Access to Database on MacBook via different iPhones

DEVONthink To Go
1

Dear all,

I use DTPO on the MacBook and retrieve a few documents on the move via DTTG from time to time. The synchronisation is done via my iCloud.

Now I would like to give my wife access to the database as well. Together we use the iCloud storage via family sharing, whereby my wife and I each have different iCloud accounts.

How can my wife also access the data, what do I have to do in her synchronisation settings? Only the password can surely not be enough, otherwise how does her DTTG know in which iCloud the database is available?

Thanks in advance and best regards.

Stephan

2

What if you just leave your current set up alone and instead add a Bonjour connection for use in the house using your local network. Full instructions in Help and the Manual.

3

Bonjour has the disadvantage that files that have not been downloaded are only available on the local network, not mobile.

The entire database is too large to have it permanently available on the mobile phone.

My idea is this: I download the entire database via Bonjour to my wife’s phone and then push this data into her iCloud. Because the database is very large, I delete the files locally on the iPhone so that she could download them again at any time if needed.

This works as far as it goes, but when I make changes to the database on the MacBook, these can also be transferred to my wife’s iPhone via Bonjour, but transferring the changes to my wife’s iCloud then fails because not all the files are available on the iPhone (they were deleted locally) and DTTG comes up with the warning that my idea will end up in a mess.

Stephan

4

You can’t use iCloud as you can’t sync between Apple IDs.

How big is the database?

5

The entire database is too large to have it permanently available on the mobile phone.

In DTTG sync settings on the phone you could use the “On Demand” option instead of “Always” then it would only download files as she needed them.

6

Currently no more than 5 GB. My workaround works like this:

  1. I download the complete database from my iClound via Bonjour to my wife’s iPhone.
  2. On my wife’s iPhone, I synchronise the data with my wife’s iCloud.
  3. To save storage on the phone, I locally delete all files on my wife’s iPhone.

This is not very convenient and it is not possible to transfer only the changes in my database this way. It only seems to work if I delete all old data on the iPhone and my wife’s iCloud beforehand and then start the above processes again. It just takes a long time and only works as long as there is enough local storage available on the iPhone to download all the files locally.

Btw: Is it possible to select all the files in DTTG at the same time (and then delete them locally in one step)?

Thanks.

Stephan

7

Is the 5GB of data actually necessary?
Imagine the database like a purse or wallet; imagine it so full of old items it’s hard to carry let alone find a piece of identification quickly.

Is it possible she would need a much smaller subset of the data for mobile access?
As an example, would she need to be carrying around your tax returns from 1987 through 2017?

There is no Select All button in DEVONthink To Go at this time. However you can make select multiple files and move them to the Trash via the Organize menu in the bottom toolbar.