LogTen Pro adds iCloud Sync for easy backups
LogTen Pro now offers automatic iCloud syncing.
LogTen Pro has been our pick for the top iPad logbook app for a few years now. It offers an easy-to-use interface for fast entries, but it’s also packed with some really sophisticated tracking and reporting features. But one question that inevitably comes up with electronic logbooks is: how safe is your data? Losing all your flight data can be a real headache for a private pilot, and it can be much more serious for a professional pilot.
This app has always offered backup options, including plenty of ways to print reports and a wireless sync feature. But the sync feature required you to connect to another iOS device (like an iPhone) on the same WiFI network. It worked well, but wasn’t that intuitive and it wasn’t automatic at all. That’s changed now, with the introduction of LogTen Pro version 6.5.
This version automatically syncs your logbook with your Apple iCloud account, including all log entries, images and signatures. The best part is that this service runs in the background, so you don’t have to tap a button to sync. Setup is pretty much automatic, but here’s how to verify you’ve done it properly:
- Make sure you are running iOS 6 or later.
- Open the Settings app, and sign into iCloud.
- See iCloud Setup for help turning on iCloud on your device.
- Turn on Documents & Data in the iCloud section of the Settings app.
- Open LogTen Pro, select the More tab, then Settings, and scroll down to the Sync section.
- Change Sync Using to iCloud.
To be fair, this isn’t necessarily a backup function; it’s more designed for syncing between multiple devices. For example, it does not store different versions of your logbook, but only the latest data. So there’s no way to revert back. But we’ve found that syncing like this is the easiest backup option, because you don’t have to think about it. If you have LogTen Pro on your iPhone and iPad, it’s a reasonable solution. For true worst case backup, we would recommend exporting your logbook to Dropbox or emailing it to yourself.
This sync feature works for Mac as well as your mobile devices, although this requires a separate app purchase for your Mac. The update is free for existing users, and requires iOS version 6 or newer. Full details are available here. You can download the app in the App Store.
Well, this – unfortunately is not e real backup solution. For years not much progress has happened to the app. Add the function to export the Database to an eMail plus import it back into the app from a received eMail and the function to print to a PDF-Document which can be sent via eMail and I will buy the app straight away.