Guides · 9 of 10
Sync settings between Macs
Set up your bees once, and your other Macs follow. Everything is encrypted on your Mac with your sync code before it leaves.
You’ll need Waggle on each Mac, on the same version, and connected to the internet.
What syncs, and what never does
Syncs
- Your bees: names, icons and outline colours
- Your look, sizes, sounds and every other setting
- Slack channel choices and email server settings
- AI bee projects and model choice
- The order of your bees
Never syncs
- Passwords, API keys, codes and sign-ins
- Your licence key
- Your messages (each Mac gets them from the service), and AI bee chats
- Where bees sit on screen, and their sizes
So on each new Mac, you sign each bee in once.
1. Turn it on, on your first Mac
- Open Settings (hexagon in the menu bar → Settings…) and click the Sync tab.
- Under Sync between Macs, click Turn On (First Mac).
What success looks like: a sync code like ABCD-EFGH-JKMN appears, with a Copy button. The code is the encryption key, so keep it private.
2. Join, on each other Mac
- Settings → Sync.
- Click Join with a Code…, type the code and click Join.
- Sign each new bee in. WhatsApp shows its QR code; email and AI bees ask for their password or key.
What success looks like: this Mac takes the settings and bees from the first. Any bees only it had are kept, and added to the others.
3. Day to day
Changes go across by themselves within about three minutes. To send them straight away, click Sync Now. What success looks like: it says “Synced just now”.
- A bee on one Mac only: right-click it and untick Sync to Other Macs. Good for work bees you only want on the work laptop. iMessage bees stay on their own Mac unless you tick it.
- Removing a bee asks whether to remove it from all Macs, or this Mac only.
- If two Macs change the same thing at once, the most recent change wins.
- Keep every Mac on the same version. The Sync tab warns you when another Mac is on an older one.
Turning it off
- Turn Off on This Mac stops syncing here. Your other Macs carry on.
- Turn Off and Delete the Synced Copy… deletes the encrypted copy. Every Mac keeps what it has now, but stops syncing.
- Export Settings… and Import Settings… do the same job with a
.wagglefile instead. Importing adds and updates bees but never removes any. The file has no passwords, but does have your email server settings and AI projects, so keep it private.
The Waggle Relay, and Updates & Relay
Settings sync runs through the Waggle Relay, Waggle’s one online service. It only ever sees scrambled data: your settings are encrypted with the sync code on your Mac first. Your messages never pass through it.
Settings sync needs a licence (or the trial): Free Bee works on one Mac only. Every licence includes 12 months of Updates & Relay: new versions, Settings sync and iMessage on another Mac. After that it’s £9.99 per 12 months if you want them:
- Settings → Licence → Updates & Relay shows the end date.
- From 30 days before it, click Renew Updates & Relay… and pay. Renewing early loses nothing: the 12 months start from your current end date.
If you don’t renew, Settings sync and iMessage on another Mac pause, and new versions aren’t offered. Your bees, sending and the version you have carry on as normal.