We have not released a full desktop port of Strip, but we’re considering it, for Mac OS X and Windows.

We have released a free desktop utility called Strip Sync to provide reliable backup and multi-device replication (and import and export).

The version number of Strip is displayed at the top of the Settings screen. To get there:

1. Launch Strip (or Strip Lite) on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
2. Login to Strip with your access password.
3. Click the Settings icon (the gear) at the bottom-right corner of the screen, in the tab bar.

Strip is a very flexible application, allowing you to store in it any data you care to type out. When you add a new Field to an Entry you will be prompted to choose a label, dictating what type of data you are entering (password, numeric, phone number, etc). If you don’t see an appropriate label for your field, you can add a new one and set the type to any of the following:

• Text Field
• Password with generator
• PIN with generator
• Multi Line Note
• URL/Website
• Numeric Field
• Email Address
• Telephone Number
• Date

These field types are provided for your convenience, and to offer you editing controls optimized for the mobile device. The generators go one step further by allowing you to generate random passwords (or numeric sequences). Email addresses can be launched in Mail, URLs can be launched by the registered application or Safari, Telephone Numbers can be launched in Phone.

We are not going to charge for bug fixes and minor product updates. If we do end up implementing a major change or enhancement to Strip, we may opt to charge for the upgrade.

Unlike Strip, Strip Lite is currently limited to storing up to 10 entries in the encrypted database. If you decide to upgrade to Strip and wish to retain the records you entered, there is a way to easily copy your data from Strip Lite to Strip.

For those who stored important data in Strip Lite, and now wish to upgrade to Strip, there’s an upgrade path available.

If you’re viewing this on an iPhone OS device, you may wish to view this tutorial formatted for a smaller screen, that will take you through the steps. Otherwise, read on:

1. First, purchase Strip from the App Store.
2. When the download is complete, ensure it is installed on your iPhone or iPod Touch by syncing with iTunes.
3. Launch Strip Lite on your device and enter your password.
4. Tap the Settings gear on the bottom-right corner of the screen.
5. Tap Export Data to Strip.
6. Strip will present an alert asking if you wish to import the data from Strip Lite. Tap Yes to accept.
7. Use your Strip Lite password to log into Strip.

iTunes automatically backs up data on your iPhone or iPod Touch every time you sync your device. You can read more about this process on Apple’s website. If you have lost your data on your phone and need to restore from back up, do not connect your iphone to your computer just yet! If you do, the next sync will wipe out your backup.

Follow these steps:

1. On the computer you use to sync your device, go to: iTunes → Preferences → Devices, Check “Disable automatic syncing for all iPhones and iPods.”
2. Now connect your device to your computer and it should show up in the iTunes sidebar.
3. Right-click on your device and select “Restore from backup.”

Strip is automatically backed up by iTunes. There is some detailed information available from Apple about iPhone backup, but the summary is that both the software program and the encrypted database are backed up during each iPhone sync.

The only important thing to remember is that if you somehow lose data and need to restore your iPhone, you should disable automatic sync right before you plug it in to your desktop. We encourage you to have a look at our step-by-step instructions for the restore process.

As of this writing (Dec 22, 2009), heavy development is underway on companion software for Windows and Mac OS X to provide explicit backup and sync on demand. Updates on our development activities are posted to our blog.

Update, March 31, 2010: We are currently beta testing Strip Sync, our new desktop companion utility, that provides independent sync and back up for Strip.

In Strip (and Strip Lite), all data that you enter is encrypted. Every category name, every label, every note, every pin number, which helps to prevent “ghosting” of the encrypted data. Strip uses SQLCipher, a fully-encrypted and open source embedded database, to keep your data safe. SQLCipher uses the world-class, peer-reviewed OpenSSL library.

There’s no such thing as total security, but you can get really, really close. A strong password goes a long way, but we took it a step further. Zetetic’s open source SQLCipher project, which provides secure data storage for Strip, has been enhanced to use PBKDF2 with a per-database salt to make it even more resistant to brute force and dictionary attacks.

