I am very happy to see a new version of DT4 to go, which seems to have ushered in quite a few new features!
However, it seems that downloading files that are not already local/downloaded (by default local are e.g. the global inbox’s files) virtually takes ages and definitely much much longer than on the previous version (DT3 to go).
It seems to me that DT4 to go syncs the databases all the time (if I bring up the activity window, I see a synchronization of a DB going on, even though all DBs have been synced recently) while not prioritizing the current user request to download a file for viewing. The latter request feels like it is served only after the housekeeping syncs are completed. So, I’m waiting several minutes until I can view and read a requested file (even if the requested file’a size is <1MB)
I’m running on several devices, top one is a iPhone 17 Pro Max, with the same problems everywhere. I have ca. 10 databases, all encrypted-synced to Dropbox, with a total of at least 50GB.
In order to mitigate a problem, I have now switched off automatic sync and back to manual sync. That definitely seems to help. However, the auto sync is really appealing to me because it also seems more robust and also takes place in the background (does it?) which is a real improvement over the previous version, in particular in order to keep several devices up-to-date independently.
According to my experience, in version 3, it always had to housekeeping before being able to sync whatever I wanted to have available on demand. However, I have noticed the opposite with version 4. While with version 3 I often had to wait for it to sync before starting to work, in version 4 almost everything is already synchronized when I open the application. This could be due to the new background mode in version 26.2 or an improvement in Devonthink’s push notifications. Do you have background tasks enabled and allowed Devonthink To Go (DTTG) to use them?
I think the need to “clean up” before having everything available is because if a file is modified elsewhere and you open it, you might encounter a conflict and create a duplicate.
In any case, even if you opt for on-demand download, you can long-press a folder and choose the download option. This will download all the files in that folder, and you will be able to access them immediately, as long as you haven’t modified them elsewhere, without waiting for everything to sync.
In my case, I currently don’t have this problem because I have on-demand sync disabled and I have everything stored locally. This allows me to access my files from third-party apps via the Files app.
sadly, this is my experience as well on iCloud (CloudKit). Even the small (as in “few KBs” small) text files are taking a very long time to download and open…
That does not happens in DTTG. Files must be downloaded. Not downloaded you will see them as “grayed” and could do nothing with them, and at the moment you open DTTG for sync, it should start. But you must manually open DTTG to sync, even when you use the share sheet from other app to put things into DTTG. You can put files direct into the DTTG file system as well via Files or compatible Apps.
Another thing is you have iCloud as sync database, but WebDAV is immediate, and I think Drobox is as well.
We have discussed and documented syncing in depth, including things you need to consider when choosing a sync method. We do not control how quickly or slowly syncs happen, especially when using remote sync options like CloudKit or Dropbox. There is no direct straight pipe from those servers into your devices. It is no different than receiving a parcel from a shipping company across town. There are streets to navigate, traffic lights to obey, traffic congestion to contend with, accidents to be detoured around, etc.
Of course you don’t control the connection to server, and there may always be hiccups in the data transfer to, say, Dropbox — but imho it must also be something different in the way DTTG4 handles the download/sync priorities in comparison with DTTG3, as DTTG3 has always been much more responsive in opening files (from the same server) that had not been downloaded so far.
I was able to reproduce my original problem time after time. However, I now also looked more closely at the sync activity of the databases:
Turns out that downloading a specific file F in Database D to DTTG4 takes so long because another sync process of, say, database E was still going on. The waiting time for file F (in database D) to become available decreased sharply when I cancelled this other ongoing sync of database E.
My conclusion/hypothesis is:
The problem “waiting time too long for a file to be available offline” comes from other databases’ sync processes going on in the background.
Only after these are finished the requested file will be processed, i.e. then it’s the file and the file’s database’s turn to get synced
It probably gets worse with the number of databases you have synced, because then there can be more regular other syncs pending . (I have roughly 10 databases…)
Cancelling the other ongoing syncs helps tremendously to “force” DTTG4 to now turn to the requested file.
Therefore, my proposed solution would be: DTTG4 should always prioritize a file currently requested by the user (and its database) for synchronization, either cancelling or better holding currently ongoing syncs of other databases.