How to Backup and Transfer Your Climbing Data

This guide is for climbers who want full control over their climbing history — whether you're switching phones, making regular backups, or just planning ahead.

Your climbing history is yours. ClimbingNote+ stores everything locally on your device — and gives you full control to export, backup, and transfer your data whenever you want.

This guide covers everything you need to know about the import and export features introduced in v2.3.0.

Why Backup Your Climbing Data?

Backup is optional. ClimbingNote+ works fully without it — this is simply about peace of mind.

Protect against device loss

Phones get lost, stolen, or damaged. A regular export means your climbing history survives even if your device doesn't. Unlike cloud-based apps, you control where your backup lives — your computer, cloud storage, or anywhere you choose.

Transfer to a new device

Getting a new phone? Export from your old device, transfer the JSON file, and import on your new one. All your sessions, locations, routes, and tags come with you.

Peace of mind

Even with device backups enabled, having a dedicated export of your climbing data gives you an extra layer of protection. You can verify exactly what's saved and store multiple versions over time.

How to Export Your Data

1Open Settings

Tap the gear icon in the top corner of the home screen to open Settings.

2Find Data Management

Scroll down to the Data section. You'll see two options: Export Data and Import Data.

3Tap Export Data

The app will package all your climbing data into a single JSON file. You'll be prompted to choose where to save it.

4Save the File

Choose a location — your device's file storage, iCloud Drive, Google Drive, or any other destination. The file is named with today's date for easy reference: climbing_note_backup_2025-01-17.json

Tip: Save backups to a cloud folder (iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox) so they're accessible from any device.

What Gets Exported?

The export includes your complete climbing history:

• Locations — All gyms and crags you've saved, including coordinates and addresses
• Routes — Named routes at each location with grades and types
• Sessions — Every climbing activity with timestamps
• Climbs — Individual route attempts with grades, status (sent/attempted), attempt counts, and duration
• Tags — All custom tags you've added to your climbs

The JSON format is human-readable and uses a documented schema, so you can inspect or process your data with external tools if needed.

How to Import Your Data

1Open Settings

Go to Settings → Data → Import Data.

2Select Your Backup File

Browse to the JSON backup file you want to import. The app accepts files exported from ClimbingNote+ v2.3.0 or later.

3Confirm the Import

You'll see a confirmation dialog explaining that data will be merged. Tap Confirm to proceed.

4Review the Results

After import completes, you'll see a summary showing:

• Added — New records that didn't exist before
• Updated — Existing records that were updated with newer data
• Skipped — Records that already existed with the same or newer data

How Import Merging Works

ClimbingNote+ uses smart merging — it doesn't simply overwrite your data. Here's how it handles different scenarios:

New data

Sessions, locations, and routes that don't exist on your device are added directly.

Duplicate data

If a record already exists (matched by ID), the app compares timestamps. The version with the most recent modification time wins. This means:

• If your backup has newer data → it updates your device
• If your device has newer data → the backup version is skipped

Conflicts

In rare cases where core attributes conflict (like a session pointing to different locations), the import skips that record and reports it. Your existing data is preserved.

Safe by design: Import never deletes your existing data. It only adds or updates records.

Common Use Cases

Regular backups

Export weekly or monthly and save to cloud storage. If anything happens to your device, you have a recent copy ready to restore.

Switching phones

1. Export from your old device
2. Transfer the JSON file (AirDrop, email, cloud storage)
3. Install ClimbingNote+ on your new device
4. Import the backup file

Your history doesn't depend on us staying online. As long as you have the file, you have your climbing history.

Syncing between devices

If you climb with both a phone and tablet, you can manually sync by exporting from one and importing to the other. The merge logic ensures no data is lost.

This is not automatic sync. Each device keeps its own data unless you choose to export and import. That's intentional — you stay in control.

Data analysis

Since the export is standard JSON, you can open it with any text editor or process it with scripts. Build your own charts, analyze patterns, or integrate with other tools.

Troubleshooting

"Data version is newer than this app"

This means the backup was created with a newer version of ClimbingNote+. Update your app to the latest version and try again.

"Invalid file format"

The file isn't a valid ClimbingNote+ backup. Make sure you're selecting a JSON file that was exported from the app.

Import shows 0 added, 0 updated

Your device already has all the data from the backup file, with the same or newer timestamps. This is normal if you're importing an older backup.

Best Practices

Your Data, Your Control

ClimbingNote+ keeps your climbing history on your device, not our servers. The import/export feature extends that philosophy — you decide where your backups live and how they're managed.

No accounts. No cloud dependencies. No subscription required to access your own data.

Your climbing history is something you build over years.

We believe you should always be able to carry it with you.

Related Guides

Why Local Data Storage Matters for Climbers →

How to Log Indoor Climbing Sessions →

How to Log Outdoor Climbing Sessions →