iPad and Mac through iCloud Drive

You need: an iPad and a Mac signed in to the same Apple Account with iCloud Drive on, and Sempere on both. About ten minutes.

Each device keeps its own complete copy of the vault inside Sempere and syncs it with a folder in iCloud Drive. iCloud moves the files between your devices; Sempere checks each file that arrives.

1. Make the vault on the iPad

1. New Vault… and type a name.
2. Sync With ▸ Choose Folder…, go to iCloud Drive, and choose a folder (make one called Sempere, for example). If iCloud Drive is not in the picker, tap Don’t see iCloud Drive?.
3. Leave Generate a new key. Optional: Also store the recovery key under a passphrase.
4. Create. On Vault Created, Print Recovery Kit… (or Save Recovery Kit as PDF…), and if you like Copy Key into your password manager. Then I Saved the Key.

The iPad is now the vault’s home: the device that approves your other devices.

Already have a vault on the iPad with no target? Open it, then Sync Targets… ▸ Add Folder… and choose the folder in iCloud Drive.

2. Open it on the Mac

1. Give iCloud a minute to copy the new folder.
2. On the Mac: File ▸ Open Vault… (⌘O), go to iCloud Drive, and choose the .sempere folder.
3. Leave Keep syncing with this folder on and click Copy. Sempere copies the vault into the app and keeps syncing it with the folder.

3. Join the Mac

1. On the Mac’s unlock screen, Join This Device… ▸ Ask to Join. It shows six words and a QR code. Keep the window open.
2. On the iPad, Settings ▸ Sync & Devices ▸ Devices ▸ Add Device…. The Mac’s request arrives through iCloud Drive; once the sheet says “Asked to join: …”, type the six words (or scan the Mac’s code with the iPad’s camera). Confirm with Face ID or Touch ID and tap Approve.
3. The iPad shows six words of its own. When the Mac says the approval arrived, type them there and Confirm.

The Mac now has its own key, kept in its Keychain, and opens the vault by itself from now on. Neither device’s key ever left it. Add a second device explains each step and what to do if one stalls.

4. Share your settings (optional)

On each device, turn on Settings ▸ Sync & Devices ▸ Sync Settings with This Vault. On the second device, a sheet lists the differences; choose Use the Vault’s Settings. Settings that only make sense on one kind of device (mouse smoothing on the Mac, for example) stay with it.

5. Work on both

• Write on the iPad with the Pencil, type and organize on the Mac. Edits on both merge, even to the same note, and both work offline.
• A note open on one device updates when the other’s changes arrive (“Updated from another device”).
• The sync bar under the note list says where things stand. “n changes waiting for iCloud to upload” means Sempere has written them to the folder and iCloud has not sent them yet. Sync Now syncs at once.

If the Mac seems behind, see Troubleshooting.

6. Back it up from the Mac

Settings ▸ Backups & History ▸ Backups ▸ Choose Backup Folder… on an external disk, then Back Up Now, writes a <Name>.sempere-backup snapshot of the encrypted files for recovery.

Adding the iPhone

Same as the Mac: Open Vault… in iCloud Drive, Copy, Join This Device…, and approve it on the iPad. See Sempere on iPhone.