Data is not sent directly back and forth between devices running ContractorTools.
As you enter updates to data in ContractorTools, that data update is sent as a transaction to our server "in the cloud".
Each update transaction is then distributed to each of your devices (or Mac computers), which merge the data transaction updates as though they had been entered in that device.
This means that, in order for a change in data to travel from one device to another, the data update transaction must first travel from the originating device to the server, and then from the server to the destination device.
So that means, in order for a data change to travel from Device A to Device B, first Device A has to sync, and then Device B has to sync.
The data syncing process in ContractorTools runs continuously in the background, so as long as you are connected to the internet, the syncing process will continue. If your device becomes disconnected from the internet (or cell data access), ContractorTools simply stores data update transactions, and then sends them as soon as the device regains a connection.
If your devices/Mac computers are having trouble syncing, please see this article for information about possible causes and remedies.
Can I Make Changes To The Same Job On Two Different Devices And Have Them Sync?
Yes… but you should know the sync process will merge the changes:
Changes to different data in the same job will be merged. So for example, if you change item X on device A, and item Y on device B, device A will end up with the version of item Y from B, and device B will end up with the version of item X from A.
But what happens if you change the same item on both devices?
If you change item X in the same job on both device A and B...
If you change different data elements, these changes will be merged. So for example, if you change the cost of item X on device A, and the quantity of item X on device B, device A will end up with the quantity of item X from device B, and device B will end up with the cost of item X from device A.
If you change the same data element on device A and device B, both devices will end up with whatever value that was last entered (based on relative time, not time zone time).
These principles of data merging apply to all data in ContractorTools, not just jobs and estimate items. So for example, changing customer data on multiple devices will merge those changes in the same way.