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.
For bandmates who don't use PagePilot
"Export as PDF" in a score's menu hands the score over as a plain PDF, annotations included. The other side needs no app, so it also works for members on other score apps and for printed handouts. Only sharing hands things over in an editable form, so between PagePilot users, share instead.
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.
"Data Storage Location" on Android is a different setting again¶
Data storage location on this device (Android only)
Choose whether the large files — scores, audio, and annotations — live in the device's internal storage or in PagePilot's private area on an SD card. Song titles, setlists, and the rest of the app's records stay in internal storage either way.
Each device has one storage location; you cannot split it file by file. Internal storage is the recommendation. Consider an SD card only when you run out of room.
When you switch, PagePilot copies the files together, verifies the count and contents, and only then moves the location. Create an app data backup before you start, and do not remove the card or power off the device while copying. While the card is out, your scores and audio cannot be opened. Formatting a card makes it a different destination even if it is the same physical card. An SD card is not a substitute for a backup.
This setting decides where files sit on this one device. It is not the cloud destination that Edit on Other Devices uses, so don't mistake one for the other. iPad and iPhone do not have this setting.
See the full data storage location guide
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