❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Here are answers to some common questions about ulives, organized by topic.
💬 Feedback & Contact
Are App Store reviews useful? Do you read them?
Yes — absolutely. App Store reviews are useful and genuinely helpful. We carefully read real feedback and usage experiences and use them as an important input for improvements.
To set expectations clearly:
- App Store review display and notifications can be delayed.
- The App Store review area is not ideal for screenshots, which can make troubleshooting harder for complex issues.
- ulives is currently maintained part-time by one person, so at this stage we still prioritize our main development plan (see the Roadmap).
Because of this, we may not reply to every review instantly. But we do read all feedback and process reviews in batches at a certain cadence. We sincerely apologize in advance for possible delays. As we have more availability in the future, we will improve this process.
If you need help with a specific issue, we strongly recommend contacting us through one of these channels:
- 📋 Feedback Form: Submit feedback
- 📧 Email: fb@ulives.io
We usually handle feedback and emails as quickly as possible.
Where can I check your development plan?
Please refer to our Roadmap, where we continuously update priorities and planned work.
👑 Purchases & Premium Access
How is Premium Access bound?
ulives does not run a server yet — Premium Access is validated by each platform's store:
- App Store purchases: Bound to the Apple ID used at checkout.
- Google Play purchases: Bound to the Google Play account used for payment.
- Other platforms: Same principle — entitlements follow each store's account and purchase record.
Because ulives is built on cross-platform technology, porting and adaptation costs are manageable, and membership is intended to be universal across platforms. We cannot offer automatic cross-platform entitlements yet because server-side account management is not live. We plan to add Google / Apple sign-in and a unified account system later.
If you need cross-platform help during this transition, email us at fb@ulives.io and we'll do our best to assist.
New device or reinstall: Sign in with the same store account used for purchase and tap Restore Purchase in ulives.
Premium purchased but not showing?
In most cases, Premium activates immediately.
ulives is currently a fully offline app. Entitlement checks happen locally between the app and Apple / Google Play — not through our servers. Delays are usually due to App Store or Google Play callback latency. Please avoid paying again while troubleshooting.
Try:
- Wait a bit, then restart the app and check membership status
- Switch networks (cellular / Wi‑Fi)
- Use Restore Purchase on the membership screen
If you changed devices or switched Apple ID / Google Play accounts, confirm the store is signed in with the same account you paid with.
If it still doesn't work, contact us: fb@ulives.io
How long will the "Early Bird Price" last? Will there be discounts?
We are currently in the Early Release Phase. We expect to continue refining the app for a significant period before any price adjustment. The Early Bird pricing is expected to be maintained for approximately another 6 months (from February 2026).
Our Pricing Philosophy:
- Lifetime & Cross-Platform: Our pricing is based on the value of lifetime access, cross-platform support, and development costs.
- No "Backstabbing": We will not offer limited-time discounts, flash sales, or coupons. This ensures that the price you pay today is the best possible price compared to any future point in time. We want to protect the value for our early supporters.
- Future Pricing: After the Early Bird period ends, we will increase the price of the Lifetime Premium Access. We may also introduce subscription options (Weekly, Monthly, Yearly) at that time.
- Important: Early Bird benefits are equivalent to Lifetime Premium Access. Even if subscription models are introduced in the future, your existing benefits will remain completely unaffected.
Note: We will not lower the base price. However, prices in specific regions may automatically fluctuate slightly due to exchange rate changes managed by the App Store.
☁️ Data & Sync
Does ulives support real-time cloud sync across devices?
Currently, ulives uses offline storage with data saved locally on your device. We support manual synchronization of the entire database through iCloud Drive backup/restore, and you can also export/import your data locally.
Why not real-time sync?
- Server-based Limitations: Most apps with real-time sync rely on server infrastructure, which comes with high costs and potential privacy/data loss risks.
- iCloud Sync Protocol Limitations: While iCloud offers sync protocols, our research shows they have limitations including stability issues (with reported data loss cases) and restrictions on data types.
- Stability Focus: We chose a more universal and stable local database approach to ensure data reliability.
