Image rights from: Electronic TeamApple’s iCloud services do a good job of
syncing photos, contacts and other data
across all your Macs and iOS devices, but
iCloud isn’t so good when it comes to
working with other types of devices that
don’t come from Apple.
SyncMate allows you to sync data to
Android devices as well as online services
such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or
Microsoft’s OneDrive. You can use it to
connect Macs and iOS devices together as
well, perhaps to transfer speciĽc groups of
Ľles for a work project.
There is a free version of SyncMate, which
allows you to sync calendar and contact info.
You can then decide whether or not you want
to buy the Expert version, which unlocks the
online options, as well as the ability to sync
music, photos, and other types of data.
It’s worth spending some time with the
free version of SyncMate though, as it’s
not quite as quick and easy to use as the
developers suggest. Some features are simple,
such as the Contacts syncing, which allowsSyncMate 8
Reaches the parts that iCloud can’t reach
$39.95 From Electronic Team, sync-mac.com
Needs macOS 10.10 or laterSYNCMATE 8
Syncs Mac data to
Android devices
Also supports Dropbox
and OneDrive
Poor Help files
Creating “connections”
can be tricky
GOODyou to sync all contacts, or just speciĽc
groups. Other options, such as syncing music
from iTunes, are more complicated. Syncing
music requires you to create a “pair”, which
includes a playlist or a folder containing
music Ľles, along with a destination for
those Ľles on the other device. You also need
to specify the direction of transfer, and you
may need to convert some types of music and
video Ľles, as Apple and Android devices
don’t always use the same Ľle formats. The
FAT Ľles tend to skim over these details,
though, and although we were able to
transfer an iTunes playlist from our iMac
onto an Android tablet we then had trouble
locating our music on the Android device.
And while we had no trouble connecting the
Android tablet via Wi–Fi, SyncMate was a
little temperamental with USB connections
on both Android and our iPad.
Those rough edges mean this isn’t an
automatic “must-have” purchase for owners
of non-Apple devices, but it’s still worth
trying out the free version to see if it works
with the devices and data you need the most
before paying for the full version.
THE BOTTOM LINE. SyncMate’s ability to
cross the Mac-Android divide is certainly
useful, but check out the free version Ľrst.
CLIFF JOSEPHSyncMate can create
“connections” with
a variety of devices
and online services.You can sync many types of data across your devices,
like contacts and calendars, photos and iTunes music.
Reviews
44 MAR 2020 maclife.com