DEVONthink can automatically sync your database across all your Mac and iOS devices using your iCloud account.
General Overview
- You have a database on your Mac which you wish to also have on your iPad
- On your Mac, you upload that database to a Sync Store
- On your iPad, you connect to that Sync Store and import the database onto your iPad (this needs to be done only once)
- Your Mac and your iPad each have a local copy of the database
- DEVONthink syncs the local databases using it’s Sync Store feature
- Any work you do in DEVONthink on your Mac occurs in the local copy of your database
- You never see or deal directly with DEVONthink’s Sync Store folder
NOTE: Where you create your local copy of DEVONthink’s database on your Mac is important. In MacOS 10.12 Sierra and later, Apple offers Desktop & Document folders sync via iCloud Drive. It is NOT SAFE to store your local DevonThink database in either the Documents or Desktop folders of your Mac’s user account if you have Desktop & Documents folders sync enabled under iCloud Drive. The developers of DevonThink warn of possible corruption and data-loss if you do (link).
Given this warning, create your local database on your Mac in the root of your user folder – that is, alongside the Desktop, Documents, Movies, Pictures and Shared folders. By default, Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive place their own storage folders here, so this is a common practice.
Specific Instructions
- In DEVONthink on your Mac, open Preferences and click the Sync tab
- Select iCloud from the list of options
- Its optional but recommended that you type an encryption key
- Select the sync location
- Enable the database you wish to sync