ChronoSync FAQs The most frequently asked ChronoSync questions

ChronoSync requires macOS 10.14 or newer. 145 MB of free disk space is also needed. Older versions are available for systems as far back as 10.3.

No, it does not. Just be sure to launch ChronoSync once via double-click in Finder from its new location so that location path identifiers can be updated.

No. ChronoSync 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 operates exclusively in “user land” and will not affect the overall stability of your system. ChronoSync 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 itself.

No. The reason is because Apple places restrictions on what system resources can be accessed by any application sold in MAS. This makes it impossible to offer the full ChronoSync feature set to MAS purchasers. ChronoSync Express, a more limited version of ChronoSync, is available in MAS.

Volume discounts on 5 & 25 packs are available online. For information on larger quantity discounts, email our sales department with your inquiry.

ChronoSync is available in English, French, German, and Japanese.

No. If you are synchronizing between two computers, you only need to install ChronoSync on one Mac and connect to the other Mac. You can connect to the other Mac via File Sharing or install ChronoAgent on the other Mac for better performance. ChronoSync 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 in conjunction with ChronoSync, 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 Ventura and Sonoma or even Ventura and Windows.

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. 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.

ChronoSync also has the “Local Volumes (Admin Access)” option that can read & write to any file or folder on your system provided the user has administrator credentials. If connected to a remote computer via ChronoAgent, you can also gain full access to all files and folders on that computer as well.

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 can merge the contents of two iPhoto libraries together, but iPhoto won’t recognize those changes. This is because iPhoto 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 iPhoto may lose track of your photos.

Yes! ChronoSync can make bootable backups to locally attached, internal and external hard drives. It can also make remote bootable backups over a network connection very easily, by combining it with ChronoAgent. ChronoSync 4.8 will be able to create bootable backups of APFS volumes to APFS or HFS+ volumes when High Sierra is released later this fall.

YES. In the Setup panel for each target, change “Connect to” to “Local Volumes (Admin Access)” to gain access to all files in the target regardless of permissions. This will only work for drives connected directly to your Mac. You cannot gain administrative access to any volume mounted via file sharing. To connect to a remote Mac with full administrative access, you can always use ChronoAgent.

“Admin Access” (a.k.a. Administrative mode) is a special mode that you can activate on a per-target basis. When activated, it allows ChronoSync to gain access to all files in the target regardless of permissions. Typical uses for “Admin Access” are when you wish to backup files of other users on the system, or you want to create a bootable backup.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of macOS 12 (i.e. Monterey), the use of “Admin Access” is required if you wish to use the SmartScan feature in your syncs. This is a limitation of macOS itself. If you are running an earlier version of macOS, then “Admin Access” is not necessary in order to use SmartScan.

ChronoSync doesn’t include a built-in feature to encrypt backups. As a file synchronization app, ChronoSync maintains the fidelity of your files so that the destination is identical to the source. However, you can encrypt your backups by taking advantage of the macOS FileVault II technology. Just enable FileVault on the backup drive and backup normally using ChronoSync. FileVault is a proven technology and it provides seamless integration to the OS as well as ChronoSync.

The alternative is to create a Sparse Bundle DMG encrypted with a password. Then mount the disk image and backup to that. You can add the password in ChronoSync to have it automatically mount the DMG as needed to backup.

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 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 actually works quite complimentary with Time Machine. For more details, click here.

We get this question from time-to-time and, in the current race-to-the-bottom app economy where $4.99 apps seem expensive, we can see why it’s easy to balk at a $49.99 purchase. The fact of the matter is that ChronoSync is not expensive. First of all, it’s the only price you’ll have to pay. You will never have to worry about an upgrade or support fee with ChronoSync. With every new update (and we’ve released more than 60), you can actually consider your cost of ownership going down!

Secondly, software development is expensive. We’ve spent several million dollars developing, maintaining and supporting ChronoSync over its lifetime. It needs to be sustainably priced in order to continue that. Otherwise you’ll be stuck with an un-maintained and un-supported product and we definitely don’t want to see that!

We get this question at least as often as “Why is ChronoSync so Expensive?” — a fact that we find somewhat humorous. The unfortunate reality (for us) is that the current race-to-the-bottom app economy imposes a very strong downward influence on the price of software. Back in the 80’s and 90’s, it would have been easy to charge $199 or more for such a product — but not today! Luckily we are very efficient developers with very low overhead, so we can continue to offer professional grade software at such low prices.

Yes. You need to buy a License Key for each Mac you install ChronoSync on.

A ChronoSync License can be registered on only one Mac.

To move a license key from an old Mac to a new Mac, unregister on the old Mac and then register on the new Mac.

Contact sales@econtechnologies.com for any clarification.