Three features, three different jobs
Hand it over. Keep a copy.
Pick up on another device.
They may look similar, but they solve different problems.
Are you sending a song to a bandmate, preserving everything, or continuing your own edits across devices? Start with what you want to do.
Hand it over
Selected songs and setlists for someone else
Keep a copy
All app data in one file
Keep editing
Your work across your own devices
Choose by purpose¶
For a bandmate or someone else
Shared data¶
Send only the songs or setlists you choose to someone else's PagePilot.
One handoff · added on the receiving device
For a device move or safekeeping
App Data Backup¶
Save all your app data — scores, audio, settings, and more — in one file.
A whole point-in-time copy · restore replaces all data
Across your own devices
Edit on Other Devices¶
Continue editing your library and setlists on more than one device you own.
Ongoing changes · built for one user
The difference in one table¶
| What you want to do | Feature | Scope | What happens next |
|---|---|---|---|
| Give songs or a setlist to a bandmate | Shared data | Selected songs or setlists | An independent copy is added to their device |
| Preserve everything or move devices | App Data Backup | All app data | Restore replaces the destination with the saved point in time |
| Keep editing on your own devices | Edit on Other Devices | Your sync-enabled library, setlists, and related data | Changes made on one device become available on the other |
An easy way to remember it: sharing is a one-time handoff, backup preserves a point in time, and Edit on Other Devices carries future changes forward.
Hand selected data to someone else¶
Good for¶
- Giving a song and its annotations to a bandmate
- Distributing a show setlist to the band
- Sending to a nearby device with a QR code
- Saving a sharing archive to hand off later
After the handoff¶
The received content is added to the other device. It does not replace everything on that device the way a restore does.
After import, the two copies are independent. Later edits on the sender do not update the recipient automatically, so share again when you want to send a revision.
Preserve and restore everything¶
When to create one¶
- Before moving to a new device
- Before reorganizing a large score or setlist library
- Before a show, as a safety copy of the current state
- When moving your whole library between iPad / iPhone and Android
Scores, audio, songs, setlists, annotations, tags, and settings are bundled together. Keep the finished file somewhere safe outside the device.
Before you restore¶
Restore is not an add or merge operation. It replaces all current PagePilot data on the destination device with the selected backup.
If there is anything on the destination you may want to keep, create a backup there first. A backup records one point in time; it does not keep following future changes automatically.
See the full backup and restore guide
Continue on your own devices¶
Good for¶
- Preparing on a tablet at home and organizing on a phone while away
- Using the same library on rehearsal and performance devices
- Revising a setlist on one device and continuing on another
Scores and audio are also stored on each device, so content that has synced remains available offline.
What to know¶
This is not real-time collaboration with bandmates. It is designed for one person using a small number of their own devices, normally editing on one at a time.
If the same item is changed differently on two devices, PagePilot may ask which version to keep. It covers the sync-enabled library, setlists, and related data as a whole rather than a hand-picked subset.
Which devices can work together
On iPad and iPhone, PagePilot uses its app-private iCloud area for your Apple devices. On Android, it uses the cloud destination you choose for your Android devices. To move a whole library between Apple and Android, use App Data Backup instead.
Open "Edit on Other Devices" in Global Settings to start using it on this device.
"Sync Together" during a performance is different¶
If you want bandmates' scores to follow the same song and playback position during a performance, use Sync Together instead.
Edit on Other Devices carries your data between devices you own. Sync Together keeps a band's playback position aligned.
If you only remember three lines¶
Give it to a bandmate
Shared data
Move the whole device
App Data Backup
Keep using your own two devices
Edit on Other Devices