Cloud syncing?

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Jon
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Re: Cloud syncing?

Post by Jon »

thecritic wrote:
But I suppose this would mean changing Bookend's underlying database, wouldn't it? The other problem is that iCloud requires distribution through the Mac App store, right?
Yes to both. CoreData doesn't hold a candle to Valentina (the db engine Bookends uses). And yes, although there are tricks that have been used, as Apple intends it iCloud requires MAS distribution.

Don't worry, we haven't abandoned the thought of cloud distribution. But it probably won't be iCloud (it could conceivably be for BOT). And it's not going to happen overnight.

Jon
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jojoba
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Re: Cloud syncing?

Post by jojoba »

Just adding my vote for the iCloud (or other 'seamless' sync). It's the one thing that at the moment is making me very hesitant to move from Sente to Bookends. I rarely have sync conflicts with Sente (there are six entries in my 'sync conflict' folder right now, after about six months of use, and I often have the mac and iOS versions open simultaneously) - apparently many people also use it to collaborate, meaning that several researchers are using the same library at the same time.
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Re: Cloud syncing?

Post by Jon »

Are you speaking of Bookends or Bookends On Tap? Bookends has a "cloud sync" -- using an intermediary server two or more collaborators (or a group) can keep their databases synced easily. That scenario is discussed in the user guide (Help menu). Bookends On Tap uses Bonjour to sync, which has advantages and disadvantages (which I believe I've discussed before).

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reltm
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Re: Cloud syncing?

Post by reltm »

Hi Jon,

I've been using Bookends for about a year and recently concluded an in-depth comparison of Sente, Papers 2, Zotero, Mendeley, and Bookends. I was struggling to make Bookends fit with my iPad workflow and wanted to see what else is out there. I'm happy to report that I'll be staying with Bookends!

I just wanted to add my support for finding a cloud sync solution for BoT. I bought the BoT app when it came out, synced it once, and have never synced it again. Bonjour doesn't seem to work on my university network where I leave my laptop, and setting up an ad hoc network to sync takes ~5 mins, which means that I hardly ever end up doing it. I love using Dropbox to sync with GoodReader, and if I could keep BoT synced up over Dropbox as well that would be great -- even better if I could use the tagging, rating, and notecard features available in the Mac app. I know BoT was just upgraded, but I feel bad for not even being familiar with its new features because I have an old library synced on there (and now that I'm at home, syncing with the laptop at school isn't even an option via an ad hoc network).

Thanks for all your work on this app. I actually gave colleagues a presentation of Bookends at a workshop on citation managers -- so count me as a happy user.

Ariel
Jon
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Re: Cloud syncing?

Post by Jon »

First, thanks for the kind words about Bookends, I'm happy to hear that we "won" the in-depth comparison. :-)

Second, Serge and I continue to evaluate syncing options. We've pretty happy with the solution we offer (it's fast, configurable, and robust), but that doesn't mean there aren't alternatives that would have their advantages. That's all I can say at the moment, but be aware that we are aware.

Third, please ask your IT people why Bonjour isn't working, and unless there is some policy in place they should enable it for you. You can see if it really is a Bonjour connectivity problem by installing Apple's Remote app and see if it links with iTunes on your Mac.

http://www.apple.com/apps/remote/

Finally, creating and using a local network is pretty easy and fast (takes me about 10 seconds): click on the Airport icon in the menubar, select Create Network..., name it "asdf" (or whatever), and it's done. You should be able to connect to this from your iPad.

Jon
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michaelward
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Re: Cloud syncing?

Post by michaelward »

I was wondering if there is any update on this?

As a working medic I read on iphone, iPad and macs which often aren't on a wifi network, depending on where I am (home, office, operating theatre,...). Sente synching is near magical in that any thing I do on iPad/mac platform is immediately synched to all devices even if they are only on 3G internet access. Papers synch is much kludgier, but papers has the advantage of an iphone app.

For both not having to remember to synch manually/setup ad hoc networks etc is a huge advantage if you read on the go as I do: you can simply find something and start reading immediately.

I'd love to be using Bookends. I've had licenses for many years, and it really is bulletproof, unlike Papers.
But as an itinerant reader the lack of cloud (not necessarily iCloud) synch is holding me back.

M
Jon
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Re: Cloud syncing?

Post by Jon »

BTW, Bookends On Tap works on both an iPhone and an iPad (and iPod Touch).

Be careful what you wish for, there are some real drawbacks to cloud sync, especially if you have a lot of refs/pdfs. Read some of the reviews of other apps that do. The current Bonjour sync is fast and granular, and in the vast majority of cases there's no need to set up any ad hoc networks, it just works. Having said that, we're exploring this. I have nothing to announce now, we'll have to see what performance is like. But be aware we're actually working on an implementation.

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kga1978
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Re: Cloud syncing?

Post by kga1978 »

Time to revive this question - any news on this end? This is still the single most requested features and with most of the competitors going to the cloud (some of them fully - e.g. Paperpile, Mendeley, etc), we really really need to have a way for Bookends to automatically sync to other devices. My workflow involves using multiple different computers, my iPhone, and my iPad and having to try and keep the mobile devices in sync is nearly impossible and extremely inconvenient. If we had syncing via the cloud then everything would stay in sync all the time and I wouldn't have to think about it > Bookends would be the most awesome thing ever.

Jon, do you have any updates on this feature that you could please provide?
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Re: Cloud syncing?

Post by Jon »

I don't talk about features that aren't ready (for many reasons). So the only "update" I can give you is that this is something we're actively working on. If/when this feature is complete I'll be asking for beta testers on this forum. And I'll be happy to share some interesting information of how we got to that point. So stay tuned.

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iandol
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Re: Cloud syncing?

Post by iandol »

This maybe slighly off-topic, but 1Password have just released a new version and they say Apple have changed the requirements for iCloud and now non-app-store apps can now sync using it, as long as the dev has an app-store version too:

https://blog.agilebits.com/2016/01/12/a ... its-wings/

As BE offers an app-store and non-app-store version this appears to apply.
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Re: Cloud syncing?

Post by Jon »

Thanks, we're aware of this.

Jon
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