I recently upgraded to DT Pro 4 desktop. I know how to use it well. However, since I upgraded to the Pro version I also got DTTG4 included. My big question is how to folks use DTTG4?
For example, my primary database in the desktop version is 5 Gb. I certainly have enough space on my iPhone to also sync that database and it would be of use (though not critical). However, I get confused in how to sync the desktop and phone versions. I’m always asked for an encryption key for CloudKit (as one example). I have no idea how I’m supposed to know my encryption key or where to find it.
However, I realize folks might use DTTG as an indendent database for other reasons.
So my question is: do you sync desktop and mobile databases? If so, how do you do it? (And how do you find your encryption key?) If you don’t sync, how do you use DTTG 4 in ways that work for you, but the info is independent of DevonThink 4 desktop?
Syncing is not really as difficult as it might seem at first glance.
In the DEVONthink help menu under Settings is the discussion on Sync. You can use one of the sync locations (e.g., iCloud (CloudKit) or you can sync locally using Bonjour. You choose your encryption key - the same key for setting up sync on DEVONthink Pro and DTTG. You also choose which databases you want to sync, and on DTTG you can choose to download files Always or On Demand.
Also, in the DEVONthink Help menu are tutorials, including at least one, “Understanding Sync”
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Same; I just enable iCloud on DTTG and it stays on. I enable WebDAV and add credentials for that, because I use both. Most of my DTTG usage is reading PDFs and looking up docs/data on the fly.
@mailbuoy and @cornchip have given good answers (the assist is appreciated), but these kinds of questions are best asked on our forums.
Sync is discussed at length, including method-specific sections, in the built-in Help and manual of:
- DEVONthink’s In & Out chapter
- DEVONthink To Go’s Sync chapter
We have also blogged on the subject many times over the years.
Thanks to all of your for your responses. I did get things up and running. Right now I’m guessing the only part that’s truly useful to me is to sync the Inbox … just gives me a simple way to upload “stuff” from my phone to DT on my Mac.
When syncing a full database I did run into the oddity of the file names were there, but when I clicked on the document it took a number of seconds/min to access and then the document title was shown in faded text with a download link (also faded text) that did not work. However, I highly doubt I’ll be wanting to download documents to my phone. (Or, alternatively, I can place a copy in the main Inbox and that syncs quick and fine.)
Documents that I really need to refer to on my phone can be easily put in mail Inbox and synced. I think that’s all I’ll really need.
Sounds like a plan. I forgot about DTTG as a mobile inbox; that’s used often. Besides the share sheet, if you put anything in DTTG’s folder on your phone, it’ll get imported. So you can do some automation, like setting a default folder for a scanning app.
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Thanks for the idea. I do a fair amount of scanning. Mostly I use Scanner Pro (seems better quality than Simple Scan for some things) … but I see no way to share to Devonthink with it. However, with Simple Scan it was easy to set up. Maybe I’ll use Simple Scan more? 
Update: I did find a way with Scanner Pro to share with DTTG4. The Simple Scan approach is faster, simpler. But Scanner Pro also does the job.
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With a document selected, Export | Share | DEVONthink 4.
I don’t know why the Share menu is behind the Export menu???
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Thanks! Yes, I finally discovered it myself.
Okay, this is all great. I can now see using DTTG4 a lot.
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To you et al:
There already is a Scan function in DEVONthink To Go 4.
Go into the desired group and tap the Add toolbar button and choose Scan. Take your shots and tap the √ button when finished.
Also, enable Settings > OCR > Make scans searchable if you want it to do OCR automatically.
Jim,
Thanks for this tip! This will be useful in a lot of cases. When I need to very clean capture I’ll still use Scanner Pro as it provides more controls on capturing, but for 2/3 of what I scan this DTTG scan function will be perfect.
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My pleasure!
And don’t forget to hop on over to our forums as well!
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Jim,
I’ll definitely visit in the future. Got some reading/grading to do. Then travels. After that I’ll start digging into DTTG and DT4 in a serious way. Thanks for the help.
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