Other sync solution than iCloud needed

hr1 · March 23, 2018, 7:44am

Hi –

in the really beautiful Agenda I (want to) put my very private and secret business information. Therefore I don’t want these data to leave my personal network. This is why I don’t like sync solutions which rely on Dropbox or iCloud. Remember: There is no cloud – it’s just someone else’s computer…
What I need is a sync between different machines/devices which is done absolutely local. 1Password from agilebits.com do this on Macs in two ways:

Syncing against a file. That can be done between several Mac and/or Windows machines.
WLAN Sync. One Mac becomes a WLAN server, other devices (i.e. upcoming Agenda for iOS) syncs over the air.

I can’t and won’t work with Agenda seriously with the current sync option via iCloud. Please have a look at how the folks at agilebits have implemented the sync feature. Make it a paid premium feature and you will get lots of friends. You will get famous. You will get rich. So think about this one

Holger

drewmccormack · March 23, 2018, 8:14am

Thanks for the feedback.

We don’t get this request often — perhaps this is even the first time — so it would not be a high priority, I’m afraid.

We would probably be more likely to support end-to-end encryption of data in the cloud, rather than serverless methods of syncing, which are used very rarely these days.

Update: Agenda 5.3 introduces support for syncing with Dropbox

marco · March 23, 2018, 1:05pm

As long as Agenda will save the data encrypted in the ‘Cloud’ there should be no problem.

hr1 · March 23, 2018, 1:10pm

Ok, I guess I am a bit old school on this topic.

What a about an additional layer of security then: https://cryptomator.org does exactly this. I has even an app for iOS to work with data on each platform highly secure.
As I said before: I don’t want my data to leave my systems. That’s hard enough to reach in those days, when you read and hear about stolen data… Oops some million user affected again…

I am working on two Macs and iPhone, so in my case it would also be suitable to copy the data manually across my Macs and iPhone. Can this be done, will the iOS app be able to import and export Agenda Files?

The command Agenda / File / Export → Agenda File is greyed out on my Mac. Is this a paid premium Feature?

How ist the Agenda file encrypted in the cloud? I cannot find a place to set an individual password. And I have no information, if the security layer in Agenda is really secure…

drewmccormack · March 23, 2018, 1:46pm

There is currently no cloud encryption. I was just pointing out that we might do that at some point. It would make sense.

Having your data only on your devices, and syncing at the same time, work counter to one another. Yes, it is possible, but it is time to bid the 90s a fond farewell

If you are really adamant that you don’t want your data off your devices, your best bet would likely be indeed importing and exporting. You can export an Agenda File. The reason it was probably grayed out is that you first have to select what you want to export, ie, select a note or a project. It is not a premium feature.

The iOS app will also import/export.

At this point in time, there is no security on top of what Apple iCloud provides. We may add a layer of encryption ourselves at some point, but we haven’t done that yet.

Kind regards,
Drew

hr1 · March 25, 2018, 1:01pm

Ok, I understand.
Here in Germany we have harsh laws about where we are allowed to store business data. Server in foreign countries are not on that list…

How about another approach: Let the user choose, where he want to store the programs data. If I uncheck „Sync Notes Between Devices with iCloud“, Agenda stores everything anywhere local (where exactly?) How about to chose a NAS to save everyhting? There would be still the problem how I get my data up to date on my iPhone — but we would be have the way.

I have problem during my test-drive, though: I let iCloud sync test data between my devices (sigh). But the information is not synched properly: Some notes a missing on one machine. Is there a command which I can call to trigger a save — resp. force a reload from iCloud?

Anyway: Agenda is an absolutely beautiful application. It is very fun to work with it, much of brainwork was done before building this marvelous GUI! Keep on that work

drewmccormack · March 26, 2018, 7:26am

If the sync issue has not recovered, we often find that there is a problem with iCloud on one of the devices. This can often be fixed by going to the Settings app, logging out of iCloud, and logging in again with the same account.

Drew

mekentosj · March 28, 2018, 8:11am

Here in Germany we have harsh laws about where we are allowed to store business data. Server in foreign countries are not on that list…

I would assume Apple has tackled this with iCloud by storing it in local datacenters? Otherwise nobody in Germany could use their service?

If I uncheck „Sync Notes Between Devices with iCloud“, Agenda stores everything anywhere local (where exactly?)

See Location of Agenda data - #2 by mekentosj

How about to chose a NAS to save everyhting? There would be still the problem how I get my data up to date on my iPhone — but we would be have the way.

See Problem syncing notes across devices - #11 by drewmccormack

I have problem during my test-drive, though: I let iCloud sync test data between my devices (sigh). But the information is not synched properly: Some notes a missing on one machine. Is there a command which I can call to trigger a save — resp. force a reload from iCloud?

