Your observations stay on your devices unless you choose to share them. Broadcast names and payloads can contain identifying information. Review a report before sending it anywhere.
Save and organize sessions
Completed iPhone checks save locally by default. Change automatic saving of future iPhone checks with Save completed sessions in Spectra Settings. With automatic saving off, choose Save Session on completed results to keep just that check without changing your preference. Deliberate file imports, rechecks, and Watch processing save independently of this preference. An Area Sweep that reaches its time limit finishes through the normal workflow and respects this saving preference. Confirm important checks were saved before closing the app; an unfinished check is not a continuously autosaved draft.
Sessions groups captures by their original day. Tap a date to expand or collapse it. Open a session and tap the pencil beside its heading to rename it. The list-row menu also offers Rename session. Rechecks stay grouped with the original capture, rather than moving it to the recheck date.
Find a saved session
Use Search sessions at the bottom of the screen to search saved session names, notes, check types, and recorded source information. The filter menu narrows by type, collector, or Imported status. This searches the library’s metadata, not device names or raw evidence inside each capture. A matching recheck may show its original as Original capture · Context; that context is not another match and cannot be selected. Clear search and filters to return to the full library. Search Guide in the Guide tab searches help instead.
Read a session at a glance
Each row shows its name, scan type, original capture time and duration, collector, recorded measurement scope, and a results summary. The small icon beside the scan type is a visual cue; the text identifies the check. Partial coverage or Some measurements unavailable means the listed measurements did not all complete. Older sessions may show Source not recorded, Measurements not recorded, or Source and measurements not recorded. Spectra does not guess. If the list says Collection details in saved results, open the session to review its original metadata. Watch rows retain Experimental and any early or interrupted completion status. Rechecks retain the original capture time and duration and show a separate evaluation date and time. A blue dot beside the name means a recheck is available, not that the session is unread.
The Watch-with-radio-waves icon and Apple Watch · Bluetooth-only sweep label identify the collector, not a Watches & Wearables specialist check or a live connection. This origin remains after renaming and rechecking.
Each saved-session row includes Estimated size to help you compare larger saved sessions before deleting. It includes recorded capture data and that session’s saved list information, such as its name and notes. KiB and MiB use binary units. Shared history information, protected recovery copies, received Watch captures and exports are separate, so row estimates do not add up to the history total and deletion may free a different amount. A recheck or imported copy has its own size. An unavailable estimate is not shown; it does not mean the session is empty.
Open Session Storage → Largest Sessions to compare each saved copy in a largest-first list, including rechecks and imports. Unavailable sizes appear after known estimates; they are not treated as empty sessions. Open a row to review it, or swipe left and confirm deletion. Deletion in Largest Sessions cannot be undone and removes only the chosen session, not other saved versions. An estimate is not a promise of the space deletion will reclaim.
Review the original capture
Open a session to see its original capture time, duration, collector, and recorded measurements. General radio results also show retained signal identities and how many have type undetermined. These totals do not change when you filter results; signal identities are not a count of physical devices. Coverage warnings remain visible. Scan breakdown contains app and recognition revisions, more detailed counts, and Session ID. Rechecks also show Original capture ID. Copy ID copies only the chosen reference on this iPhone for ten minutes; nothing is sent automatically. These IDs help reference a saved session, not authenticate its evidence. Choose Add notes to record your own context; saved notes are separate from sensor evidence.
Remember where a scan started
Enable Tag location before an individual iPhone scan if you want one location near collection start. It is off for every new scan, even when Location permission was granted earlier. A denied, unavailable, stale, or excessively imprecise fix never prevents scanning. Approximate tags show their estimated accuracy.
Scan start location describes the collecting iPhone, not a detected device or your route. Coordinates and estimated accuracy are available without loading a map or looking up an address. Watch captures remain untagged.
On your first tagged result, choose Enable map previews or Not now. Enabling allows compact Apple Maps previews to load automatically when you view tagged results. Declining is remembered without repeated prompts. Change Automatic map previews in the Session maps section of Spectra Settings at any time. Its marker and shaded area describe the collecting iPhone and its estimated accuracy—not detected devices or a verified room or venue. Spectra does not request your current position. Open in Maps is a separate choice for exploring the saved coordinates in Maps. No preview loads before enabling; opening Maps is always a separate action.
If the preview cannot load, your saved coordinates and findings remain available. Choose Retry map preview when offered. Regions unsupported by the preview, such as locations near the poles, do not offer retry; Open in Maps remains available. Spectra clears its temporary preview when you leave results or switch away from the app; returning can load it again while the preference remains enabled. Disabling automatic previews cancels pending work and clears the image. Reset Spectra clears the choice; deleting sessions does not. Preview images are not saved in sessions or exports. Apple handles map requests under its Maps privacy practices; clearing Spectra’s preview does not erase Apple’s service records or map caches.
