Local Sharing
Local Sharing lets you give a specific item - a password, a note, a card - to another LockYit user (a trusted contact) on the same network. Only the single item you choose is sent, re-encrypted just for that person.
Sharing works only when both people's devices are on the same local Wi-Fi / LAN network and both apps are open and unlocked. Nothing is ever sent to the internet or stored on LockYit's servers, and all traffic is end-to-end encrypted (RSA-2048 + AES-256-GCM). Your master password and keys are never transmitted.
Setting up sharing with a trusted contact
You pair with a contact once. After that you can share items with them whenever you're both on the same network and unlocked.
- Make sure both people are on the same Wi-Fi / local network with the LockYit app open and unlocked.
- Both people open the Local Sync screen and turn it on.
- In the Shared With section, tap Setup Sharing and pick the other person's device from the discovered list.
- Confirm with the 6-digit code, the same way as device pairing. The code is only used to verify the connection locally and is never sent over the network.
The other person now appears in Shared With as a contact, with their email, online status, and device code shown so you can tell who's who. (Sharing is for handing items to other people; to keep your own devices in step, use Local Sync.)
Sharing an item
- Open the item (or select several) and choose Share.
- Pick one or more contacts.
- Choose the access level:
- View only - they can view but not change it.
- Edit access - they can make changes too.
- Optionally Set expiry.
- Tap Share.
The item is re-encrypted just for that recipient and copied into their vault, so they can open it even when you're offline.
Sharing multiple items
You don't have to open items one at a time. From the Home screen's items list you can select several items and share them all in one step.
- On the Home screen, enter selection mode (press and hold an item, or use the list's Select action).
- Tap each item you want to share to add a check, or use Select all.
- Choose Share from the action bar.
- Pick one or more contacts, set the access level (View only or Edit access), and optionally Set expiry.
- Tap Share.
Every selected item is re-encrypted for each recipient and copied into their vault. The access level and expiry you choose apply to all the items in that batch. To give different items different settings, share them in separate batches.
Expiry of shared items
When you share an item you can Set expiry so the recipient's access ends automatically on a date you choose. Leaving expiry off keeps the share active until you revoke it.
When a share expires:
- For the recipient, the item is hidden from their vault. The copy already in their vault isn't deleted, but they can no longer see or open it as a share.
- For you (the owner), nothing in your own vault changes - only that person's access ends.
Changing the expiry
Expiry isn't edited in place. To change it, you re-share the item with a new expiry (or with expiry turned off to remove it). Re-sharing with the same contact updates the existing share rather than creating a duplicate.
For a single item:
- Open the item and choose Share.
- Select the same contact (or contacts).
- Set the new expiry date, or turn Set expiry off to make the share permanent.
- Tap Share.
For several items at once:
- On the Home screen, select the items whose expiry you want to change (see Sharing multiple items above).
- Choose Share and pick the same contact(s).
- Set the new expiry, or turn it off.
- Tap Share - the new expiry applies to every item in the batch.
The updated expiry is pushed to the recipient the next time you're both online and unlocked on the same network.
Re-sharing with a later date extends access; re-sharing with expiry off makes it permanent. To end access immediately instead of waiting for an expiry, revoke the share from the item's sharing section.
Keeping shared items up to date
- You edit an item you shared → your changes are pushed to the recipients automatically when you save.
- A recipient edits an item you gave them edit access to → their change is sent back to you (the owner), and you pass it on to anyone else it's shared with - so every copy stays in step.
- You can also push the latest version on demand with the Send the latest version button in the item's sharing section.
- On the Local Sync screen, the Sync button in the Shared With header re-sends all your active shares to everyone, and the Sync icon on a contact's tile syncs just that person. A contact's menu (⋮) adds Full Sync, Repair, and Remove Contact.
Updates flow only while both devices are on the network and unlocked; anything pending is delivered the next time you're both online.
Pausing automatic updates with a contact
Each contact tile in Shared With has an Auto Sync toggle. Turn it off to pause automatic updates with that contact in both directions: your edits won't be pushed to them automatically, and their incoming edits won't change your copy automatically either - they're declined until you sync on purpose. The connection stays; only the automatic flow pauses. You can still bring things up to date any time with the Sync icon or Full Sync on the contact's tile (a manual sync always goes through), and turn Auto Sync back on whenever you like. Withdrawing a share or removing the contact still takes effect regardless of this setting.
Stopping sharing with a contact
You can stop sharing at two levels: pull back individual items, or disconnect the contact entirely.
