How to sync?

[trottigy]

I received this from a friend and was looking for a good way to answer - any thoughts?

 

I have a Win7 PC and will be purchasing a Galaxy Note soon.  I also have an iPod Touch 3G.  I would like to sync annotations between my PC & tablet for BOTH pdfs & epubs. (Syncing annotations to my iPod, too, may be just a dream.  :-)

 

Since I'm about to invest hundreds of hours in re-studying my teaching publications and entering other study projects, I would like to know in advance which software/apps work well for our needs. I'm also contemplating compatibility with future possible functions of JW Library. (who knows what they may develop?)

 

I have Adobe Digital Editions on my desktop, but have not used its annotation much.  I've heard ADE & Mantano is a workable combination.  True?  Have ezPDF or Moon+ developed a desktop version for the Windows platform? I can use a cloud service for syncing, as long as it's free.  :-)

 

Are there any advantages to annotating a pdf versus an epub (besides the scripture links)? I'm very visual, and like to see handwritten notes on my study material (thus the Galaxy Note with stylus), but quick access is crucial as well. Desktop support is critical because I still need access to the full WTLib. 

 

I don't have a data plan, nor is there much wifi access in our territory.  So I'm also looking for Android apps that will allow me to cache the website for demonstration purposes in the field. 

My goal is to go completely digital for my personal study & my Bible studies when I get my tablet.  Any suggestions on work flow (or should I say "study flow"?) would also be much appreciated.  

 

[Musky]

Unfortunately, syncing between platforms is very problematic and close to impossible. Sometimes, if everything works just right, you may get it working temporarily, until one of the apps on one of the platforms gets an update. He needs to pick one platform and get devices that use it.

 

Just my opinion of course.

[bohemian]

We need to help Bob how to sync - he syncs the wrong words in song 64! 

 

Seriously, folks, I have having to sync with iTunes - but then I just hate iTunes!

[trottigy]

I just bought new software called - YNAB (you Need A Budget). I love it!!

 

I have an android phone and Debbie has an iPhone. We installed the YNAB app on both and I use a Windows 7 PC to enter most of the data.

 

It saves all the data to a file on "Drop Box". When I enter the data on the PC - it automatically updates the file on dropbox. Then when either she or I open the app on one of our phones - it opens that file and TADA - the recent data is there.

 

We can each enter data in our phones as well - it just saves it to that dropbox file.

 

That said - I wonder what file stores the annotations and if you can point to a networked file for that?

 

note: I know in Isilo I can do that. I just love that program!!!

Edited November 4, 2013 by trottigy

[Trey]

I sync annotations between by iPad + Goodreader and any desktop PDF reader with Dropbox. Any annotating PDF app that has Dropbox support should be able to do the same on Android. 

[trottigy]

On the desktop - do you use GoodReader?

[Brother_Bliss]

Here is what I do....

 

ON MY PC -> I have Google Drive installed, and I designate a specific folder on my PC to be automatically synced to Google Drive. Anything I add to that folder gets synced to Google Drive in real time over my cable broadband connection.

 

ON MY ANDROID -> I have a couple of choices. This first one is what most people do:

 

1) Install Google Drive for Android. As long as you have a WiFi or 4g connection, you can download documents from Google Drive to your Android device. You can even "pin" them so that they are downloaded and available without an internet connection. I am not sure if changes you make to documents on your Android device get sync'ed back to the web. I would imagine so.

 

2) Install FolderSync for Android. This is what I have done. I have my theocratic folder on Google Drive sync'ed to my SD Card. You can determine if this is a one way sync or a two way sync.

 

One way sync = You modify your docs on Android, but the will not sync back to the Google Drive on the web. This way, your studied copies are on your device, and your "pure" unmarked copies still exist in the cloud.

 

Two way sync = Your annotated docs will get sync'ed back to Google Drive, overwriting them, which in turn will get sync'ed back to your Laptop or PC if you have Google Drive installed.

 

Now, one time something messed up, and all my docs in one of my Watchtower folders and my Kingdom Ministry folder were "gone" - but not really. Google Drive doesn't really delete anything, and you can find it in the trash or version history. The trash is never emptied on it's own, you have to permanently delete the trash, so I was able to save all these docs and get them back.

 

Syncing continued to be screwed up, so I disconnected from Foldersync and fixed everything on the PC and Google Drive end, and then created a new Folder Pair in Foldersync and reactivated it. Everything is fine now.

[Trey]

On the desktop - do you use GoodReader?

On the desktop you can use any PDF reader/annotator. I mentioned GoodReader because it has the ability to sync with Dropbox and other servers as well as make PDF annotations. This is a all-in-one solution on the tablet side. With Dropbox my files are synced once my computer starts up so I can open any PDF program, navigate to my Dropbox folder and my files are ready to go.