Use Session options → Remove location to remove the tag from that saved copy. Independent rechecks and already shared copies are unchanged. If protected recovery copies exist, Erase All Sessions or Reset Spectra clears them.
Recheck with newer recognition
We regularly improve Spectra’s device catalog and detection engine. These improvements are included in App Store updates at no additional charge, with no separate catalog purchase or subscription. Install the latest app update before checking for eligible sessions.
A blue dot marks eligible evidence for newer bundled engine or catalog recognition. Recheck session creates a separate interpretation without changing the original, collecting fresh measurements, or uploading data. It retains the original capture context and any location tag still present on its source. Rechecking can work after you leave, but cannot recover evidence never retained or promise a better match.
Follow up with a fresh signal check
Bluetooth Proximity is different from a recheck: it starts a fresh, unsaved measurement near the iPhone. New iPhone Bluetooth captures can keep a protected, capture-specific reference for use after reopening; their rechecks share it. Older, imported and Watch results may need an explicitly confirmed possible match. A silent or changed identity can remain unavailable. The reference contains no raw framework Bluetooth identifier and is never included in reports, JSON, external finding shares or copies, or Watch transfers. Removing the last non-imported original or recheck copy retires its reference; imported copies cannot keep it. Bounded individual Undo can restore it with the session. Erasing history or resetting clears it.
Understand one finding
Analyze on Device explains a selected summary using Apple Intelligence when available. Explanations are temporary and excluded from exports. Use Another App prepares a ready-to-use analysis prompt followed by one selected finding’s evidence locally. The prompt asks the AI to explain the finding, assess uncertainty, and suggest useful next steps. Technical details are optional; review the privacy notice and Preview prompt and data before continuing.
On that same review screen, choose Share to open Apple’s share sheet, or choose Copy and paste the same prepared text into your preferred AI app. Some share destinations may send it immediately. Available destinations and their handling of the text depend on the receiving app; Spectra cannot guarantee that a particular AI app appears or performs analysis. These actions do not require Apple Intelligence, and selecting a finding does not share it automatically.
Location tags, session notes, other findings, and generated AI text are excluded from these external finding packets. Recorded names and optional technical payloads can still reveal sensitive information; reduced information is not anonymous. Recipients handle shared or pasted text under their own policies. Only Spectra’s dedicated Copy action requests an on-device-only clipboard item with ten-minute expiry; this does not expire shared text or recipient copies. Expiry, session deletion, or Reset Spectra cannot recall information already shared. AI conclusions are hypotheses, not verified detections or proof of recording, intent, distance, or safety.
Export a report
- Open Session options → Export JSON, or use Export results below completed findings.
- Choose one format: Analysis JSON, Technical archive, or Reduced identifying information.
- Location is excluded by default. If a tag exists, deliberately enable Include scan location only when you want to share its coordinates, accuracy, and fix timestamp. This also applies to the reduced format.
- Tap Export JSON. After preparation, choose Save to Files or another destination in Apple’s share sheet.
Analysis JSON includes retained evidence and notes. Technical archive also includes raw retained data and saved graphs. Reduced removes identifying text, raw payloads, and some collection context, but is not anonymous. Generated AI explanations are excluded from every format.
Exports follow the check type, not on-screen filters. General checks include all retained results for their scope. Specialist exports contain only qualifying findings; if none matched, findings are empty while coverage and check metadata remain.
Export all saved sessions
- Tap Storage in Sessions, or open Settings → Privacy & storage → Session storage.
- Choose Export All Sessions. Spectra prepares one ZIP collection with a Technical archive for every session saved when preparation starts.
- Location tags are excluded by default. Enable Include scan locations only if you want to share the saved coordinates, estimated accuracy, and fix timestamps.
- After preparation, choose Save to Files or another destination in Apple’s share sheet. Check that the external file was saved before deliberately deleting local copies.
This is not a full app backup. It excludes settings, generated AI explanations, private Bluetooth follow-up references, unsaved results, and Watch captures not yet added to Sessions. Names, notes, and retained raw payloads can still identify people or devices. Exporting does not delete sessions or free history space. Spectra can import its ZIP directly; do not unzip or repackage it first.
Export only the sessions you choose
In Sessions, optionally search or filter first, then tap Select and choose the saved copies you want. Search and filters stay fixed while selecting. Export shows the selected count and opens Export Selected for privacy review before preparing a ZIP of Technical archives. Only selected sessions are included; choosing an original does not include its rechecks automatically, and original-capture context cannot be selected. Each selected recheck exports independently. Location tags are excluded by default; the same collection privacy limits apply as Export All Sessions. Exporting leaves history unchanged, and the ZIP can be imported directly with Import Sessions.
