Signing in
Signing in is optional. It buys you free cloud backup and the same book on every device — nothing else changes.
Businessly works completely without an account. Signing in adds two things and takes nothing away:
- a free backup of your book in the cloud, so a lost phone is not a lost khata
- the same book on your other phone and on your PC, kept in step automatically
You can sign in on day one, or after a year of using it offline.
Two ways in
Both are free and both give you the same backup and sync.
| Good for | |
|---|---|
| Sign in with Google | Fastest on Android. One tap, no code to type. |
| Sign in with email | Any address — Outlook, Yahoo, a work address. No Gmail needed. |
Signing in with Google
Before anything happens, Businessly shows a plain-language screen — Cloud backup & sync — explaining what signing in gives you, so you can decide first.
Then Continue with Google, or Not now to stay offline.
Google's account picker opens inside the app. Pick an account and you are done.
Your web browser opens for you to approve, then hands you back to Businessly. This is normal — it is how desktop apps sign in to Google. After the first time it is silent.
Signing in with email
No password to remember — Businessly emails you a code instead.
- Tap Sign in with email and type your address.
- Check your email for the code and type it into Verification code.
- Tap Verify & sign in.
If the mail does not arrive, wait for the countdown and tap Resend code, or Change email if you mistyped. The code is emailed, so it works the same on a PC as on a phone — which makes email the easier option on Windows.
If it asks you to sign in again
A sign-in does not last for ever. When yours runs out, Settings shows Sign in again to sync. Your entries are still on the device and still queued — nothing is lost.
Tap that line and Businessly does the work. It already knows which account you are, so it does not ask again:
- signed in with Google — it goes straight back to Google, no email to type
- signed in by email — your address is already filled in, and you only need the new code
If you already have entries on this device
This is the important one. When you sign in after using Businessly offline, and your account already holds a book too, Businessly shows one screen — You have two books — with one card per book: the shop name, how many customers, how many entries, and the last entry date. Nothing is asked if either side is empty: an empty account simply receives this phone's book, and an empty phone simply receives the account's.
Two choices, in plain words:
- Put them together — recommended. Both books are combined in your account and show on every device. Nothing is deleted.
- Keep them separate — your account's book comes to this phone; this phone's book stays here only, under Your businesses, and is not backed up. Businessly asks you to confirm this once, naming the book that will stay here.
Cancel changes nothing and leaves you signed out.
There is also a related choice when you create a business: Keep on this device only makes that business local-only — it never syncs and never reaches the cloud, even while you are signed in. Useful for an old book you want to keep private. See Multiple businesses.
Signing in on a new phone
Set up a new Android phone using the maker's own restore — the step that copies your apps and accounts across — and Businessly can sign you back in by itself. You do not type anything.
The same thing happens if you uninstall and reinstall Businessly on the same phone — no phone restore and no Google-account step needed at all. Businessly simply signs you back in as whoever was last signed in there.
For either of those to bring a sign-in back, one thing has to be true: you were signed in, not signed out, the last time Businessly ran on that phone. If you had already signed out, or you never signed in, Businessly shows the normal sign-in screen instead.
If you were using Businessly as a guest — never signed in — nothing about this changes. The new phone opens exactly as a fresh install would.
And the same protection still applies: if the new phone already has entries on it and so does your account, Businessly shows You have two books, exactly as above. Signing in by itself never overwrites a book silently.
Signing out
Settings → Sign out. Your data stays on the device. Signing back in brings the cloud copy down again.