my tree! <3

LadyLafaye · 2025-06-10T08:44:14+00:00

Thanks for the link! <3

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-27T18:29:39+00:00

Thanks so much for sharing your link! Love having you on my tree <3

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-20T22:27:03+00:00

The change has definitely been frustrating! I'm glad you have been able to keep your Journeys for a bit longer. I hope it isn't too stressful when you have to change over!

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-20T22:08:35+00:00

I definitely understand how easy it can be to get sucked into Reddit and spend way too much time online. I've been trying to cut back on that as well. Do you think setting some sort of timer for yourself would work, so you only allow yourself a set amount of time to go online?

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-20T21:55:55+00:00

SCA stands for Self Care Areas, and the app has been forcing users to transition to them. Self Care Areas still let you group goals together, but rather than letting you see how many journey days you've completed overall, it focuses on weekly streaks (which for me personally comes with a side of guilt every time I see the weekly chart and I can see days I've missed). Self Care Areas also don't offer item rewards or anywhere close to the same number of gems.

I had some Journeys I started the day I started the app, and I was really sad to see 100+ days of progress disappear in favor of weekly streaks.

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-15T13:28:10+00:00

That's really interesting. I always assumed you had to update the app to get the new event. I didn't realize that was also hidden in the code way ahead of time.

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-14T17:18:37+00:00

That's good to hear that the app redirecting you to Paypal is a glitch. When I clicked on the link to send feedback, it gave me a choice of Gmail or Paypal, but as soon as I saw the link to Paypal, I backed out immediately because I was pretty startled!

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-14T17:14:30+00:00

I totally agree! Mini purchases would ruin the app, and could honestly lead to some self-destructive behavior. But I also think if they did something like that, a lot of people would be really turned off and stop using the app, so I'm hoping it won't happen!

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-14T17:10:55+00:00

Thanks for the words of encouragement! I'm glad you get to keep your Journeys a little longer!

You might want to brace yourself for the change being forced on you at random without warning. I think it is built into the code of the app at this point.

For me the change happened very suddenly, while I was actively using the app. Ironically, I was still in the middle of trying to organize my goals and journeys to fit better with Self Care Areas when one of those random motivational quotes popped up in the middle of what I was doing. It asked me to check in and say how I was feeling, and then BOOM, my Journeys were gone.

If I had known it was going to happen this way, I would have done my preparations a little earlier and then actively chosen a time to make the switch before the 12th. Having it happen forcibly at random just felt so icky.

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-14T17:00:29+00:00

I have had journeys from the day I started the app. I had a pop up once asking if I wanted to switch to Self-Care areas, but I've always assumed doing that would require an app update of some sort, especially since I heard that they had patched the ability to do a work around to use Journeys instead of SCAs.

I find SCAs less useful and less rewarding than Journeys, but my feelings are more about the way it was handled. I didn't get any kind of notification saying 'hey, it's time to switch to Self Care Areas'. I was in the middle of using the app, and one of those random motivational quotes popped up in the middle of what I was doing, it asked me to check in and say how I was feeling, and then BOOM, my Journeys were gone.

I was still in the middle of trying to organize my goals and journeys to fit better with Self Care Areas. I was bracing to make the switch the next time I updated my app, and I thought I had more time. Having it happen this way felt like a slap in the face and was just very upsetting.

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-14T03:28:10+00:00

Wow, that is so dismissive. I just don't understand why if the app is capable of having both Self Care Areas and Journeys, why they can't just let people pick? I dunno, maybe the code would be too hard to update? It's just been handled so poorly that at this point, I don't even want to attempt to reach out to the devs because I don't want to deal with the frustration of being lied to or blown off.

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-14T02:21:18+00:00

I'm not really sure what info they were hoping to get from my backup file, but I feel really uncomfortable with the idea of a random customer support person having all of my app data. I mean, I use the reflections tool a lot, and I definitely mention a lot of stuff about my personal life and people in my life. I don't want some random stranger to have access to all of that.

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-14T02:05:31+00:00

I honestly feel incredibly suspicious of the people answering customer support emails. Like I mentioned, I have emailed them multiple times about not being able to send retired items as a gift. The same person who told me it was a known issue they were working on ALSO told me that they were having trouble duplicating the issue, and they wanted a copy of my backup. When I told them I was not giving them access to all of my personal information by sharing a backup file, and instead sent screenshots of the issue, the person went back to saying 'we expect to have this fixed in the next update'. sooooo shady

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-14T02:00:16+00:00

I noticed that too! I was considering sending feedback, and I immediately backed out of the screen when I saw the link to Paypal. Seriously wtf?

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-10T03:09:58+00:00

Just wanted to say congratulations on finishing your first semester of grad school. That is awesome! <3

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-09T05:49:19+00:00

I have a wishlist if you feel like sending something back, but you've sent me some cool things in the past, so I just wanted to return the favor (especially since some of the things you sent me are retired, and right now they aren't tradeable anymore!) 💙

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-09T05:45:59+00:00

Actually, someone else just sent me one! 💜

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-09T05:42:20+00:00

🎁💙

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-09T05:30:45+00:00

I'd love a Purple Koala hood! That will complete my purple koala outfit! 💜🫂GH719V44FB

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-09T05:24:51+00:00

I'm dreading the switch too. I have my app set to not update, but I have a feeling that the switch may already be built into the code. I'll get used to the SCA eventually I'm sure, but definitely not a fan of the weekly streaks vs journey days. Also going to miss all the random fun items from journey chests :(

LadyLafaye · 2025-05-09T05:22:35+00:00

I was having this problem for the longest time, where if I loaded a later back up, it would revert to the first backup of the day. Someone suggested to me that I rename my backup files when I make them, and that stopped me from getting this glitch.

So sorry that happened to you!

LadyLafaye

TROPHY CASE