Sonny Software

We get a lot of questions about this feature, and I want to give some tips about how it is used. As explained in the User Guide (a highly recommended read), Bookends Sync is actually a cloud sync where you provide the "cloud". That is, although not a requirement, it was written with the notion that to sync two or more Macs, a cloud-based database (which is never opened by the user) be the intermediary. This common "remote" library would be on a server that could be reached by the OS X filing system. I've been testing this with iCloud Drive as the server, and it works very well. Bookends Sync is a bit more intrusive than a background sync in that it shows you want it's going to do before it does it, and notifies you afterward that the sync was successful. The advantage, though, is that you can allow or disallow particular operations (e.g. don't let Bookends delete references from one database even though they were deleted from the other). It doesn't handle PDFs (you need Dropbox or equivalent for that), but it gives you speedy and robust granular control over syncing of reference metadata.

I hope that clarifies what Bookends Sync is and how it is intended to be used. If you use iCloud Drive (or any other server of your choice) and have sync set to fire on database open/close your data should be synced on two or more Macs at all times.

Jon
Sonny Software

P.S. I discovered a bug where sync was not occurring on database open even though that option was selected -- it's fixed in the next update. Syncing on database close works, and Sync Now works.

Hi Jon,

You mean "iCloud Drive" for "iCloud Disk," correct?

Is information on Bookends Sync available in the documentation for Bookends on Tap?

Yes, my typo. Its should be iCloud Drive. I'm going to fix the subject and the original post post.

Bookends Sync and sync with Bookends on Tap are completely independent We're also looking at ways to merge them if possible, and that continues. If and when we solve the various problems remains to be seen.

Jon
Sonny Software

Yes, some way to sync between Bookends and Bookends on Tap via the cloud would be great!