Sync

Sync usually means someone else’s server: an account, a subscription, a company that can read your library. bae syncs through your cloud, storage you already have, and runs no server at all. Your devices write encrypted changes to that storage and read each other’s; the provider holds the bytes and cannot read them.

One library, every device, and the only account involved is one you already own.

The cloud home

A library’s cloud home is one location in your storage: a folder in your Dropbox or OneDrive, your iCloud, or any S3-compatible bucket (AWS, Backblaze B2, Cloudflare R2, Wasabi, …). It holds everything the library syncs: the library’s changes, artwork, and the audio of releases you move to the cloud.

Set it up in Settings, Library, with Set up sync…:

1. Pick a provider.
   • Dropbox and OneDrive sign in through your browser, then ask which folder the library lives in. On Dropbox that is a shared folder, so you can invite your household to it; if you have none yet, share one in Dropbox and choose Look again. On OneDrive it is any folder, and you can create a new one there. The sign-in is held by coven; bae never sees its tokens.
   • iCloud uses the Apple Account the device is signed in to.
   • S3 asks for the bucket, region, endpoint, and access key, and nothing else. Advanced holds an optional key prefix and the service profile, automatic by default; for a service bae doesn’t recognize, Detect settings tests the bucket with your key and shows what it found. If the setup is refused, bae says why.
2. bae starts syncing.

A library with no cloud home is complete on its own. Local-only is a mode, not a limitation.

Always encrypted

Every cloud home holds the same thing: encrypted objects under random names. Every change, image, and audio file is encrypted on your device before upload. Your albums are not a folder anyone can browse in your Dropbox, and the provider sees no album, artist, or file name. See Encryption.

What syncs

• The library: albums, releases, tracks, credits, works, and artists. Every device gets all of it, including releases whose audio stays on the device that imported them.
• People: each person’s name and avatar, ratings, play history, and playlists. Your history and each of your playlists can be private to you or shared with the household.
• Artwork: covers, artist images, and avatars. A device fetches each when it is first shown and keeps it in its cache.
• Audio: only for releases you moved to the cloud. A local release shows on every device but plays only on the device that imported it, until you move it to the cloud. See Storage and offline.

Per-device state does not sync: playback position, volume, queue, and device settings stay on the device.

When it syncs

Sync runs on its own: after changes, on a timer, and on demand with Sync Now in the File menu. Edits land on other devices seconds later under normal conditions. Two devices editing at the same time both win where they don’t collide: bae merges concurrent edits field by field, the later edit wins a field both changed, and a deleted release stays deleted even if it was edited elsewhere at the same moment. Nothing ever asks you to resolve a conflict.

When it fails

Sync failures don’t interrupt the library; you keep browsing, playing, and importing locally while bae retries. Settings, Library shows one line for sync: Synced, or how many items are waiting, such as Waiting: 3 items. Open it to see each item in plain words, with the action you can take: Sign in when the provider wants you to sign in again, Restore source file for a file that moved before it uploaded, Retry, Reconnect, or Update app. A wait you can’t help, such as for another device to come online, offers nothing. This list is the one place to look; uploads can also be paused and inspected in the Storage manager.