Turning it on
Open your profile in VocaRead and switch on "iCloud Sync" on each device. Both need to be signed in to the same iCloud account. There is no VocaRead account to create, because the data goes to the app's private iCloud database, tied to your Apple account.
What travels, and what stays put
| Copied between devices | Not copied |
|---|---|
| Position in the book (page and sentence) | The book files |
| Bookmarks and highlights, with their notes | Downloaded voices |
| Reading sessions and listening time | The audio cache |
| Pronunciation rules | |
| The voice, speed and sentence pause set for a book |
The right-hand column is the part people miss. A new iPad starts with an empty library: import the book there too, and download a voice, before you expect to carry on where you stopped.
How the two devices recognise a book
VocaRead gives each book a fixed identifier. For an EPUB it comes from the identifier the publisher put in the file. Failing that, as with every PDF, it comes from a fingerprint of the file itself. Import the same file on both devices and they match. A different edition, or a PDF that has been modified, counts as another book and starts from zero. With sync on, this also means your notes come back if you delete and re-import the same file.
When the devices disagree
- Position: the further page wins. If you go back to reread on the iPad, the iPhone does not follow you backwards.
- Timing: during playback the position goes up about once a minute, so a switch made seconds after stopping can lag slightly.
- Pronunciation rules: the most recent edit wins.
Without a connection, everything keeps working on the device, and it syncs when the app next becomes active online. The Apple Watch reads from the iPhone rather than from iCloud.