Syncellence Performs iOS Sync Duties, But It Isn't Pretty
Syncellence ($4.99) by Dialectro Software promises to be an easy-to-use method to share all of your files between iDevices or from iDevice to Mac, Windows, or Linux PCs.
The app will "synchronize a set of files directly from one device to another without requiring the use of a cloud server," so its function is more limited than it might seem at first glance.
The app offers Wi-Fi and Bluetooth syncing, although the Bluetooth only functions between two iDevices.
Because Syncellence only syncs the documents that are inside the app, every file that Syncellence syncs has to be brought into it before it can be synced.
What the app describes as "full synchronization" is really just copying whatever files the user has added to the app. This process soon becomes very time consuming if a user is dealing with more than a few documents.
The app did had its positive points. Syncellence allows a user to password protect or encrypt data, which is definitely a nice feature. The app also works in portrait or landscape mode.
The developer provided excellent technical assistance, which is very important because there are virtually no in-app directions.
Unfortunately even after clear explanations about what makes Syncellence tick, there are still a number of factors that limit Syncellence's utility.
Syncing photos worked quickly, but the user can only select one photo at a time. After selecting one photo the app sends the user back to the beginning of the camera roll, rather than to where the user was just choosing photos. For a user with a large number of photos in their camera roll, this process soon becomes unwieldy.
For batch photo transfer via Wi-Fi, try Photo Transfer App or Photo Sync. Both are universal apps that work very well.
To get a document into Syncellence the user must cut and paste it into the app.
Syncellence renames every file it syncs, giving them practically the same name. For example, syncing two .txt files results in two files named "ClipboardItem.txt," and "ClipboardItem2.txt." The user cannot rename these docs until they are saved to a computer. When I synced a .txt file Syncellence also removed all of the formatting and introduced stray characters into my file. Why would I choose this app when I can use Dropbox?
Syncellence syncs contacts, a feature that is more likely to be useful when sharing files between iDevices. When syncing to a PC, the app created a vCard for the contact, which it stored in a particular file on the computer. Though many email readers can handle vCards, it takes yet another step to make the contacts usable.
Anyone interested in trying Syncellence should check out Syncellence Free to see if the app will meet your synchronization needs before spending $4.99 on the full version.
