Multiple Android Device Starred List Sync Solution

[krisdoane]

I found a solution to syncing my user created starred lists across multiple android devices. Unfortunately it requires another (possibly pay) Android app but it works really well.

What you need:

1. Dropbox Account - Free - http://www.dropbox.com/
2. DropSync - Free/$5.90 - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.ttxapps.dropsync (I can't remember if the free install will work for this or if you need to buy the full key for $5.90 but for other reasons it was worth it to me.)

The reason you need to use DropSync is that the DropBox Android app assumes you don't want to automatically sync anything to or from an Android device. Very frustrating. Once they make an Android client that automatically syncs you won't need DropSync anymore.

Steps:

1. Basically you setup a free Dropbox account if you don't already have one.
2. Install the DropSync app on all of your Android devices. You specify in DropSync what your DropBox username and password is.
3. Create a folder in your DropBox folder system that you want to keep your Hanping data. I use "/DropBox/Software/Android/Hanping/".
4. Then you go to the Settings of DropSync and select the 'Synced Folders' option. Here you will add the folder "/Android/data/com.embermitre.dictroid/zh/" on your device and then select the folder you created in DropBox.
5. Setup whatever sync schedule you want for the device. I use 2 hours. [Note: Because the database is not updated on your device until you back out of the Browse screen, I suggest you make sure to do that each time and manually sync at the end of session instead of relying on the auto syncing.]
6. Repeat steps 3 & 4 for each device.

You can also force DropSync to sync at any time you want from the app. The first time you sync more than likely you will get a conflicted file. I just went into DropBox and deleted the smaller version of the file and then selected the bigger file and renamed it to the correct name format. From then on the syncing works great.

It is important to note that this won't merge synced lists, you will have to choose one list on the first sync. But after that the starred lists stay synced as long as you make sure they sync correctly. If they don't you may have to deal with conflicted files again.

I have been using this for a week+ on an ASUS Transformer tablet and a Droid 2 Global phone with success. I have added/edited lists on both devices and then after syncing seen the changes show up on the other device.

Good luck!

- Kris

[embermitre]

Awesome, thanks a million for this.

One additional note, when you press the Star icon, the database is not immediately updated. Instead, this happens when you back out of the Browse screen. So do that before manually syncing.

Seeing as this is Dropbox, does this mean you can easily roll back to older version of your starred lists? Occasionally users experience SD card failures, so having backups is definitely a good idea.

[krisdoane]

Oh thanks for the info about when the database update happens. I would say that people who use this method should manually sync at the end of every session then.

And yes, you could roll back for sure.

[dan]

Here you will add the folder "/Android/data/com.embermitre.dictroid/zh/"

It means sync a 100 MB folder (audio + dict), when in fact, the only interesting thing to sync is a little file (starred.db, less than 100 KB for me).

It seems that dropsync does not permit to sync only a file (only a folder)?
Maybe embermitre could put starred.db in is own directory to facilitate this operation?


Thanks

Dan

[embermitre]

I'm quite reluctant to change the folder structure because of the limitations of another app (and those limitations may change in future). I'll have a think of a workaround though. I suppose hanping could look in another folder for starred.db before looking in the current location.

EDIT: Second thoughts, the nature of starred.db is very different from the audio/dict/list files because it is often changing. I'm thinking a "user" sub folder would make a lot of sense. Could potentially include prefs and dictionary edits (if/when that feature becomes available) in future.

[embermitre]

I just released an update to Hanping Pro (2.6.5) which places the starred.db in the "user" folder. This should allow easier syncing via DropSync.

[dan]

Wow, it was quick!
Thanks Embermitre, I really appreciate.

Dan

[embermitre]

No worries

[embermitre]

The latest version of Hanping Pro (3.0.5) automatically backs up the settings & search history to a file in this folder:

/Android/data/com.embermitre.dictroid/prefs

You can read more about it here.