ThinkScribe is one app across Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, and one Pro subscription covers all of them. The content follows you only if you decide it should: sync is off until you turn it on, and when you do, it runs through your own iCloud account. iCloud is provided by Apple. There is no ThinkScribe account, and your recordings and transcripts are never sent to us. This guide turns sync on, explains what travels and what does not, sets out why sync is not the same thing as a backup, and covers the corner cases.
How to turn on iCloud sync for your transcripts
- On your iPhone or iPad, open Settings with the gear in the Record or Library toolbar. On Mac, open Settings with Command-comma.
- Go to iCloud Sync and turn on Sync Across Devices.
- Restart ThinkScribe when it asks, so the change takes effect.
- If you also want recordings to play on your other devices, turn on Sync Audio to iCloud (off by default).
- Repeat on every device you want in the loop, each signed in to the same Apple Account.
- Open ThinkScribe on the other devices. Existing transcripts come across in the background; a large library can take a while on the first pass.
What syncs
- Transcripts: the text, timestamps and speaker labels of every recording and import.
- Summaries: the summaries, action items, meeting minutes and other results stored with a transcript.
- Collections: the folders you sort transcripts into.
- Speaker profiles: the voices you have named, so a person recognized on your iPhone is recognized on your Mac.
What does not sync
- Audio recordings, by default. They can be large, so audio stays on the device that recorded it. If you want the audio too, turn on Sync Audio to iCloud. It uses your iCloud storage and works together with Sync Across Devices.
- App settings. Shortcuts, keyboard options and similar choices are set on each device.
- One-time downloads, such as ThinkScribe AI. Each device makes its own.
A note that travels
The typical loop looks like this:
- You tap record on your Apple Watch during a site visit. The audio is sent to your iPhone on its own, which is how recordings made on the watch reach the rest of your devices.
- Your iPhone transcribes it on the device and recognizes the speakers you have named.
- By the time you sit down at your Mac, the transcript is in the library. You open its Action Items tab and export a PDF.
The audio for that note is on the iPhone. If you want to play it on the Mac as well, Sync Audio to iCloud puts it there.
What happens when you delete something on one device
Deleting a transcript moves it to Recently Deleted (in the Library's ... menu), where it is kept for 30 days and can be restored.
The implication is worth stating plainly. Sync keeps your devices in the same state, so it carries the changes you regret as faithfully as the ones you meant: an accidental delete on a phone is an accidental delete on your other devices too. The recoverable window, not the sync, is what protects you.
Sync is not a backup
The two words get used as if they mean the same thing, and the difference is the most useful idea in this guide. Sync keeps several devices in the same state: the newest version of everything, present everywhere. A backup keeps a copy of a past state, so you can go back to how things were.
So sync copies your mistakes as faithfully as your work, and a library on three synced devices exists in one state, not three. It is not three copies in any useful sense. Sync is for convenience, backup is for recovery, and neither substitutes for the other.
What a real backup of a transcript library looks like
A real backup is separated from the original in four ways.
In time. It captures a state from before the mistake. A copy that updates continuously is a mirror, not a backup, because it mirrors the deletion too.
In place. It lives on different hardware, ideally in a different building or account. The rule of thumb is three copies, on two kinds of storage, one of them off-site.
In dependence. It should open without the account it came from, and preferably without any one application. A folder of exported text or Markdown qualifies, and is still readable years later.
Tested. A backup you have never restored is a hypothesis. Restore one, once, and check the text comes back intact.
Making a backup of your library
Settings > Backup & Restore > Export Library... saves a copy of your whole library, and Backup & Restore is also where you bring it back. That copy is what belongs on an external drive or in your own off-site storage. The export guide covers how to back up the whole library, and exporting transcripts as Markdown or text gives you a second copy that depends on no application at all. For the bigger picture of recording, transcribing and organizing across devices, see the complete voice to text guide.
Turning sync off
Switch off Sync Across Devices and new transcripts stay on the device they were made on. To see and manage what apps keep in your iCloud storage, use the iCloud storage settings of your Apple Account in System Settings (Mac) or Settings (iPhone and iPad).
Sync on a shared or work-managed Mac
On a shared Mac, what matters is the macOS user account, not the machine. Each account signs in to its own Apple Account and keeps its own app data, so a family Mac where everyone has a login keeps libraries separate. A shared login does not: with sync on, everything anyone records joins your iCloud account. If you share a login, leave sync off.
On a work-managed Mac, a management policy can restrict or block personal iCloud accounts and iCloud Drive. If the toggle will not stay on, or nothing uploads, an organizational restriction is the usual explanation and IT can confirm it in seconds. There is also a non-technical question: whether recordings of colleagues, clients or patients made on company equipment may travel to a personal iCloud account at all. Settle that before the first meeting.
Nothing has appeared on the other device
Work down this list; the cause is almost always in the first three.
- The same Apple Account on both devices, signed in to iCloud. Two accounts never see each other's data.
- Sync Across Devices turned on separately on each device, and the app restarted when it asked.
- The app opened on the receiving device. Changes come down when it opens or returns to the foreground.
- The first sync still running. A large library takes a while.
- A working network at both ends, enough free iCloud storage (a full account stops accepting data quietly), and no Low Power Mode holding uploads back until the device charges.
- Audio specifically. It does not travel unless Sync Audio to iCloud is on, on both devices. A transcript arriving without its recording is expected, not a failure.
Frequently asked questions
Are my synced transcripts sent to ThinkScribe?
No. Your recordings and transcripts are never sent to us, and there is no ThinkScribe account. Sync is optional and off by default; when you turn it on, it runs through your own iCloud account, provided by Apple.
Does sync need the app to be open?
Changes upload when the app is running and download when it opens or comes to the foreground. A transcript made on your iPhone at lunch is there when you open ThinkScribe on your Mac afterwards.
Why is a recording missing its audio on my other device?
Because audio does not sync unless Sync Audio to iCloud is on. The transcript is there; the recording stayed on the device that made it. Turn on the audio toggle on both devices if you want playback everywhere.
Do I need iCloud sync to use ThinkScribe on several devices?
No. Each device works fully on its own, and one Pro subscription covers all of them. Sync is only about your content following you.
