If I have the “Synchronize content of indexed items” disabled, can I still search those indexed files/folders metadata from an iOS device syncing that database? Or is the only way to get indexed files (their content or their metadata) on an iOS device is by enabling that “Synchronize content of indexed items” checkbox?
Sometimes it’d just be nice to do a quick search from my phone inside of DTTG to see if a file is in a certain folder (for example, if I indexed a large hard drive or NAS). I understand I could do the search in another way or through another app, but I like the idea of just having one app to search for stuff in my life.
I keep a lot of video files, large images, large audio files, etc. that I’d rather not sync their contents to a DT database – just having the searchable metadata about those larger files would be awesome. And when I need to actually retrieve the content of those files, I can hop over to where they’re actually hosted.
Yes, you can still search for such files in DEVONthink To Go. However, there will never be the option to download the contents, not just for large media files but for any indexed files from that sync location.
(for example, if I indexed a large hard drive or NAS)
This is inadvisable and covered more than once here, on the blog, and in the documentation. DEVONthink is not a Finder nor a Spotlight replacement.
Right, I understand it’s not a replacement for those apps/services, I just figured it would be nice to have one place to do a quick search to see if I even have a file close to what I’m thinking about and trying to find – and I definitely don’t expect DTTG to be able to download the contents of those indexed files on command.
When I tried indexing a folder full of sub-folders and files that were on an external hard drive (did not sync contents, though) those indexed files/folders didn’t show up on my iOS devices – not even as greyed out options or anything like that.
When I performed a search unique to a word document stored in one of those folders, nothing came up in the search results. Am I doing something wrong?
If all of this is impossible, would it be better to just store any file I’d like searchable in a DT database, and every other large video, audio, etc. file outside of DT, and search for those with spotlight?
I’m just assuming DT isn’t really designed to be a media digital asset manager and is more tailored for documents – but perhaps I’m underestimating its power? 
Not to sidetrack this thread too much, but this reminded me that DTTG does offer the option to download files like this, but of course, it can not. A little extra polish to the app should suppress the download option from appearing when the file is indexed-only.
@GordonMeyer So you see indexed files and folders on your iOS devices? I’m not even seeing that so I must be doing something wrong. Indexed files and folders only show up on my macOS devices.
Yes I can search and “see” indexed PDFs and image files on my iOS devices. I’m syncing thru Dropbox.
By “see” I mean that I see the filenames.
Weird… I don’t see anything at all with indexed files/folders. And just to be sure you are not syncing contents of indexed files, correct?