Dropbox, syncing & iOS - Confusion

Scrivener
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1

I installed Scrivener on my Mac with my documents synced to iCloud, with my whole documents folder. This was all before I read about using Dropbox to sync to use with iOS.

I recently installed the iOS version on my iPad, but now I am trying to figure out how this is handled. Do people manually move their Scrivener document to Dropbox after they are done?

I read through the manual and read through the forum and I still don’t understand how to make this all work. (I might have missed something, though)

If it matters, I plan to use my iPad when I travel, so I am not switching back and forth all the time.

Can someone give me step-by-step instructions on how to make this work or point me where I can find them? I am really lost with this process.

2

Simplistically, I keep all my projects in the Dropbox folder, e.g. /Dropbox/Scrivener.

Then, the syncing controlled fully by Dropbox, not Scrivener.

The Scrivener Manual describes the details of how to setup your projects in Dropbox for use in macOS and iOS. L&L also provides instructions on their FAQ’s on their website, Dropbox Syncing with iOS / iOS / Knowledge Base - Literature and Latte Support

After reading and following these instructions, do you have other questions?

Backups are of course stored in a different folder–I store in ~/documents/backups/scrivener.

3

Honestly, in that case you might be better served by using one of the other methods described in the manual, in §14.2.1, under subheading, Managing Projects Directly with File Management. It can be as simple as using AirDrop to send the file to your device, and then later on when you return from the trip, back to your Mac from the device.

But you can also even “forget” to do it before you leave, since it sounds like your work is already on iCloud Drive. On the iPad you can use Files.app to find it, long-tap on it to compress it, and then drag and drop the zip file that creates into Scrivener’s own folder in Files.app, tap it unzip—and there you go. You can regularly back up your project while travelling, using the same method in reverse (which is of course also how you can get it back to your Mac).

So USB cables, AirDrop, Finder, Files.app, whatever cloud service you prefer… there are lots of options that are fine for those that only need to do this a few times, or even several times a year (and hey, I’m one that uses those options all of the time anyway, as I don’t like Dropbox).

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6

I really like this option. It might work better for me because I don’t really want to have to use Dropbox and I am not going back and forth all the time. Thanks for the suggestion.

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7

Thanks. These are a bit more streamlined than the pdf manual. Thanks for pointing out this page.

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8

I think you will find using DropBox pretty much trouble free and automatic. At least it is for me. No faffing.

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9

Do you think there will be an update of the Scrivener mobile OS apps? They’re a little behind when it comes to syncing etc. Perhaps, at the most basic level, expanding the file syncing beyond just Dropbox to OneDrive, iCloud, google drive etc?

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I don’t trust the other cloud file storage options. iCloud has mangled too many Obsidian note files when syncing to/from the cloud so I can use my iPad/iPhone. Not sure that the alternatives to Dropbox are any better indeed might be worse. It is weird that Apple having defined the package format Scrivener saves to then messes it up.

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