Yes, they sure are!

Strip uses page-level encryption to ensure that your entire database is always stored securely. This database cannot be unlocked without the key — the password you use every time to run Strip. When iTunes backs up the Strip application, it simply copies the application and the supporting database file, which remains encrypted.

You can learn more about iTunes backups on Apple’s website, and we’ve also got some information here on using these backups to recover from data loss.

Strip uses our own SQLCipher library, an extension of SQLite that provides transparent, 256-bit AES encryption of database files, along with the PBKDF2 key-strengthening technique. Pages are encrypted before being written to disk and are decrypted when read back. Encryption is provided by the OpenSSL crypto library.

The source code to SQLCipher is freely available for peer-review and open-source development.

If you forget your password, we cannot help you recover your database. It’s important to set a password that’s strong (at least 8 characters), but also one that you can remember.

Yes! As soon as the application becomes inactive for any reason, including when the iPhone 4 puts an app to sleep in the background, the database is locked.

As noted elsewhere, Strip locks the database as soon as the application becomes inactive to protect your data, as mobile devices are easily accessed and/or lost.

We’ve received a few requests to implement a switch allowing users to keep the database unlocked while long-running tasked are performed, or while the app is put in the background on the iPhone 4. We still think it’s inherently insecure, but are considering this feature for users who are willing to take their chances.

Strip allows you to delete Categories and Entries using the swipe-to-delete paradigm common to many iPhone apps.

N.B. When you delete an Entry, all Fields below it are removed from your database. Similarly when you delete a Category, all Entries below it are removed, and so on.

To delete a Category:

1. Select the Categories tab.
2. Swipe your finger across the Category you wish to delete.
3. Tap the red Delete button that appears.

To delete an Entry:

1. Open the Category that contains the Entry you wish to delete.
2. Swipe your finger across the Entry you wish to delete.
3. Tap the red Delete button that appears.

Or:

1. Open up the the Entry you wish to delete.
2. Tap the Edit button.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the view and tap the Delete Entry button.

Strip will automatically launch the following field types for you:

• Email addresses (launches Mail)
• Phone numbers (launches Phone)
• URL addresses (launches Safari or the registered app for the protocol)

What this means is that when you are viewing an entry with an e-mail address or a phone number, you can tap the row with the number or address and you will be prompted to leave Strip and launch the other app.

If you’d like to launch a custom application that supports a particular URL protocol (e.g. launching TouchTerm for SSH connections), do the following:

1. Tap the Edit button on an Entry
2. Tap the “Add new field” label at the bottom of the fields table
3. Select URL/Website
4. Enter the URL; for TouchTerm it could look like ssh://user:password@example.com:31337

The Search tab provides a text field at the top of the screen. When you enter some text and tap the Search button on the keyboard, Strip searches for all names and values that match what you’ve entered with a sub-string query (e.g. '.*query.*').

For example, if you have an Entry titled “Wall Safe” with a numeric PIN field and another Entry titled “Bank Account” that has a note with the text “Safety deposit info…”, searching for the text ‘safe’ will return both entries.

Strip Sync acts as a complete, local replica of your Strip database. Every time you sync with Strip Sync, it becomes an exact mirror of the data you have in Strip on your mobile device. In addition, Strip Sync saves a back up of its current state right before each sync, so that you have a previous copy available.

On the Backups tab in Strip Sync, you can see all back ups taken so far, by Strip Sync or by you. Simply press the “Backup Now” button to make another backup of the current database, and use “Revert to Selected” to revert to any previous backup.

In Strip Sync for Mac OS X, simply select File → Export from the menu bar, or hold down Shift + Command + E and specify where you want the export file saved. This will export your entire database to CSV format.

Note: This data, once exported, will be stored in clear text, with no encryption protecting it. We suggest printing a hard copy of this data from a spreadsheet program for safe offline storage, and deleting the file itself from your computer.