- Complex Dependencies vs. Simple Apps: For simple task management, accounting, or note-taking apps, each task, entry, or note is an independent entity. It is easy to implement synchronization based on the last edited record, or directly use iCloud's CloudKit mechanism to store the complete data. However, ulives does not use CloudKit (to avoid the issues with the mechanism itself, and because CloudKit may be limited to the Apple ecosystem). Furthermore, the experience changes and item quantity changes involved have very complex dependencies. This makes it impossible to simply implement a synchronization mechanism across multiple devices, and it is impossible to intelligently resolve various conflicts.
Future Plans
We may evaluate combining iCloud sync protocols with our local database system to achieve near real-time synchronization effects. However, this requires extensive research and technical evaluation, and it's not a high priority in our current development roadmap.
Our early development focus remains on core app functionality and features. Cloud sync improvements will be considered after establishing a solid foundation for the app's primary capabilities.
We will also explore some other feasible solutions in the future, and try to optimize the backup/restore interaction for multi-device use.
What should I do if ulives shows "iCloud unavailable"?
If you're seeing an "iCloud unavailable" message in ulives, this is typically due to iCloud Drive being disabled or ulives not having the proper iCloud permissions.
Quick Solution:
- Enable iCloud Drive in your device settings
- Grant ulives permission to access iCloud
For detailed step-by-step instructions, see our comprehensive iCloud Troubleshooting Guide.
📱 Platforms
Is there an iPad version, desktop app, or web version?
ulives is designed to run on iOS, iPad, and Apple silicon Macs (M-series).
Please note that these platforms currently run as standalone clients with separate local data, and do not support real-time sync with other devices yet. We're evaluating more form factors and data solutions over time.
How is the compatibility on macOS?
ulives can run seamlessly on Apple silicon Macs (M-series chips). We have made several optimizations for the macOS experience:
- Large Screen Optimization: The layout and interface have been adapted to take advantage of larger screens.
- macOS Interaction Adjustments: Some iOS-specific gestures (like swipe menus) cannot be easily operated on macOS, so we have replaced them with right-click menus for a better desktop experience.
Pending Improvements & Known Issues on macOS:
- Display Scaling: Because macOS runs the iOS app with a smaller default scale, you might find the font or layout size a bit small. If needed, you can try using third-party solutions like PixelPerfect to adjust the scaling. We will evaluate whether we can provide built-in optimization support in the future.
- Live Activities: macOS does not seem to support features like Live Activities. Therefore, when using features like the Pomodoro timer, you might lack persistent foreground prompts.
Will ulives Premium work across platforms?
That is the long-term goal. Premium Access is intended to be shared across iOS, Android, and HarmonyOS with unified data and entitlements. Android is now available on Google Play; HarmonyOS is still planned. We do not yet operate a server or account system, so cross-platform entitlements currently rely on each store's in-app purchase validation. Until server-side management ships, cross-platform redemption may require contacting us at fb@ulives.io.
⚖️ Tasks & Penalties
How do penalties work in ulives?
In ulives, penalties are designed to help you build discipline and accountability. Penalties are triggered only when a task is explicitly moved to the "Abandoned" status.
Task advancement modes and penalty triggers
ulives offers two basic task advancement options, and introduced more flexible overdue handling mechanisms in version v1.5.x:
| Advancement Mode | Behavior on Overdue | How to Trigger Penalties |
|---|---|---|
| Manual Mode | Tasks remain in current state | Manually abandon the task |
| Auto Mode | Default: Move to "Pending Confirmation"; can be set to "Auto-Give Up (Auto-Penalty)" mode | Manually confirm abandonment; or automatic (if set to "Auto-Give Up") |
More Flexible Overdue Handling (v1.5.x+)
Starting from version v1.5.x, we introduced more flexible overdue handling options. You can freely configure the behavior when a task becomes overdue:
- Move to Pending Confirmation: Default behavior, requires manual confirmation.
- Give Up (Automatic Penalty): Automatically moves to "Abandoned" status and triggers penalties upon overdue.
- Complete (Automatic Reward): Automatically marks as completed and grants rewards upon overdue.
- Skip: Automatically skips the task, with no reward and no penalty.
Custom penalties and future plans
You can also create your own penalty systems using:
- Negative experience values on items
- Item quantity effects to customize penalties
We're planning to introduce the following features for stricter enforcement:
- Support negative rewards (penalties) directly on tasks and subtasks
🧭 About ulives & LifeUp
Why is ulives Premium Access separate from LifeUp?
