ReunionTouch and iCloud Drive: Quick Start
Sharing a Family File with a Mobile Device via iCloud Drive
To begin sharing a family file on your Macintosh with a mobile device, follow the steps below. (You'll only need to do this one time.)
- Establish a connection to the internet.
- Be sure your Mac is signed in to your iCloud account.
- Be sure iCloud Drive is enabled on your Mac.
- On your Mac, Quit Reunion (if it is running).
- In the Finder, move your family file into an iCloud Drive folder via drag-and-drop. Your family file is most likely located in this folder: UserName / Documents / Reunion Files. Do not use Apple's iCloud web site to upload your family file. Use drag-and-drop in the Finder.
- Wait a while for iCloud Drive to finish syncing.
- Make sure that your mobile device is signed in to the same iCloud account (Apple ID) as your Mac.
- Launch the ReunionTouch app on your mobile device.
- In the "Welcome to ReunionTouch" window on your device, tap .
- A file selection window will appear, navigate until you see your family file and tap its name.
Once you've completed the steps above, your family file will appear each time you open ReunionTouch on your device.
If you have multiple family files, then you can close the current family file by tapping the button and selecting . To open a different family file, tap the name of your family file in the list at the top of the "Welcome to ReunionTouch" window (under the heading "Family files on this device").
Getting Started
When your family file has been shared with ReunionTouch you will see your family file listed in the "Welcome to ReunionTouch" window on your mobile device. Tap the name of your family file and it will open to the Home family.
Similar to the Mac version of Reunion, ReunionTouch's main screen includes a three generation "family view." In the center of the view is the source couple. Below them are their children in a list and above them are their parents. To navigate to a different family, simply tap on a child or parent.
Tapping on the husband or wife of the current family will show the Person menu, with a list of features.
- On the iPad you'll see a list on the left side, which may include: People, Bookmarks, Relatives, or Places. Tap the icons at the bottom of the list to change the contents of the list. Tapping a name in a list will show a person in the family view.
- On the iPhone, these lists are accessed via the Tool button in the upper-right corner.
- On the iPad, you'll see buttons at the top of the family view to change the view: the Family view, a Tree view, or an Ages list.
- On the iPhone, the Tree view and Ages list are accessed via the Tool button in the upper-right corner.
You'll see buttons for , , and . The and buttons navigate to recently viewed families, just like in Reunion for Mac. The button takes you to the home family.
Tapping the button opens the Tools window, with buttons for many features.
How Does Synchronization Work?
Once a family file has been shared with a device, any changes made on the device will appear in the family file on the Mac, and vice versa. There's no need to "manually" sync - it happens automatically and quickly.
Essentially, the Reunion family file on your Mac - which must be located in your iCloud Drive folder, and only in your iCloud Drive folder - can be considered a "host" which is shared with devices, like the iPad or iPhone.
Sharing is initiated on the device when you first "Open a family file in iCloud Drive" (as described in the preceding section). When you do this, the device creates a local or "client" version of the family file that resides on the device. You'll see its name under "Family files on this device."
Thus, for greatest efficiency and performance, a "client" family file resides on the device and a "host" family file resides in the iCloud Drive folder on your Mac. The device(s) and the Mac are not reading and writing to the same database file all the time; however, the tracking and syncing of changes does happen via iCloud Drive, utilizing Reunion's integration of iCloud Drive's sharing technology.
Information can be modified in Reunion and ReunionTouch even without an internet connection. For example, if you take your iPad on the road and make some changes, then when your iPad resumes its internet connection, open your family file on the device and the changes will be synced back to your host family file on iCloud Drive.
Note: Once you’ve moved your family file to iCloud Drive and have begun sharing the family file, it’s important to leave the family file in the iCloud Drive folder. Otherwise, sharing will stop.