iCloud sync

Collections. keeps your devices in step through your own iCloud account. There is no Collections. server. The catalogue is stored in your private iCloud database and the files in your iCloud Drive, and only devices signed into your Apple Account can see them.

What syncs

• Records: collections, items, makers, valuations, loans, condition reports, provenance, documents' details, storage locations, generated reports, custom types and vocabulary, Smart Searches and the change history.
• Images and documents, as files in iCloud Drive. A device downloads a file the first time it is needed, or all at once with Download Everything.
• Video clips, in their own store.
• Map locations for the Domicile map.
• Marketplace listings and adverts stay on the device.

Some preferences are per device: appearance, sidebar order, insurance policy presets, the menu bar settings.

What you need

• Sign in to iCloud on the device. Settings ▸ Sync reads Signed in to iCloud once the account is seen.
• iCloud Drive on, so images and documents have somewhere to go.
• A connection. Edits made offline are kept on the device and sent when one returns.

Reading the status

The Home hub capsule, the Mac menu bar item and Settings ▸ Sync all show the same state:

Status	Meaning
Up to date, with a time	The last upload and download both succeeded.
Connecting to iCloud…, Pulling latest changes…, Uploading changes…	Work in progress.
No internet connection	Edits are kept here and sent later.
Working offline	You turned on Work Offline.
Not signed in to iCloud	Sign in under System Settings ▸ Apple Account.
Not syncing on this device	The library opened without iCloud. Quit and reopen the app.
Sync error	Something failed. The caption says what.

Settings ▸ Sync also shows Last upload and Last download times and a Recheck button.

Two notices deserve attention when they appear:

• iCloud is refusing this device's uploads, naming a field. The app is newer than the database's layout and the layout must be updated by the developer. Edits are safe on the device and go through on their own once that is done. Nothing you do on the device changes this, so there is no need to reinstall.
• iCloud sync paused or Sync has been running for over five minutes. macOS holds back an app's transfers while the Mac is on a low battery and the app is in the background. Bring Collections. to the front or plug the Mac in.

A new device

1. Install the app and sign in to the same Apple Account.
2. Open the app. The first Pulling latest changes… brings the records. Collections and items appear as they arrive.
3. Images and documents follow. On Wi-Fi with Low Power Mode off the app starts fetching them by itself; Download Everything in Settings ▸ Sync forces it and shows progress. On this device counts what has landed.
4. On iPhone, a background task keeps syncing and fetching while the app is closed, as long as the phone is charging and on a network.

Working offline

Settings ▸ Sync ▸ Work Offline pauses lookups, downloads, cloud backups and live-share transfers for a flight or a metered connection. The catalogue keeps working, and iCloud catches up when you turn it off.

Settings ▸ Sync, control by control

• Status row, Recheck, Work Offline.
• Images & Documents: On this device count, Download Everything, Mirrored locally count. The app keeps a local mirror of files so browsing never waits on iCloud once they have arrived.
• Maintenance: Re-send Collection Memberships, for the rare case where items and collections reached another device but every collection there is empty. It clears the memberships, waits for that to upload, and restores them so they travel again. Keep the app in front until it reports done.
• Diagnostics, collapsed under Details: the Apple Account state; each store's state of Syncing, Local only or Not opened yet, with a reason if it failed; last download, upload and error; the CloudKit environment and containers; and Records on This Device, a count per record type. Compare that list with another device's to see what has and has not arrived. Copy Sync Diagnostics copies the whole page as text to send when asking for help.

Environments

The Diagnostics group shows an Environment of Production or Development. Every device must show the same one. A build run from Xcode uses Development; a TestFlight or App Store build uses Production, and the two never share data.