⌠doesnât that mean that merely syncing them to be used in DEVONthink To Go will be enough for the rest?
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They are already syncing from the desktop. Theyâre just not functional in DEVONthink To Go.
Two things:
- People will surely expect to be able to create and modify smart rules in DEVONthink To Go. We have to think ahead regarding this. And it leads toâŚ
- What about the iOS-only customers, of which we have plenty nowadays ? Are they out of luck since they have no Macs to create and sync smart groups from?
Neither of those is a reason to delay in implementing smart rules in the very near future if the capability is basically there already.
As for those who âexpectâ to create and modify rules in DTTG, surely they would be happier being able to create them in DT3 (for use in DTTG) than not at all.
As for iOS-only customers, it would surely not be the first iOS app to have some features only available on the desktop version.
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Yes they are both reasons for a delay. Being in the Mac+iOS camp doesnât mean we can just shrug at the iOS-only crowd. We didnât implement Shortcut actions just to seem cool. We did it because iOS users have no real means of automating like macOS users.
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No one said the capability is basically there. Perhaps implementing simple rules like a name search, but nothing has been said about multiple criteria. And what about compound smart groups?
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We have plenty of things on our list of to doâs.
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Although Iâm a mac+iOS user, I agree that type of inclusive thinking is a better approach I didnât think through myself. Weâre in this together and I wouldnât like to see the DT staff answering questions from the iOS camp about a preliminary version of smart groups they donât have, by telling them theyâll âjustâ have to buy a mac and a DT license.
And to be honest itâs fairly easy to create a smart rule that searches for and creates replicates in a regular group that is synced. That could more or less mimic the syncing of smart groups, although it requires some work and doesnât remove the record if it no longer matches the rule.
This is offtopic, but IMO it would hugely improve the already limited automation of sharing from DT to Shortcuts, if the UUID accompanies a document like it did in DTTG2 though.
I understood earlier it was deliberately removed in DTTG3 as some apps didnât parse the UUID correctly, but that could be handled with Shortcuts if the shortcut is setup like a âfilterâ to strip the UUID and then pass the content to the app that didnât parse the UUID correctly.
That way the automation with Shortcuts can become bidirectional, which would allow for renaming files for example or sharing the URL-scheme with the UUID to other apps as a reference to the record from that app.
Thanks for the comments.
I am a diehard Mac guy but we have a growing contingent of iOS-only users and we certainly have to work within the requirements of their environments too.
Regarding the UUID, I have an issue on file to discuss this mechanism a bit more. No promises but it has been heard.
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Speaking as one of those iOS-only users (and as someone who really would love custom smart groups) I just wanted to say thank you for keeping users like me in mind with DTTG3! Seems like a big shift from previous versions
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Thank you for that!
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Just curious - are you iOS only because your PC is Windows based, because you do not have a desktop/laptop computer at all, or because you have a Mac but do not wish to pay for DT3?
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No problem 
I am puzzled here
Of course it is great to implement whatever features you can for iOS-only users, but if for whatever reason at the moment it is easier to implement an iOS feature with a dependency to also have the Mac version, there is nothing wrong with that. Apple itself does that routinely; there are any number of iPhone features which require a Mac to take full advantage of the iPhone.
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It shouldnât come as a surprise that Apple routinely does things that encourages users to buy all of Appleâs devices.
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I work in education so I donât really have a need for a Mac and find reading and writing a more enjoyable experience on iOS, so when I needed to upgrade my old MacBook Pro two or so years ago I just bought a 12.9 inch iPad Pro. Sometimes I miss the flexibility of a Macâespecially when I look at the features included on DEVONThink Proâbut generally I havenât looked back at all. So much of my daily workflow nowadays is completely based on Shortcuts and iOS first apps.
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OK so you have chosen to replace your Mac with an iPad.
I have been curious in following various stories about people who have done that. Itâs a wonderful idea, but there are so many things that a Mac (or Windows PC) can do that while I love my iPad I cannot see how it could replace a computer. Especially for a knowledge-based professional such as a teacher.
Is the desire to not own a Mac because you truly feel the iPad is superior to a Mac? I doubt it is a cost issue because you can buy a used Mac or especially a used Windows PC extremely inexpensively that would surely do some things beyond what an iPad can do alone.
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Personally, I canât imagine typing longer texts on an iPad (much less on an iPhone). Iâve tried it in the past with physical keyboards, which was a shaky experience at best. Appleâs offering is just to damn expensive. And the virtual keyboard ⌠well, it gets in my way all the time with its autocorrection stuff when Iâm swiping. Always wanting to be clever without really being it.
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Why would this be a shaky experience? Same question could be asked of the comment above that smart groups would be of limited utility because âI am skeptical whether creating smartgroups would actually be practical due to the small size of the interface.â I use the same Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad 2 with my 12.9â iPad Pro that is used with the iMac, and the larger Pro has almost the same screen size as a MacBook Air/13âPro.
iPad plus magic keyboard plus Magic Trackpad lose much of the portability and read-in-bed ability of the iPad. Itâs a hybrid solution which ultimately pleases few.
Surely you have a Mac as well as an iPad - correct?
Well, I donât take any technology to bed with me, so I canât comment on that. What I can comment on is that it is an excellent platform to type on, which is what was challenged earlier. I do have a WaterField case that holds my iPad, keyboard, and track pad and itâs much more compact and portable than any MacBook I ever owned. Plus it connects to the Internet on the road without me looking for WiFi or hot spotting off my phone.
I donât see why having a Mac or not is even relevant here? There is no shortage of people getting real work done on iPads, regardless of if they have a Mac or not. I also donât understand the tone of some of the comments, as if to suggest iPad users need an intervention or something, to correct the obvious error of out thinking! When people say you canât type on one or the interface is too small to utilize smart groups⌠Well, all we are saying to DEVON thank you for working on smart groups for iOS, we are looking forward to it.
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Rkaplan, everyone has different preferences and needs. For my personal and professional life, the iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard and pen is many times more efficient and comfortable for me, and lets me configure the hardware to my needs in the moment. I am able to do research, writing, design, project management, collaboration, music making, and financial tracking well enough, and usually better, on the iPad than the Mac. I still have a Mac, but it only gets turned on for backups and updating firmware of hardware devices. If it ever dies, Iâll get a $150 PC to perform those tasks, if one is still needed by then.
I canât remember the last time I actually did any work on my Mac. Itâs been at least a couple of years. For me, the iPad interface is just better. It makes no sense for me to install DevonThink on the Mac. If it was included in the price of the mobile apps, I probably would, just to have it there, but it would never actually be used.
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