Step by Step — How One Step Ahead Works

The current application is available for macOS and iOS. At this stage, we support the Apple ecosystem. If you already have a Mac, iPhone, or iPad, download the application from the App Store. It is free of charge, so you can enjoy all the benefits without spending a penny.

Let's Dive Straight In

Once you open the downloaded application, you will see a window with three options to secure — Mnemonic Phrases, Passwords, and Private Keys. Choose what you want to protect (Mnemonic Phrases is the preselected option), and you will find grouped entry fields in the main section of the view.

To keep things simple, we will focus in this article on Mnemonic Phrases. In the description field, enter the wallet name, and underneath your secret recovery words (mnemonic phrase) — a group of 12 or more words that need to be entered in the exact sequence the wallet provided. You can protect up to 4 wallets at once.

Note: We understand how important it is to be vigilant and suspicious when anyone asks for information that protects your assets. That is why you can enter only part of your recovery words and complete them manually after printing. You can also print a blank template by leaving all the fields empty and pressing the print button.

After pressing the Print button, the print panel view will appear. Choose your printer, and your recovery phrase will print into three sheets of paper. In the print panel you have the option to save as PDF, but for security reasons we strongly discourage saving it in any digital format.

Fill in empty fields manually if you decided to print only a portion of the mnemonic phrase. There will be clear guidelines on which words are missing.

What Is on the Prints?

Take a look at any printed sheet. The information there is essential to put things back together. At the top right-hand corner, you will find what type of information the print contains — in this case, Mnemonic Phrase. Next to it, there is the date and time. The date and time work as an identifier: every print should have the same timestamp so you know they belong together.

Across the page you have a description of the service — in this case, wallet. Under the description, you will find a fraction of your entry.

It is easy to notice that each fraction of the entry has leading and trailing arrows that indicate which part of the data is missing. Put the text together like puzzle pieces to construct the complete phrase.

What to Do With the Prints?

Place the prints into three envelopes. Make sure to seal these envelopes — sealing is especially important because it helps you quickly spot if any envelope was compromised.

Distribute the envelopes to three different secured locations. Following these steps is the minimum needed to make your assets well protected.

But What If?

If one of your prints was accidentally lost or compromised by a thief, you are still safe. Anyone who tries to read your recovery keys from only one sheet will fail. The intruder needs at least two prints to compose the full phrase.

With 1 print it is not possible to recreate the complete entry. Although the One Step Ahead approach gives you a comfortable safety net, you should still take precautionary measures in case of incidents. Any time you have lost a print, or you suspect it was compromised, we recommend moving your assets to a new wallet with a new mnemonic phrase, or changing passwords where required — and then using the app again.

The Benefits and the Privacy

Prevention from a single incident can significantly increase the chances of recovering your keys. A single event can be anything from a thief to an unexpected fire, flood, or earthquake.

To build trust and a long relationship with you, we decided that we will not use any internet connection in our application, we will not store or cache data you have entered, and we will never use any tracking third-party libraries. Our application has one job — feed your confidential data directly to the printer.

No internet. No caching. No tracking. Print directly.