Syncing is automatic in Rehearsal® Pro
If you work on your scripts on more than one device, adding highlighting and comments on your iPad, recording scenes and scribbling notes on your iPhone and so on, Rehearsal® Pro automatically syncs all that work between your devices, updating those changes via the cloud (a fancy name for the secure, protected server computer where your data is kept safe) so you always have the latest work available to you wherever you are, and with whatever device you have with you.
Syncing via the cloud means your work is also stored in the cloud, backed up and ready to be downloaded should you install or re-install the app on any device.
All you have to do is be logged in with the same Rehearsal® Pro user account. In other words, don’t create a separate account for each device – just log in to both devices with the same username and password.
NOTE: Syncing will COMPLETELY REPLACE any older script versions, and any scenes affected by those changes, on other devices. In other words, once you make a change on a script you’re working on, those changes will be synced to other devices, and whatever versions you had before will be gone. Syncing updates any markup (highlighting, scribbling, comments, beat marks, Linesets and scenes) you’ve created on those devices.
Also, when you first register Rehearsal® Pro, all of your old scripts will be available to you in the Already Added Scripts section of your Add New Scripts area, but they will be the original scripts, with no markup. Only markup that you’ve created in Rehearsal® Pro will be synced.
How syncing works
You probably won’t even notice the app doing its syncing job, but you can see it happen if you look closely. Syncing itself happens automatically, in two separate steps:
1. Once you make a change to a script, Rehearsal® Pro will display a yellow up-arrow in various locations on your screen (usually next to the MENU icon in the upper right hand corner, but also next to Lines in Linesets) to indicate that it’s preparing to send those changes to the cloud, to be available for other devices to grab:
2. Once the app has gathered all the changes you’ve made, the arrow will turn to green, indicating that Rehearsal® Pro is uploading those changes to the cloud.
Getting the updated version of your scripts
There are a couple of ways to get the newly updated scripts and markup onto your other devices.
1. If you have the same script open on both devices at once, you’ll see the synced updates on your other device appear automatically. As an example, if you add highlighting to a script open in Rehearsal® Pro on your iPhone, and you have the same script open in Rehearsal® Pro on your iPad, moments after you add that highlighting to the script on your iPhone, you’ll see that new highlighting on your iPad.
2. With scripts, you need to go to My Scripts to download the newly updated versions. You’ll notice a black or blue cloud next to each script that is not yet on that device. If it’s black, it means there are no recent changes to the script, but that you need to download the scene so you can use it on your device. If the cloud is blue, that means there are changes waiting for you that have been uploaded from your other device.
Just tap the cloud in either case to download the updated script, then tap on the script to open it and start working with it.
In the example below, the upper script in the list, THE BOYS, is waiting to be downloaded, and the lower one, MR. MILLER SIDES, is already downloaded to the device, ready to tap on and work with:
3. With scenes, you need to go to My Scenes to download the newly updated versions. You’ll notice a black or blue cloud next to each scene that is not yet on that device. If it’s black, it means there are no recent changes to the scene, but that you need to download the scene so you can use it on your device. If the cloud is blue, that means there are changes waiting for you that have been uploaded from your other device.
Just tap the cloud in either case to download the scene, then tap on the scene to open it and start rehearsing with it.
Be careful not to make simultaneous changes
One thing you want to avoid doing is adding markup to the same script or scene, on more than one device, at the exact same time.
Rehearsal® Pro’s syncing feature will automatically upload any changes you make on any device. So, if you have the same script open on both your iPhone and your iPad, as an example, don’t move back and forth at the same time making changes, as any change you make on one device might negate the changes you make on the other.
This is only a concern when working on both devices with the same script or scene at the exact same time.
Feel free to make updates on your iPhone, but allow the app to sync those changes, then download the new version on your iPad. You can then make updates of your scripts and scenes on your iPad, let that sync, then download the new version back to your iPhone. This is particularly useful when, say, you’re traveling to set, the audition space, the theater and so on, and you work with your iPad at home, and your iPhone when traveling. You can make changes at home on your iPad, then download the synced updates to your iPhone. Conversely, you can then make changes on your iPhone on set or on stage or wherever you go, let those sync, and find them waiting to be downloaded on your iPad when you get home.
You need to be connected to the Internet for any of this to take place, and the app will wait for you to get connected if you’re not. If you happen to be working with your scripts and scene on, say, the subway, an airplane or anywhere you don’t have a connection, you’ll need to wait until you get online via WiFi or cellular for any markup you made while without connectivity to sync.
Adding/Reinstalling/Updating Rehearsal® Pro
One of the advantages of syncing is that should you need to delete and re-install your copy of Rehearsal® Pro, or add it to a new device, like a new model iPhone or a newly acquired iPad, all your scripts AND your markup and scenes will be waiting for you on that new device to download and use. Again, be sure to log in with the same username and password on all your devices.
And not to worry: when we update the app and release a new version in the App Store, and you update to that new version, nothing will change about your scripts and scenes. They’ll all be there, waiting for you to work with them. Just tap the cloud next to each one you want to use.