When are we going to get Scrivener for the Car?
I can see they hired Terry Gilliam to decorate the surveillance package.
Oh dear … that makes the wish I was waiting to post sometime even less likely. I was hoping, after launch, to suggest including Cubby on the sync list. Why? Because Dropbox is blocked in China, and although I’m not in China, Shirley, my collaborator is, so even though she’s now the proud owner of an IPad Air 2, she’s not going to be able to use Scrivener on it!
Ah well, maybe one day?
Mr X
Well, the idea is to add other sync options after we have everything working with Dropbox - post-1.0, and a good while after 1.0, too, once we know the methods we are using for syncing are solid. (The sync code has two components, the Dropbox-specific code and separate, generalised code that handles all of the merging and exchanging of files between the desktop and mobile versions, which will be the same for all sync solutions.) It’s good to know that Dropbox is blocked in China, though (well, not good that it is blocked, of course, but good to know that this is an issue Chinese users will have).
Can I just check, just so that I know to keep being enthusiastic about this…
Is the plan that the sync will work between the iOS version and the Windows version also? Not just the OSX version?
It doesn’t matter to me that it uses Dropbox, that’s what I use to sync between PCs. It matters to me that what I write on my iPad will be synced, rather than there will be some convoluted method of getting the info to your project 
Just checking.
Yes, it will sync with Windows too. The sync code is already in the Mac version (we’re testing it there first), but the Windows developer is soon implementing it in Windows, too. When the iOS version is released, there will also be updates to the Mac and Windows versions that provide the sync features.
In addition to sync, we’ll be supporting simple file access as well, so you will be able to just drop projects onto the device, work on them immediately (no import), and copy them back to the computer when you’re ready.
Yay! Looking good!
I thought you’d like to know about the Dropbox problem in China … mind you, they blocked it about 5 years ago and I had to move to SpiderOak, but they unblocked it again a year or so later. It was blocked last year … maybe they’ll unblock it for the Year of the Sheep/Goat/Ram (Take your pick … 羊 means all of those!) but who knows.
On a related note, I hope the latest update of Dropbox for iOS, 3.7*, will make your lives easier rather than more difficult … and not make a chunk of your and Tammy’s work redundant!
喜羊羊快乐: “Happy Year of the Sheep” to y’all!
Mr X
- “New Action Extension for iOS 8: save files straight to Dropbox from your favourite apps.”
Delighted goat goat happy?
Google translate might have a way to go.
I don’t think even my Chinese friends know how to translate 喜羊羊 … they just wish me a “Happy Year of the Xi Sheep”!
Mr X
I love reading this thread. It always has me bouncing in my seat in anticipation.
I know it’ll be a ways down the road, but I’d like to add another vote for Cubby synchronization. At the moment, that’s how I sync my writing between my desktop and laptop (and I end up reading files from their on my iPad). I use Dropbox as well pretty regularly, and I’d probably use it again for my writing, but with as many shared folders and files I have on Dropbox, I keep feeling as though I’m going to run out of room (although I haven’t yet), and Cubby started me off with more free space, originally.
Will the iOS version have the ability to compile?
I like to compile to .docx after each session in Scrivener, and with Dropbox’s connection to Word for iPad, I can see this being pretty useful for those (like me) who like to proofread in a different app/view.
It will have very, very basic Compile - as in, no font overrides, just the ability to output the documents in your Draft all into one document. It will support RTF and TXT only, though, so you won’t be able to output its compiled documents to Word for iPad.
Another call for long-term Cubby support. Since my coding days have been left well behind me*, I have absolutely no idea how feasible this is, but am buoyed by the knowledge that Cubby uses the WebDAV protocol for syncing with 3rd party products. So far I have found it to work flawlessly.
[size=85]*To give an (only slightly exaggerated) idea how far behind, here is a picture of the machine on which I spent many hours learning the basics (no pun intended) of programming. Which prompts me to drop the hint: Scrivener still won’t run on it… 
[/size]
We’ll definitely have a luck at Cubby post-1.0. The priority is to get Dropbox sync and iTunes copy working for 1.0. As I think I’ve mentioned before, sync is a two-stage process anyway:
-
Sync all necessary files with Dropbox so that they are available on the local device.
-
Merge any changes and deal with conflicts.
Step (1) will require different code for each syncing solution we end up supporting. Step (2) is generic and will be the same for all. So once we have Dropbox syncing working perfectly, to add support for other syncing platforms will just be a matter of writing the platform-specific code for step (1).
Oh, and Scrivener for iOS is now in internal beta-testing, by the way - feature-complete! It will still be a couple of months before the invites go out to beta-testers, though, as we want to really, really thoroughly test this syncing code and all features before risking anyone else’s data.
That is great news that you are in internal beta testing!! It gives me hope. I came onto the forum tonight specifically to check on the iOS app progress. I will be SOOOO happy to have Scrivener on my ipad!! Looking forward to it. 
Oh, please, please, please, PLEASE let me be an iOS beta-tester!
Me too - be glad to be a beta tester. I ran field trials with Bell Canada before retiring so can appreciate the challenges in getting those final glitches out.
I have been a PC Scrivener user for several years, and have an iPad 2 and wireless keyboard - ios8 of course - that I would love to integrate closer with my writing process.
I’m not busy wrapping up a 1000 novel right now, so can be in a test mode and take some risk.
Be glad to help.
Mike
Great news about the feature complete internal beta. Congratulations! Signed up for a forum account just to say that! Oh, and to mention that I too would love to beta test the iOS version. I have both the Win and Mac versions of Scrivener but am writing almost exclusively on my iPad in iA Writer, uploading to Dropbox, pasting into Scrivener on whichever platform I’m sitting in front of at the time, and then tweaking.
So, great news! Thanks.
Glenn