Keeping MacBook and Mac mini in "sync"

Hardware
1

HI all,

I’ve just added a MacBook Pro to my ever growing list of Mac products. My main setup is a Mac mini where I spend most of my time.

How do you keep the laptop and Mac mini in sync. I know that I can use iCloud for files etc. But it’s a pain to have to keep programs consistent across devices? For example I use Mail with smart folders - do I have to replicate these every time? DevonThink rules don’t synchronise.

Any good ideas/best practice re keeping both devices tip top?

Regards,

John

2

I don’t know how to sync Mail smart folders. For me they don’t change or get created that often so I just re-create them.

For DEVONthink, the rules sit as *.plist files with names you will recognize in the folder:

~\Library\Application Support\DEVONthink 3

Again, for me rules and the collection of rules don’t change that often, but when they do with Finder (and DEVONthink not running on either machine) I simply drag/drop the relevant file from one machine to the other, using same folder. I could automate that, but not worth the trouble.

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3

Last year I went back to a 2-Mac lifestyle. One is primarily work, the other for non-work, but there are things I want to keep in sync on both devices.

For me, it’s been exporting plists (preferences settings) and using a third-party system to manage my email folders (Sanebox). Sandbox isn’t cheap, but I am much happier when everything looks the same on my systems! (Note: I’m using Sanebox in place of smart folders. I really should look into doing something cheaper like switching to an email provider that has robust smart filtering, but the amount of work seems daunting.)

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