Import a session or collection
Choose Import Sessions in Sessions and select a file in Files, or open a compatible file with Spectra. Choose one supported Technical archive JSON or a Spectra ZIP collection made with Export All Sessions or Export Selected; no unzipping is needed. Other ZIP files, Analysis JSON, and Reduced identifying information cannot restore sessions. Review the recorded capture time, collector, compatibility, and integrity status for a single archive. For a collection, review how many sessions will be added and how many are already saved, then confirm the import. Cancel leaves history unchanged. Files providers may need a connection to supply the chosen file; validation and saving run on device.
Imported is separate from the original collector and capture date. It identifies a restored historical record, not fresh measurements or an authenticated capture. A matching checksum checks archived bytes, not the author, device identity, or truth of observations. Supported older archives can say Checksum unavailable; a failed checksum is different and blocks import.
Import does not start measurement, analysis, a recheck, or a map. It does not change the source file or restore a private Bluetooth follow-up reference. Opening a file during an active check or another task waits for a safe point to review it; it does not discard the current results. Review names, notes, and any included location as unverified file contents.
A collection imports together
Import adds all eligible sessions together or adds none. Already-saved copies stay unchanged and use no additional slots. A session with the same ID but different saved contents is a conflict, not permission to overwrite it. A damaged or unsupported archive, a conflict, or insufficient history capacity blocks the whole collection. Spectra never silently imports only part of it or deletes another session to make room. Original capture dates, collector details, and recheck relationships are preserved. Import restores recorded results rather than rerunning recognition. An export without location does not remove a location from an already-saved copy.
Storage is protected, but bounded
Sessions shows the saved count and primary history usage. Tap the upper Storage section for details; Import Sessions below is a separate action. You can also choose Session storage under Privacy & storage in Spectra Settings. The primary history file keeps up to 500 sessions within 256 MiB. Originals, rechecks, and imported copies count separately. These are independent limits: free bytes do not provide another session slot, and an available slot does not guarantee a report fits. Saved sessions are not automatically removed to make room.
Export important copies, then delete those you no longer need before retrying. Exporting alone does not free history space. If a completed check could not save, keep its results open to review or export. Manage Sessions lets you make room without discarding that result; use Save Session or Retry Saving when offered afterward and confirm the saved status. A forced close, crash, or shutdown can still lose an unsaved result.
History usage is not an export file’s size or total app disk storage. On this iPhone separately measures local capture files, including protected recovery, pending history files, and received Watch captures; it is not total app storage or free device space. Protected recovery copies also remain until deliberate erasure; Erase All Sessions and Reset Spectra include them. These copies can require additional disk space; they are not an unlimited archive. Local history uses file protection and is marked for exclusion from device backups; Apple controls backup and restore behavior. Export destinations have their own storage and backup policies.
Newer local history formats may not open in older app builds. Return to a compatible build rather than erasing history you still need to resolve a version mismatch.
Read the Spectra privacy policy and full Guide for details. Zoho Desk handles support information you deliberately submit; scan data and location tags are never attached automatically.
Choose the right erase action
In the main Sessions list, swipe right on a session to reveal Rename, or swipe fully to open its name editor. Nothing changes until you save. Swipe left to reveal Delete, or swipe fully to delete that session.
Undo in the main Sessions list restores only the most recently deleted session, including its name, notes, location tag, and retained evidence. It is available for 10 seconds, or 30 seconds when VoiceOver is running at deletion. Another deletion replaces that opportunity. Leaving Sessions, switching away from Spectra, or confirming a bulk erase or reset ends Undo. Spectra removes the saved copy first and holds one temporary recovery copy in memory; there is no Recently Deleted folder. Largest Sessions requires confirmation instead of offering Undo.
- Use Select to delete several sessions with confirmation. Search and filters stay fixed; collapsing a day or recheck group does not deselect its hidden sessions. Delete shows the total selected count.
- Open Storage → Session Storage for Erase All Sessions. It includes all saved sessions, closed groups, recovery copies, and the received Watch capture inbox, regardless of search or filters. It does not erase Watch copies or request a Watch reset.
- Reset Spectra clears local sessions and preferences, returns to Welcome, and requests a reset of the known paired Watch app. Watch reset pending is not confirmed erasure; open Spectra on the paired Watch and check for confirmation.
Delete Selected, Erase All Sessions, and Reset Spectra clear pending Undo and cannot be undone.
System permissions and copies exported, emailed, pasted, or saved elsewhere remain. Deleting an original session does not delete its independent rechecks.
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