Strip Sync supports importing data from CSV format. The format of your CSV file must conform to our specifications, but it’s pretty simple.

If you exported data from STRIP for Palm OS using our Palm Strip Export Utility, you should be able to import that CSV file directly into Strip Sync.

To import data from a CSV file in Strip Sync for Mac OS X, select File → Import from the menu bar (or press Command + O), and select the file containing the CSV data.

Strip Sync needs to be running and unlocked on the desktop to provide sync service to Strip. Also, both your mobile device and the computer running Strip Sync must be on the same wireless network for you to browse and find your computer*.

On your mobile device, run Strip and log in. Select the Sync tab at the bottom of the screen.

Choose your computer and make sure that Sync with Desktop is the selected option, as Overwrite Desktop and Restore from Desktop can be destructive if used unintentionally.

When ready, simply press ‘Start Sync’ and your database will be replicated.

*Note: You can specify a hostname or IP address in Strip to sync with any computer on the Internet running Strip Sync as long as you have an Internet connection available on your mobile device.

Strip Sync support Mac OS X 10.5+ and Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, and 7 (latest .NET runtime required). A Linux version is not available at this time and we have no current plans for such an implementation.

They sure are! Each backup is simply an older copy of your encrypted database, still encrypted. You can verify this yourself by attempting to open them with SQLite or SQLCipher on the command line.

Yes! We perform HMAC authentication while negotiating the connection between Strip and Strip Sync before running any sync operation to verify that the instance of Strip Sync you are connecting to is your own. We’ve also taken steps in our HMAC implementation to guard against timing attacks.

Yes, and no. The raw data communication between Strip and Strip Sync occurs over your local WiFi network with whatever encryption is in place for wireless communication. The connection between the two programs is just a simple TCP/IP connection.

No sensitive data is transmitted un-encrypted during sync, but data like operation codes are passed clear-text. Once the two programs have negotiated the sync protocol, all data passed between them is still fully encrypted.

Strip Sync provides sync service to Strip over your computer’s network connection, it does not use the dock cable or iTunes. If your computer is connected to a local WiFi network, and your iPhone (or iPad, etc) is connected to the same WiFi network, you should be able find your computer from Strip’s sync tab. Sync is initiated by Strip; simply sign in on your device and select the sync tab:

Here, tap the "Choose a Computer" button and you'll see a list of machines on your local WiFi network running Strip Sync:

If no computers are shown, check that your device has WiFi enabled in the Settings application, and that Strip Sync is running on your computer. If your computer still doesn't show up, your desktop computer may not be connected directly to the WiFi network that your device is running on (this is a common problem).

Another common problem with some home and office wireless networks is that desktop computers are often connected to separate networks, preventing the advertisement of the sync service to the wireless network. In this case your options are to change your network configuration, or to specify the hostname or IP address of your computer (this too may require you to do some network configuration). We've got some notes on this over here.

Are you seeing something like this, after waiting a really long time for the sync operation to complete?

This error is usually caused by a firewall running on your computer. If you have a firewall enabled, be sure to either make an exception for the Strip Sync application (Strip Sync for Mac OS X and Windows is a digitally signed and “trusted” application), or make an explicit exception for connections on port 57419.

We are aware that such a long time-out is not appropriate and will be cutting it much shorter in a future update to Strip.

Strip Sync is easiest to use over a local WiFi network, but for some folks this isn't an option. Strip has the ability to connect to any computer on the Internet running Strip Sync as long as that computer is reachable over the network. First, bring up the Sync tab in Strip:

Tap the "Choose a Computer" button to bring up the network browser:

Tap the Compose button at the top-right of the screen (the pen in a box), and you should see the following screen:

From here, enter the hostname or IP address and tap the Done button, and Strip will be ready to initiate sync:

Properly configuring your home or office network to allow incoming network connections from Strip to your computer over the Internet is out of the scope of this document, and can be challenging for those without a background in network technologies. If you have a network administrator or local IT support staff, you are advised to ask them for help if you run into issues.