Stop sharing a specific item
Open the item, go to its sharing section, and revoke the share for that contact. The item is marked revoked on their side and they can no longer see it as a share. The copy already in their vault isn't deleted, but it stops receiving your updates. If the contact is offline, the revoke is delivered the next time you're both online.
Disconnect the contact entirely
To end the whole connection, open the contact's menu (⋮) in the Shared With section and choose Remove Contact. This removes the sharing connection and revokes every item you shared with that person.
For a clean break, the other person should also Remove Contact on their side. Removing a contact doesn't delete anything from your own vault - it only ends what you were sharing with them.
You can stop sharing from any device in your mesh; the change travels over Local Sync and is carried to the contact through your gateway device.
If a share doesn't go through
LockYit tells you exactly what happened instead of a vague error:
- Recipient is offline - they'll get it next time you're both online and unlocked on the same network.
- Device declined it - they need to set up sharing back to your device.
- Keys have changed - the other device reinstalled or reset its sync keys; use Repair from the contact's menu (or run Setup Sharing again) to refresh the connection. LockYit then tidies up the old contact and moves your existing shares onto the new one automatically.
Access rules for received items
An item shared with you belongs to its owner, so:
- View-only items can't be edited.
- Received items can't be duplicated or re-shared with others.
- If the owner revokes a share, it's marked revoked; an expired share is hidden - in both cases the copy already in your vault isn't deleted.
Troubleshooting
If a share isn't reaching someone, check these in order.
Advanced setups (multiple devices & connections)
Most people only need the simple setup above: one of your devices shares with one of another person's devices. If you have several devices, or want finer control, this is how sharing behaves at scale.
The Local Sync screen has two sections, each with its own setup button:
- Pair (My Devices) → connects your own devices to each other.
- Setup Sharing (Shared With) → connects you to another person.
Meshes: groups of your own devices
A mesh is simply a set of your own devices that are paired together with Pair. Devices in a mesh stay identical. Most people have exactly one mesh.
One gateway per person
When you share with someone, there is exactly one connection between the two of you - called the gateway. One of your devices acts as the bridge to one of theirs. The device you ran Setup Sharing on becomes the gateway.
You still see and manage the connection and its shared items from every device in your mesh - the settings travel over Local Sync. Behind the scenes, delivery to the other person always goes through that single gateway device.
Manage the share from any of your devices; only the gateway carries it across to the other person.
On a device that isn't the gateway, the connection appears read-only with a "Connected via <device>" note, but you can still act on the shared items from there.
"Already connected"
If you run Setup Sharing again with someone you're already connected to (for example from a new device that hasn't joined your mesh yet), the app stops you with "already connected." Fix it by pairing your own devices first (My Devices → Pair) - the existing connection then appears automatically on the new device. You never need a second connection to the same person.
Multiple independent meshes on one account
Your devices form one mesh only if you pair them together. You can deliberately keep two or more separate meshes under the same account that do not sync with each other - just don't pair across the groups.
This is an expert choice - for example keeping a "personal" set of devices separate from a "work" set even on the same account. A sharing connection made on one mesh is not visible on the other, and each mesh can have its own gateway to the same person.
Bridging two pairs of meshes between two users
The most advanced case: two users who each run two independent meshes.
- You: Mesh A1 and Mesh A2 (don't sync with each other).
- Colleague: Mesh B1 and Mesh B2 (don't sync with each other).
Because each mesh is independent, you can set up sharing per mesh pair - for example A1↔B1 and A2↔B2 - giving two independent bridges between the same two people.
Two independent bridges between the same two people - one per pair of meshes.
The "one gateway per person" rule applies separately inside each mesh, so this is allowed. The "already connected" guard only triggers for a second connection to the same person within the same mesh.
If you later join two meshes that each connect to the same person, you'd end up with two gateways to that person inside one mesh - which isn't allowed. The app detects this and asks you to keep one connection; the dropped one's shares automatically move onto the one you keep, so nothing is lost.
Moving the gateway to a different device
The gateway is fixed to the specific device you ran Setup Sharing on. It is not moved or reassigned automatically, even if that device goes offline or is removed.
To make a different device the gateway for a connection, do it manually:
- Remove the existing connection to that person (this clears the old gateway).
- On the device you now want to use as the bridge, run Setup Sharing with that person again.
Until you do this, the connection only works while the original gateway device is available.
Privacy & security
- All sharing traffic stays on your local network - nothing is uploaded to the cloud or to LockYit's servers.
- Sharing only happens while both devices are unlocked and on the same network.
- Every transfer is encrypted end-to-end; the other device can only read what was shared with it.
- Sharing a view-only item never exposes your other data - only that single item is sent, re-encrypted for the recipient.
See also: Local Sync to keep your own devices in step.