iCloud sync and shared notes
Varlig keeps your library in step across your Mac, iPhone and iPad through your own iCloud account. There’s no Varlig account and no Varlig server: your notes go from your devices to your private iCloud storage and back, and nowhere else. This page covers turning sync on, what it carries, how to tell what it’s doing, carrying on with a note on another device, and sharing a single note with other people.
Turn on sync
- On the Mac, open Settings › Sync & Backup and turn on Sync notes with iCloud. It’s off until you do.
- On iPhone and iPad, sync is always on. See Getting started on iPhone and iPad.
Every device needs to be signed in to iCloud with the same Apple Account. The first sync on a device brings in what the others have and sends what it has; notes on both sides are kept, and nothing is replaced.
On the Mac, sync runs whenever Varlig is open, even with no window showing. To keep your notes syncing after you restart, turn on Open at Login in the same group.
When Varlig syncs
You don’t need to press anything. Varlig syncs when it opens, a moment after you change a note, when another device changes one, and when the network comes back. iPhone and iPad also sync now and then in the background. If iCloud can’t be reached, or is busy, Varlig waits and tries again by itself. Sync Now is there for when you’d rather not wait.
Protected notes travel encrypted, exactly as they’re stored. iCloud only ever holds their encrypted text, and the password opens them on every device.
What syncs
| Syncs | Stays on each device |
|---|---|
| Notes and their attachments | General settings, the selected theme and fonts |
| Password-protected notes, still encrypted | The scratchpad |
| Trash, Archive, pins and templates | Reminders |
| Each note’s settings: its calculation settings, pinned exchange rates and writing target | Tag pins and icons, and review records |
| The text Varlig read from pictures and PDFs, for search | Manual note order and Mac workspaces |
| Touch ID and Face ID keys, and app lock | |
| Automatic backups |
Saved searches, reading lists, saved text transformations, protected-tag policies and custom theme definitions also follow your Apple Account through iCloud. On the Mac this follows Sync notes with iCloud. Make or edit a custom theme on the Mac, then choose it on your phone under From Your Mac; choosing a theme stays separate on each device. If a shared list exceeds its size limit, Varlig says which items stay on this device.
Other settings remain local, so each device can be set up its own way. Import, export and backups covers what a backup holds.
When two devices change one note
Edits to different parts of a note merge. When two devices change the same part before they’ve synced, Varlig keeps both: the note keeps one version and the other arrives beside it as a conflict copy, so you can compare them and keep what you want. Nothing is ever overwritten.
A note made by a newer version of Varlig stays read-only on a device with an older one, and that device never sends it back changed. Update Varlig on every device to edit it everywhere.
See what sync is doing
On the Mac, the iCloud button at the top of the sidebar, beside the gear, shows the state at a glance: it pulses while syncing, shows a slash when sync is off, and turns orange with an exclamation mark when something needs attention. Click it for iCloud Sync:
| Line | What it says |
|---|---|
| The status | Up to date, Changes waiting to upload, Syncing…, or what went wrong and what to do. |
| Last successful sync | When a sync last finished. |
| Waiting to upload | How many notes have changes this Mac hasn’t sent yet. |
| Conflict copies preserved | How many conflict copies sync has made. |
| Attachments not in iCloud | Notes whose attachments another device hasn’t uploaded yet, each one a click away. |
| Other devices | Every other device on your account, with its Varlig version and when it last synced, and a warning when it can’t edit some of your notes. |
Sync Now (or Try Again) and Open Settings… sit underneath. Settings › Sync & Backup shows the same status.
On iPhone and iPad, sync stays out of sight while it’s working. An icon appears at the top of the note list only when something needs your attention, and Settings › Sync shows the full status.
Messages you might see
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Waiting for a connection. Changes will sync automatically. | Nothing: your changes are saved on the device and sync when it’s back online. |
| iCloud is busy. Sync will retry shortly. | Nothing: Varlig tries again by itself. |
| Sign in to iCloud to sync notes | Sign in to iCloud in System Settings on the Mac, or Settings on iPhone and iPad. |
| iCloud storage is full. | Your edits are safe on the device. Free up iCloud storage, or add more, then choose Try Again. |
| The iCloud account changed. | Sync turns itself off on the Mac so your library never uploads to someone else’s account. Sign back in to the original account, or turn sync on again to use the library with the new one. |
| Sync failed and a reason | Your notes are saved on the device. Choose Try Again, or wait: Varlig retries on its own. |
An attachment that couldn’t be downloaded yet doesn’t hold up the note: its text arrives, and the file follows once the device that has it syncs.
Handoff
Start reading a note on one device and carry on with it on another. While a note is open in Varlig on your Mac, iPhone or iPad, your other devices offer it through Handoff: in the Dock on a Mac, and in the app switcher on iPhone and iPad. Open it there, and Varlig opens the same note at about the same place: the line at the top of the Mac’s editor, or of the note you’re reading on iPhone and iPad. From the editor on iPhone and iPad, or on iOS 17, the note comes without its place.
Handoff works as it does for any app: your devices need to be signed in to the same Apple Account, with Handoff turned on in their settings. It tells the other device which note to open, and never sends the note’s text; the note itself comes through sync.
- A protected note is handed over as which note it is, without even its title, and the other device asks for its password before opening it.
- While Varlig is locked, nothing is offered. A note handed to a device where Varlig is locked opens once you unlock it.
- A note that hasn’t synced yet, such as one you’ve only just written, is waited for while Varlig asks iCloud for it. If it still hasn’t arrived after about 20 seconds, Varlig says so and asks you to check that iCloud sync is on for both devices.
Share a note with people
Besides your own devices, you can share a single note with other people through iCloud. It’s live and mutual: you’re both writing in the same note, and two people adding to one list keep both their lines. It isn’t a snapshot — for read-only pages anybody can open, see Publishing a snapshot.
- On the Mac, choose File › Share with People…. On iPhone and iPad, choose Share with People… from the note’s
…menu. Sync needs to be on. - Choose what they can do: Can edit or Can read.
- Choose Start Sharing, then invite each person by email address or phone number.
Only people you invite by name can open the note; the link on its own isn’t a way in, which is what makes removing somebody mean something. The same panel lists who’s been invited and who’s joined, and holds Copy Link, Remove… for one person and Stop Sharing… for everyone. Your own note stays in your library either way.
Removing someone stops iCloud sending them the note from now on, but the copy they already have stays with them. A note that’s shared, either way, shows a people mark in the note list, and the ones others shared with you are in Shared on iPhone and iPad.
When someone shares a note with you, open their invitation on your Mac, iPhone or iPad to add the note to your library. If they stop sharing it, your copy stays as it was, read-only, and Make Editable turns it into an ordinary note of your own. On iPhone and iPad, Leave Shared Note… takes you off a note someone shared with you, and keeps your copy the same way.
Password-protected notes can’t be shared, and a shared note can’t be given a password.