See Drew’s answer above

Anyway: Agenda is an absolutely beautiful application. It is very fun to work with it, much of brainwork was done before building this marvelous GUI! Keep on that work

Brilliant to hear, glad you like it!

andreamoro · June 20, 2018, 10:41am

Indeed I add myself to the list of those who need an external Sync service, also because my relationship with the costly iPhone ended up on their version 4.

Being on Android since then, but loving my Mac is always a pain in the ass.

tobbson · July 8, 2018, 8:29pm

+1 for local syncoption
+1 for extra encryption layer

kimrhar · July 29, 2018, 12:08pm

+1 for iCloud alternative. (My employer blocks personal iCloud accounts.)

Otherwise, it looks like your roadmap is pretty solid! I’ve tested a number of project/task management apps and see major potential in Agenda. If you have a TestFlight group, I’d love to join.

Thanks for innovating!

drewmccormack · July 29, 2018, 6:53pm

If you want to join the testfligtht, post a comment in this thread: Can I join the iOS Beta?

jonathancaldwell · August 1, 2018, 11:05pm

+1 for iCloud alternative

Posted this info on a similar post about Dropbox for storage, but realized this might be the better place for it.

I wanted to echo that other sync solutions – specifically Dropbox – would be extremely valuable for me! It’s one of the only reasons I haven’t purchased a subscription for Agenda yet.

There are a couple of reasons why the current iCloud syncing in particular isn’t working for me.

Firstly, if you do add image/attachment support (which it seems you are doing very soon) – that’s going to quickly eat up space in an iCloud account unless the user pays for additional storage. I already have Dropbox, so that’s a better option for me. My office also pays for Google Drive with our email accounts, so Google Drive would even work well for me, too.

Secondly, my REAL pain is that our office wants us to use an iCloud account associated with our work email address in the unfortunate event that a company computer gets lost or stolen, the company email address can be used with Find My Mac, for example. There are other reasons they prefer us to use a work-related-only account, but that’s the gist. My phone (with my notes, apps, etc) is attached to my personal iCloud account. Because my Work computer is on a separate iCloud account, I’ll never be able to sync between my phone and my computer to access notes on different devices or on-the-go. Honestly, I could set up a separate user account profile on my computer to set up the work iCloud account for Find My Mac support, since I don’t use it for anything else, and then connect my main user account on my work computer to my personal iCloud but that seems like a cumbersome solution and I also don’t particularly want my work computer associated with my personal iCloud either.

Just wanted to add to the conversation to explain my point of view on the syncing.

In a 100% ideal scenario, I would love it if my notes were simply synced using nothing but my Agenda account and didn’t require a 3rd party sync solution at all – but I have a feeling that would require a total re-engineering of how the app works and far more server/development resources, so I don’t expect that any time soon (if ever.)

I absolutely love the app you guys have created! I really hope Dropbox sync or other sync support is in the near future! Thanks!

drewmccormack · August 2, 2018, 10:40am

Thanks, it is useful to have the reasons for other options explained in detail.

Cluttered · August 2, 2018, 2:15pm

Couple of questions.

Dropbox isn’t secure so would encryption be included?

Secondly, does synching anything count as part of your iCloud usage? I was under the impression that synching data didn’t count, the actual files are on either end and iCloud is used for transit not storage?

drewmccormack · August 3, 2018, 3:23pm

iCloud does store the data in the cloud. It is not a pure peer-to-peer network. So you are charged, but at this point, with only text, Agenda doesn’t use much data. May change with images.

In what way is Dropbox not secure? I think both iCloud and Dropbox have authentication, and are at least in that way secure. Encryption is something we would like to add, but would be independent of Dropbox.

Drew

om3tnt · August 8, 2018, 5:06am

+1 for iCloud alternative

I can’t use my personal iCloud account on my work’s iPad so it’s a must for me.

julien.ducamp · August 13, 2018, 11:20am

I would love to get another syncing option on iOS.
I am using an iPad Pro and an iPhone, both provided by my company.
Those devices have a management profile installed on them, which is mandatory for me to access my professional emails and agenda.
This profile include some restrictions, one of them being unable to use iCloud Drive.
Right now there is nothing preventing me from using Agenda primarily on my iPad, but as there is no other syncing option, I would have no backup option and I don’t want to take a chance with my notes.
Dropbox would works, as well as of course a fully ingrated cloud service in the app with appropriate encryption.

Thanks!

whitley · August 15, 2018, 11:31pm

Related to this thread, here’s my use case:

I have a work Macbook
I have a personal iPhone & iPad
I want to sync specific project(s) between those without using iCloud.

In my case, it’s not acceptable to enable my personal Apple ID & iCloud Drive on the work machine. Enabling iCloud Drive in particular is all-or-nothing, which would pull a substantial amount of personal data onto a work system. Not good.

drewmccormack · August 16, 2018, 8:28am

Would another service like Dropbox be any better though? Do you want to activate Dropbox on your work machine, meaning all your personal stuff is there as well?