Sync across devices

What it does

Sync across devices keeps the same lists on every device where you sign in with one account: add a term on your Mac and it appears on your Windows PC and in the Android app a few seconds later. It is off until you turn it on.

Synced	Not synced
Glossary terms and Manual Replacements	Audio recordings
Voice Commands, including their other phrases	Shortcuts, microphone and other device settings
Memory facts for Ask Dictāta	Prompts and Styles
History text, only if you switch it on	Failed or canceled dictations

End-to-end encrypted

Your data is encrypted on your device before it is uploaded. Dictāta's server stores only the encrypted copy and cannot read it, and neither can we. The key exists only on your devices and in a recovery key that is shown to you once.

That also means we cannot restore your synced data for you. If you lose the recovery key and are no longer signed in on any device that has sync on, the synced copy cannot be decrypted. Your lists on each device stay where they are.

Turn it on

On your computer (macOS or Windows):

1. Open Settings → Account.
2. Find Sync across devices and choose Turn on.
3. Read the short summary, confirm, and choose whether to include dictation history.
4. Save the 16-character recovery key, for example in your password manager, then confirm that you saved it.

In the Android app: tap Account in the bottom menu, scroll down to Sync across devices, and follow the same steps.

The first device that turns sync on uploads its lists. Each device you connect later adds its own entries to them; nothing is replaced.

Connect another device

1. Sign in with the same account on the other device.
2. Open Sync across devices and choose Turn on. The app sees that your account already uses sync and asks for the recovery key.
3. Type or paste the recovery key. Upper or lower case and dashes do not matter.

A recovery key only works for the account it was created for. Using it while signed in to a different account only shows that the key does not match, and connects nothing.

When devices update

There is no constant connection. A device syncs:

• right after you sign in;
• a few seconds after you change something;
• when you return to the app, at most once a minute;
• when the internet connection comes back.

You can also choose Sync now. If a page is already open when changes arrive, they appear the next time it refreshes or you switch to it.

If the same entry is edited on two devices at the same time, the change that reaches the server first is kept on both.

History

History sync is a separate switch, off by default. With it on, only the text of finished dictations and Ask conversations is synced; audio stays on the device that recorded it, so synced entries have no playback or Regenerate.

Deleting an entry on one device deletes it everywhere. Entries that drop out because of your plan's history limit, or because you cleared all history or local data on one device, are removed only on that device.

Accounts

Sync belongs to the account, not the device. If several people share one computer or phone with different accounts, each account syncs only its own lists.

Turn it off or start over

• Turn off stops syncing on this device. Your lists stay on the device, and the encrypted copy stays on the server for your other devices.
• Tick Also delete my synced data from the server to remove the encrypted copy. Sync then turns off on your other devices the next time they connect; their local lists stay.
• Lost the recovery key? In the Connect step, choose Lost your recovery key? to reset sync. This deletes the encrypted copy and creates a new recovery key; the device you are on uploads its lists again, and other devices need the new key.

Deleting your Dictāta account also deletes the synced data.

Limits

• Memory keeps up to 50 facts. If your devices together have more, the extra facts are removed so every device has the same 50.
• History keeps as many entries as your plan allows on each device.

If entries do not appear on another device, check that both are signed in to the same account, that sync is on in both, and choose Sync now on each. See also Troubleshooting.