Backup vs Sync

Two words that sound similar and do very different things. Backup is a file. Sync is a service. Knowing which one you want saves a lot of confusion the first time you change phones or reinstall the app.

Backup

A backup is a one-way export. You tap Export in Settings, Rackd writes a file with your programs, workouts, training maxes, and history, and you save that file wherever you keep important things. iCloud Drive, Google Drive, email to yourself, AirDrop to a laptop. It is a snapshot of where your training stood the moment you tapped the button.

Backup is free, manual, and offline. No sign-in, no account, no server in the loop. The file lives where you put it, and Rackd does not see it again until you restore from it.

You restore from a backup by tapping Import on a fresh install or a different device, picking the file, and confirming. Your programs, your sessions, your training maxes all come back. If you took the backup three weeks ago, you get the data as it was three weeks ago. Anything you logged after that point on a different install is not in the file, because the file does not know about it.

Backups are good for a clean reinstall, a phone upgrade you do once a year, or a quick safety net before you change something risky in your data.

Sync

Sync is two-way and continuous. You sign in once, turn Cloud Sync on, and Rackd keeps your data lined up across every device you sign in on. Log a session on the phone in the gym, open the iPad at home, the session is already there. Edit a training max on one device, the other catches up the next time it has signal.

Sync is part of Power Rack, requires a sign-in, and is off by default. The pricing and the sign-in flow live on their own page (see Cloud Sync setup, DOCS-32). The point worth making here is that sync is not a backup. It is a live mirror. If you delete a workout on one device by mistake, that delete travels to the other devices too. For a true point-in-time snapshot, take a backup.

Pick by what you actually need

If you train on one device and want a safety copy, take a backup every few weeks and keep the file somewhere you trust.

If you train across two devices and want both kept current without thinking about it, turn on Sync.

Most people want both. Sync handles the day to day, backups give you a snapshot to fall back on. Your data stays yours either way.