If you’re on your own with this (at work or at home), here are some common problems you might face:

• If your computer is running a firewall, you must enable connections on port 57419.
• If your computer is behind a home router (Belkin, Linksys, etc), it likely also runs a firewall, with NAT port-forwarding. Consult your router’s documentation, and configure it to allow incoming connections on port 57419, and to forward those to your computer.

When Strip connects to Strip Sync to replicate your database, Strip Sync uses HMAC authentication to verify that the request is legitimate. For this to work, you must use the same password for Strip Sync as you do for Strip. When the password don’t match, sync attempts will fail, due to the HMAC mismatch.

Argh! This seems to be an unfortunate side-effect of the upgrade process for third party apps. The good news is that the following work-around has worked for us as well as all of the customers to whom we’ve recommended it so far. If you use Strip Sync (you should!), you can use it to restore your Strip data to the new phone directly, but all your other App Store apps also need their data restored. So, if you want to do it all at once to get back up and running, you’ll want to restore via iTunes:

1. Before connecting your device to your computer, open iTunes, go to Preferences → Devices and make sure that “Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically” is checked off.
2. Connect your new device to your computer
3. When the new iPhone appears in the sidebar, right-click it and select the Restore from Backup option.

We know, it was supposed to copy your app data, but didn’t, what gives?

Opinions differ on the matter, but the work-around described above for users migrating to a new phone applies here as well. Be sure to sync your copy of Strip to Strip Sync regularly so that you have a backup in case the iTunes restore process doesn’t work out.

Currently, Strip only supports the storage of text data as described above. We think being able to store images would be really cool, but we are leery of making Strip everything to everybody. We’re not entirely opposed to the idea, but we haven’t yet become convinced that the feature should be next on our to-do list.

We’re investigating this now, but can’t commit to doing so just yet. If you’ve got to have Strip for Android, make your voice heard, get in touch, it matters!

Right now we have no plans to support WebOS, Blackberry, or Windows Mobile/Phone 7 Whatever It’s Called Now. That doesn’t mean we’re against it, we just don’t have any plans to do so right now. If you would like us to build a version of Strip for your favorite platform, please get in touch and let us know!

No, we think doing so would be a poor design choice. If things don’t look right, let us know, we’d rather just get it right and keep the application nice and simple. Version 1.4+ already contains a ton of readability improvements to the labels used in Strip, and we think that once it’s released you will find Strip even more pleasurable to use.

Updated: Jul 13, 2010.

We published the Palm Strip Export Utility for Windows and Mac OS X in Dec 2009. It allows you to create a CSV file from your old Palm Strip database files (v2.0 databases only).

See this blog post for more instructions on using the exporter utility. Those using older versions of Palm Strip should update to version 2.0 first. This utility is not for iPhone Strip databases.

All versions of Strip from 1.4.7 and on support the use of Strip Sync, which allows you to import records via CSV.

A few folks have asked us about generating random passwords that are a bit easier to remember. We’ve considered adding it to Strip before, but the point of Strip is to allow you to have really strong passwords that you don’t have to remember on your own. Using easy-to-remember passwords tends to make your passwords more susceptible to dictionary attacks. Given the security implications, we’re not convinced that it’s worth investing the development time. As always, we’re open to discussion of the matter.

Updated: Jul 13, 2010

We did: If you are running Strip v1.4.7 or greater, you can use Strip Sync on your desktop to replicate your data across multiple devices running Strip (e.g. an iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch).

Whenever your iPhone or iPod touch becomes inactive, for instance when it goes to sleep, Strip immediately locks the database. When your device becomes active again, if Strip is still running, you will be prompted to login before you can continue to use the program.

This behavior is currently dependent on the iPhone’s sleeping/locking settings. If you’d like to change the idle time, launch the Settings application, tap the General row, tap Auto-Lock, and select the duration you would prefer.