Scrivener MacOS, iOS, Dropbox compatibility

Scrivener
1

Hello, I’m new to this forum so hope my query is appropriate.

I use Scrivener 2 in MacOS and it works fine. My projects are stored on Dropbox and I collaborate with a colleague using Scrivener on Windows, and other than some formatting differences, we seem to be able to read other’s updates fine.

I’m about to go abroad and want to take my iPad and not my MacBook. If I purchase Scrivener for iOS, am I likely to have any problems opening and editing my saved projects from the Dropbox App on the iPad? It’s a first generation iPad pro (the first ones with the Apple Pencil). Thanks in advance.

Philip

2

That should work fine! The iOS version is capable of reading both v2 (and Windows v1) as well as the newer v3 format. You shouldn’t encounter the latter with your workflow. You may still have some of the odd formatting issues, most of these will involve fonts—such can even happen between iOS and Mac, it’s just a side effect of how different operating systems address fonts. We’ve done what we can to make sure the most common fonts work, but it’s a bit a whack-the-mole type solution rather than something that can be fixed universally.

3

Thank you that’s very helpful. Philip

4

As in all such situations, I would recommend testing the approach you plan to use before leaving on your trip.

Katherine

5

Thanks Katherine, yes of course I will download it to the iPad and check it works before going abroad. Indeed if it doesn’t work I’ll either have to sort something or see if I can uninstall and get a refund for the iPad version, and stick to using it on the MacBook. But I don’t foresee any issues…

Best
Philip

6

Something to consider, if you’re mainly going to be migrating to the tablet for a long trip, is to not bother with Dropbox at all. That system is of more use if you’re going to be switching back and forth frequently between devices. For one-way transfers it is a lot more efficient and faster to just plug the tablet into your Mac and use iTunes to copy the projects you want onto the device, using file sharing.

If you’re concerned about staying backed up on the road, you can use the project management screen to export your projects daily to .zip files, and send those to yourself via email (or to your iCloud Drive via Files.app, etc.)

7

You would be amazed how many people don’t do this. Or maybe depressed.

Enjoy your trip!

Katherine

8

Thanks AmberV. I already have Dropbox installed on both my MacBook and iPad, and the project I’ll want to work on is already on Dropbox. In fact I’ve never file shared using iTunes, just Dropbox or iCloud. But as I say I’ll try it before I go - if it’s not going to work I’ll be prepared!

Philip

9

Update: I’ve purchased and installed Scrivener on the iPad. One of my projects worked directly from iCloud but the other told me it was an Invalid project, and I had to import via iTunes instead. I’d not used iTunes for file transfer, but found it much more straightforward than I expected. I’ve had a play around with file locations and it seems that both projects I’m wanting to use are now on Dropbox and syncing nicely between my laptop and iPad. Thanks for all your help!

Philip