Sync across devices
Cozy doesn’t run its own sync service, and that’s on purpose: it keeps your journal off anyone’s servers. But because a journal is just a folder, syncing it is something you may already have set up.
How it works
Section titled “How it works”Put your journal’s folder inside a folder that a sync service keeps in step, and every device pointed at that folder sees the same journal. Cozy works with:
- iCloud
- Dropbox
- Google Drive
- OneDrive
…and any similar service that syncs a folder.
Setting it up
Section titled “Setting it up”The simplest path is to choose a synced location when you first create your journal, for example a folder inside iCloud or Dropbox. On another computer, install Cozy and Open that same folder once it has synced down.
Cloud folders are handled with care
Section titled “Cloud folders are handled with care”Cozy saves entries the way cloud tools expect, so journals kept in a synced folder don’t get stuck “syncing” forever, and saving keeps working even when a service briefly locks a file mid-write. If a folder is momentarily unavailable while syncing, Cozy waits a beat and tries again rather than showing an empty journal.
To avoid conflicts, it’s best to let one device finish syncing before you write on another. It’s the usual good manners for any synced folder.
If you edit the same entry twice
Section titled “If you edit the same entry twice”Change one entry on two computers before sync catches up and Cozy keeps both. The version that arrived second is saved beside the original as a conflict copy, with a small notice so you know it happened. Open the two, keep what you want, and delete the copy. Nothing is thrown away on your behalf.
A conflict copy is easy to pick out: it wears a Conflict copy label in your list, and opening it offers to delete it once you’ve salvaged anything you want to keep. These copies also stay out of On this day and the map, so a memory never turns up twice while you’re reading back.
When part of a journal hasn’t downloaded yet
Section titled “When part of a journal hasn’t downloaded yet”Cloud services often leave a synced folder as placeholders and only pull each file down when something opens it. If you open a journal before it has finished downloading, Cozy shows a small note in the sidebar pointing you at your cloud provider’s available offline (or “keep on this device”) setting. Turn that on for your journal’s folder and every entry and photo comes down for good, so Cozy has everything even when you’re offline.
On your phone
Section titled “On your phone”Cozy for iPhone reads the same journal folder, with one constraint: on iPhone and iPad it has to be iCloud Drive. That’s the only service iOS lets an app read a folder from — Dropbox and Google Drive work fine between computers, but the phone can’t reach them.
So if you use Cozy on your phone, keep the journal in iCloud Drive on every device. No separate Cozy account is involved either way. See Sync with iCloud for the step-by-step.