ChronoSync Express FAQs
ChronoSync Express differs from the standard version of ChronoSync in the following ways:
- Does not have full administrative (root) access to all files. Only documents that can be accessed by the logged-in user can be copied.
- Cannot create bootable backups of the local computer.
(Both of the above can be rectified by purchasing ChronoAgent and installing it on the same computer as ChronoSync Express) - Cannot wake a sleeping system to perform a scheduled synchronization.
- Cannot explicitly preserve Spotlight Comments (but can implicitly preserve them by copying .DS_Store files).
- Cannot trigger synchronizations when Spotlight Comments change.
- Cannot execute pre- and post- synchronization scripts.
- Does not support custom rules implemented as external scripts.
- Does not support file comparison helpers.
- Does not support custom email bridges. You must use the built-in “Direct Messaging” client for email notifications.
- Custom credentials cannot be specified when connecting to file servers. All credentials must be stored on the system Keychain.
- Security related attributes will not get added to any executable file that gets copied as part of a sync or backup.
- Does not have the SmartScan high performance file system scanning.
- The ‘Only run if target volumes or agents are available’ scheduling option is not included.
- The ‘Abort if still running at…’ scheduling option is not included.
- Cannot mount/unmount locally attached drives to sync or backup.
- Does not have the option to Assert Volume Ownership when using Admin Access.
- Cannot connect to select cloud storage services.
- Cannot perform a byte-for-byte comparison of your file contents and metadata using the File Validator function.
- Does not have the Parallel Operations feature, allowing multiple concurrent copies of files.
- Does not have the option to resume interrupted syncs.
Take a look at our comparison chart!
Apple has very strict requirements for what type of applications can be sold in the Mac App store. Firstly, all Mac App Store applications must run in a “Security Sandbox” that presents many restrictions on what system resources can be accessed. Features such as executing pre- and post- sync scripts, communicating with 3rd party email applications and launching helpers are either not possible in the sandboxed environment or not possible in a very user friendly way. Secondly, Mac App Store applications cannot obtain privileged, “root” access to your system. You know, those pesky “Please supply your administrator password to do something” dialogs? ChronoSync needs these privileges to access files in other user’s accounts, wake the system from sleep and, most notably, create a bootable backup.
Despite the limitations, ChronoSync Express is still an extremely powerful and capable application that can meet most people’s backup and synchronization needs. No other backup and sync utility on the Mac App Store can match what it offers.
ChronoSync Express requires macOS 10.13 or newer. 75 MB of free disk space is also needed.
ChronoSync Express must remain in the /Applications folder or a descendent of it, e.g. /Applications/Utilities. Furthermore, if you move it, you must at least launch it once in order to ensure the background scheduler gets reconfigured to launch at login (if so configured to begin with).
No. ChronoSync Express does not install any kernel extensions or patch any system service nor does it bypass high level system APIs to communicate directly with devices. ChronoSync Express operates exclusively in “user land” and will not affect the overall stability of your system. ChronoSync Express DOES perform very high intensity disk I/O and, very rarely, may expose underlaying hardware and/or driver issues. If such occurs, our support team will be happy to assist in solving the problem even though it does not reside in ChronoSync Express itself.
At this time, ChronoSync Express is only available in English, French, German and Japanese.
No. If you are synchronizing between two computers, you only need to install ChronoSync Express on one Mac and mount the other Mac. You can connect to the other Mac via File Sharing or install ChronoAgent on the other Mac for better performance. ChronoSync Express will automatically mount the remote computer for you with either option.
Yes, but only files and folders under the User and/or Home folders.
Yes. By using InterConneX (Free for iOS) in conjunction with ChronoSync Express, you can backup or synchronize files to an iPad and to an iPhone.
Yes. You can synchronize certain files, like document files, between any OS that your Mac can copy to. For instance, you can synchronize your Documents between Sierra and High Sierra or even High Sierra and Windows 10. However, you can only perform a Home-to-Home sync between the same version of macOS, meaning you must sync High Sierra to High Sierra but not High Sierra to Sierra. Furthermore, you need to make sure that your iApps like Photos, iTunes and Calendar are the same version.
For backup operations, any file and folder that the logged-in user has read-access to. If you can open the folder in Finder and see its contents, and open the documents in an application, they can be backed up by ChronoSync Express. This typically encompasses everything in your Home folder.
For synchronization operations, you will also need write-access to these files so they can be changed. You typically have read and write access to the same files so this is rarely a problem. You should be careful about synchronizing the contents of your Library folder with another computer, however, since it typically contains computer-specific information.
Backup is when you copy files to a destination so that you have a redundant copy, in case something goes wrong with the original.
Synchronization is when you copy and work on files within both targets, like a desktop and a laptop.
Not safely. ChronoSync Express can merge the contents of two Photos libraries together, but Photos won’t recognize those changes. This is because Photos tracks all its photos in a private database file. If you merged the contents of two libraries, you’d be making changes that aren’t reflected in the database and Photos may lose track of your photos.
Yes. Take a look at how to Synchronize with a Disk Image to see how you can protect and encrypt your data.
Time Machine is the system level backup service that’s built into macOS. It works transparently, behind the scenes, to take snapshots of your files. Backups are implicit but you have little control over what is backed up, when they are backed up and where the backups are placed. ChronoSync Express provides explicit control over your backups allowing you to control what is backed up, where it is placed and how often it is backed up. ChronoSync Express actually works quite complimentary with Time Machine. For more details, click here.
Yes! If you purchased ChronoSync Express, you get $10 USD off a single license of ChronoSync. You will need to provide a copy of your iTunes receipt showing your complete bill-to address, order number, purchase date and the ChronoSync Express line item. Attach it to an email message with a request for an upgrade and send it to sales@econtechnologies.com. We’ll take care of the rest!