How Dabble syncs your work
You wrote a scene on the train, then a tunnel swallowed your signal. Did it save? Here’s exactly how Dabble syncs your work, so you never have to wonder.
A full copy of your novel lives on your device. Another lives in the cloud. Every change saves to your device first, then syncs to Dabble’s servers and out to your other devices in the background.
We’ll cover:
- Offline-first: your device saves first: why your words are safe before they ever hit the internet
- The cloud icon in your header: where to read the current sync state
- Working across multiple devices: pick up on your phone where your laptop left off
- A note on private browsing: the one mode where your work isn’t safe
Offline-first: your device saves first
Section titled “Offline-first: your device saves first”Dabble is offline-first. The moment you type a word, it’s written to local storage on your device. No save button. No internet required.
Once a change is saved locally, Dabble syncs it to its servers over a live connection. So if your connection drops mid-sentence, the words are already safe on your device, waiting to sync the second you’re back.
Each device holds a complete copy of your project. Open Dabble, keep writing, online or not. See Working offline for more on writing without a connection.
There’s no button to force a sync, and you don’t need one. Dabble syncs continuously on its own, and a stuck sync almost always clears on a page reload.
The cloud icon in your header
Section titled “The cloud icon in your header”The cloud at the top-right of the window tells you the current sync state at a glance. See Sync status icons for what each state means and what to do about it.
Working across multiple devices
Section titled “Working across multiple devices”Sync is real-time across every device signed in to your account. Write a scene on your laptop, open Dabble on your phone, and it’s already there.
Dabble only sends the changes you make, not the whole project each time. So syncing stays fast and light on data. That matters on mobile and on slower connections.
Edit the same project on two devices at once? Dabble merges the changes instead of letting one overwrite the other. Concurrent edits from different devices are combined automatically, so you won’t lose a paragraph just because two devices were writing at the same moment.
A note on private browsing
Section titled “A note on private browsing”Offline-first only protects your work when your browser is allowed to save data on your device. Private and incognito windows are the catch. Some browsers refuse to store anything in those windows, so your edits live only in memory and vanish the moment you reload or close the tab.
If Dabble can’t save locally, you’ll see a red alert in the header warning that your browser isn’t saving changes on this device. Don’t do real writing in that mode. Use a normal browser window, or install Dabble as an app for the most reliable experience.