Switch Aligner Tracker Apps Without Losing Your Record

Before switching aligner tracker apps, confirm that the new app explicitly supports your old app's records; if it does not, keep the old record accessible and start a separate, dated log. For the basics of what belongs in a personal log, see the clear-aligner tracking guide.

You can change the app you use without making old and new entries look like one continuous record. The decision is whether you need the history inside the new app or can refer to it separately. TrayJourney is a tracking companion, not medical advice. Always follow your provider's plan.

Check compatibility before moving anything

Look for instructions from both apps, for the phone platform and app versions you use. An export button in one app and an import button in another do not establish compatibility.

Confirm these points before attempting a transfer:

• Supported source: Does the destination name your old app or document a format it accepts? A file ending in JSON or CSV alone is not enough.
• Included records: Can it accept individual session times, or only daily totals? Check tray numbers, dates, photos and notes separately.
• Time handling: Does it retain dates and time zones, including sessions crossing midnight? Different day boundaries can produce different totals.
• Existing data: Does importing add entries, skip duplicates or replace everything already in the destination?
• Verification: Can you compare the result with the source while keeping the original intact? If the instructions are unclear, ask the app's support before proceeding.

If a needed answer is missing, treat compatibility as unknown. Keep using the current tracker while you clarify it, or choose the separate-record route below. Do not delete the original to test a transfer.

Backup, restore, archive and import mean different things

A backup is a saved copy intended for recovery. Restore uses a supported copy to recover data, often within the same app. An archive is an old record you retain for reference; it needs to remain readable to be useful. Cross-app import converts or reads records from another app into the destination's own history. An export only gets data out; what another app can do with it is a separate question.

For example, Alinear's support instructions describe a JSON backup restored through its Import Data control, replacing current Alinear data. That documents a restore path within Alinear. It does not establish that another tracker accepts the file.

Cloud sync and keeping history across a refinement phase are also separate from cross-app migration. Tray With Me describes retaining wear history when starting a new phase within that app; that is not documentation of a transfer to another app.

If a supported import exists, check the result

Follow the documented process and preserve the original record and backup. Compare several entries with the source, including a session across midnight if you have one, a tray date and any photos you expected to transfer. Check that estimated entries remain identifiable and that entries you already had in the new app were handled as documented.

A matching daily total alone cannot show that every session or photo moved. If dates shift, records disappear or duplicates appear, stop relying on the imported copy until you have resolved the difference. Keep the source available.

If there is no supported import, keep two dated records

Choose a date and time when you will stop recording in the old app and start in the new one. Record the next actual in-or-out event in the new app, and note any interval for which you have no entry. Do not create hours merely to connect the two histories or preserve a streak.

Keep the old app accessible if that is your only readable record. Where it provides a documented export or backup, retain a copy and check what you can actually open. A backup that only its original app can restore is not a readable archive by itself. Before removing an app or account, check the privacy and storage checklist.

Fictional cutover example

This example illustrates separate records, not a tested transfer between products. “Checked” means compared with the old record; it does not mean independently verified actual wear. All times below use UTC to make the boundary explicit.

The first new entry does not fill the preceding interval with recorded wear. The old photo record also remains dependent on access to the old app. This person has enough information to start a separate session log, but has not finished preserving their photos.

If you discover missing entries, use the missed wear-time log guide to keep remembered, estimated and unknown information distinct. Do not copy a daily total into a session field and call it a tracked session.

When staying with the current tracker is simpler

Stay put if you need one searchable history and the destination cannot accept it, if you cannot preserve records you care about, or if the new app offers no useful improvement to your routine. You can revisit the decision after support confirms compatibility.

If you are still choosing a tool, compare the logging methods and features in the aligner tracker app comparison. Switching the tracker does not change your provider's wear goal or tray schedule.

What this means if you choose TrayJourney

Plan on a separate starting record when moving to TrayJourney. It does not offer cross-app history import, report export or automatic sharing with your provider. Do not plan a move around those capabilities.

TrayJourney uses manual in-and-out logging and allows session corrections. Its default wear goal is 22 hours; adjust it to your provider's instructions. Starting a new log does not establish what happened before you began recording.

Frequently asked questions

Can I move all my aligner history to another app?

Only rely on a transfer when the destination documents support for your source and the records you need. Sessions, totals and photos can have different compatibility limits. Otherwise, keep the old record and begin a separate one.

Does importing prove how long I wore my aligners?

No. Importing moves recorded information. It does not independently verify wear or resolve missing entries. For example, 22 Hours' support page distinguishes estimated past history from tracked records. Check how your destination labels each type.

Should I delete the old tracker after starting the new one?

Keep it until you have checked that the records you need remain accessible elsewhere, or have deliberately chosen not to retain them. Removing an app and deleting its account are different actions; check its documentation before either.