- ulives is a spiritual successor, not a port: ulives is a new app inspired by LifeUp, built and optimized from the ground up for iOS — not LifeUp moved to another store.
- Completely re-developed: While sharing the core gamification philosophy, ulives has a new codebase with significant architectural differences from LifeUp.
- Separate team: The LifeUp iOS effort progressed slowly for various reasons; ulives is developed and maintained by an independent team, with its own roadmap and priorities separate from LifeUp on Android.
- Cost and pricing: LifeUp's Android membership is priced lower because we only need to maintain a single Android platform. We also state clearly in membership terms that it applies to Android only, and LifeUp's documentation consistently reflects Android-native development. Reusing that membership model for ulives would not cover cross-platform development and long-term maintenance costs — and the project could not stay sustainable. Both apps offer lifetime membership well below most comparable products, but they are separate purchases.
- Platform ecosystems: The App Store and Google Play are independent ecosystems — payment, accounts, and purchase management do not interoperate.
- Technical constraints: LifeUp (Android) membership has many historical purchase tiers, plus differences between Google Play paid-app purchases and in-app licenses. For Google Play paid-app purchases, we also cannot map entitlements to a specific account. Combined with different development teams and account systems, we have no planned membership migration offers or technical path to provide one.
- Cross-platform roadmap: ulives is currently a fully offline app with no account system; a one-time purchase binds to your Apple ID on Apple platforms (iOS, iPadOS, macOS) or your Google Play account on Android. We plan to support Google / Apple sign-in and similar methods to share entitlements across platforms; details will be announced when ready.
Therefore, ulives Premium Access must be purchased separately through the App Store; importing LifeUp data does not transfer your membership.
For pricing philosophy and details, see ulives vs LifeUp — Comparison.
Why is ulives Premium priced higher than LifeUp?
LifeUp is Android-only; its pricing reflects single-platform scope and paid download on Google Play. ulives is a complete rewrite with cross-platform architecture, extensive testing, native UI per platform, and substantial ongoing development cost.
Premium revenue supports sustainable maintenance and future HarmonyOS releases. ulives pricing balances long-term maintainability with a fair free tier — comparing headline prices alone ignores different technology stacks, team structure, and long-term platform goals.
Both lifetime memberships remain well below most comparable productivity/gamification apps. See Pricing & Business Model for details.
Can I transfer my LifeUp data to ulives?
Since ulives version 1.7.22, ulives supports importing LifeUp backup data (.lfbak files) and will attempt to convert it into ulives-compatible data to continue your experience.
Important notes:
- Potentially lossy conversion: The two apps have functional differences — not all LifeUp data can be perfectly mapped to ulives. Some data may be lost or adapted during conversion.
- LifeUp version requirement: The two apps use completely different data structures. ulives import best-effort supports LifeUp backups from version 1.105.0 and above. If your backup comes from an older LifeUp version, upgrade the data structure in the latest LifeUp first, then import — or contact us at fb@ulives.io.
- One-way only: It is not currently possible to transfer data from ulives back to LifeUp.
- How it works: The import creates a new separate profile in ulives, so your existing ulives data remains untouched.
What are the differences between ulives and LifeUp?
While ulives shares the core gamification philosophy with LifeUp, there are significant architectural and functional differences:
| Aspect | LifeUp | ulives |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Android only | iOS, iPadOS, macOS (Apple Silicon), Android |
| Architecture | Pure Android-native | KMP (Kotlin Multiplatform) + Native UI (SwiftUI) |
| App Size | Very compact (pure Android) | Larger due to cross-platform framework |
| Currency System | Fixed "Coins" system | Flexible: any item can serve as currency (multi-currency) |
| Profiles | Single profile | Multi-Profile system with independent workspaces |
| Task Model | Instance clones per repeat | Task cycles + repeat rules with per-cycle status control |
| Activity Tracking | Spread across modules | Unified Activity Timeline |
| Grouping | Basic lists | Smart grouping (e.g., "All Today's Tasks") |
| API & Automation | Local API via URL Scheme + Content Provider; LifeUp Cloud/Desktop; Tasker integration | Simple Shortcuts integration (item-triggered iOS Shortcuts only) |
| Community Ecosystem | LifeUp Cloud ecosystem | No public API system currently |
For a deeper dive, see our blog post Why ulives: the iOS successor to LifeUp.