New Feature: Google Drive Backup for Your Memories
Google Drive backup in LifeWell means your photos and documents are stored in your own Google Drive, not on ours, in a folder named LifeWell that you can open, move or delete yourself. Only files go there. The captions and dates you write about them stay in your LifeWell record, because the app keeps a reference to each file rather than the file itself. Never a copy. The access it asks Google for reaches only what this app put there, so the rest of your Drive stays invisible to it, and you can withdraw that access from your Google account settings whenever you like.
Announcing Google Drive Backup
We are excited to introduce Google Drive backup for LifeWell's memories feature. Your photos, journal entries, and life moments can now be automatically backed up to your personal Google Drive account.
Why Google Drive?
We chose Google Drive for several reasons:
- Free storage: 15 GB of free storage with every Google account
- Universal access: Access your backed-up memories from any device with a web browser
- Reliability: Google's infrastructure ensures your data is safe with redundant storage
- Privacy: Files are stored in your personal Drive, not shared servers
How It Works
Setting up backup is straightforward:
- Navigate to Settings then Backup in LifeWell
- Connect your Google account by signing in securely
- Upload something. Photos go straight to your Drive from that point on
- That is it. LifeWell creates a folder named LifeWell in your Drive and puts your files there. There is no frequency to choose, because there is no scheduled job — a file goes across when you add it
Security and Privacy
Your Google Drive credentials are never readable by the app in your browser. The code Google returns is exchanged server side, in a Supabase Edge Function, and the durable token comes back sealed with a key that lives in that function's environment rather than in the database.
- Token exchange happens server side, never in the browser
- The scope requested is the narrow one Google calls drive.file, which reaches only the files LifeWell itself created — not the rest of your Drive
- You can revoke access at any time from your Google account settings
What Gets Backed Up
- Photo memories: full-resolution images from your memories
- Files, not text: the words you write stay in your LifeWell account. What goes to Drive are the files themselves
- One folder: everything lands in a single folder named LifeWell, which you own and can move or rename
Restoring From Backup
There is no restore step, because nothing was ever taken away from you. The files sat in your own Drive the whole time and LifeWell held a reference to each one rather than a copy of it.
On a new device, sign in to LifeWell and reconnect the same Google account. Your library points at the same files again. If you would rather go round LifeWell entirely, open the LifeWell folder in Drive and take them.
Available Now
This feature is available on the web and on Android. Update to the latest version to get started.
We believe your memories deserve the best protection. With Google Drive backup, they are safe, accessible, and entirely under your control.
Elsewhere on LifeWell
- Privacy — What LifeWell stores, where it sits, and who can read it back.
- Plans — What the free plan includes, and what each paid one adds.
- Export everything — Your whole record leaves in one file, on any plan, without giving a reason.
What people use it for
Connect the account from the card headed "Where your…
Connect the account from the card headed "Where your files actually live" at `/settings`, under Your data, which also names which Google account the folder belongs to.
Open the LifeWell folder in Drive in a new tab and…
Open the LifeWell folder in Drive in a new tab and reorganise it however you like. Move or delete anything, and LifeWell notices and says so rather than pretending the file is still there.
Add photos up to 25 MB
Add photos up to 25 MB, video up to 500 MB and PDFs up to 25 MB, with each limit stated beside the field before you pick a file.
Disconnect when you want uploads to stop
Disconnect when you want uploads to stop. Nothing is lost. Reconnecting lines the captions and dates back up with the files.
Carry on with everything else while it is not connected
Carry on with everything else while it is not connected. Readings, notes and people work normally; what waits is anything with a file in it.
Questions
Where do my photos and documents live?
In your own Google Drive, inside a folder named LifeWell. It is a folder, in your Drive, with your files in it, and there is nothing clever about it beyond that. You can open it, move it, rename it or delete it without asking the app, and LifeWell keeps a reference to each file rather than a copy of it.
What can LifeWell see in my Drive?
Only what it created. The access it asks Google for is scoped to the files this app put there, so it cannot list, read or touch the rest of your Drive, and that is also why finding the folder by name is safe rather than a guess at somebody's filing. Google asks you first, and the answer is yours to withdraw.
What happens if I move or delete a file in Drive myself?
It stops resolving, and the app says so. A file you moved or deleted is shown as unavailable rather than as a broken image or an error, because pretending the file is still there would be the dishonest option. The caption, the date and the album it belonged to stay in your record.
What happens when I disconnect?
New uploads stop and the access is removed. Your files stay in your Drive and the captions and dates you wrote stay in LifeWell, so reconnecting lines the two back up again. Until you do, everything else in the app works normally, and what waits is anything with a file in it.
What are the size limits?
Photos up to 25 MB, as JPG, PNG, HEIC or WebP. Video up to 500 MB, as MP4 or MOV. Documents up to 25 MB, as PDF. Each limit is stated beside the field before you choose a file, and the number shown is the number enforced, because a field that says 25 MB and accepts 40 is worse than one that says nothing.
Does connecting Drive send my whole record to Google?
No. Only the files go there. Readings, notes, people, dates and captions stay in your LifeWell record, and the sign-in that connects the two is handled server-side with a secret that never reaches the browser. Connecting is about where files live, and nothing else moves because of it.
By The LifeWell team · updated 2025-09-07
Open New Feature: Google Drive Backup for Your Memories on LifeWell