News Explorer

You can make a database backup at any time in the macOS, iOS or iPadOS editions of News Explorer.

macOS

Follow these steps to make a database backup on the macOS edition:

• In the File menu, click on item Backup Database.
• In the Save file dialog, adjust the default filename and location, if necessary.
• Click on the Backup button.

iOS, iPadOS

Follow these steps to make a database backup on the iOS or iPadOS edition:

• Tap on the 3-dots button on top of the feeds list, the start view of the app.
• Tap on menu item Preferences.
• Tap on category Advanced.
• Tap on the Backup Database button.
• In the Save file dialog, adjust the default filename and location, if necessary. For extra safety, select a file location in iCloud, Dropbox or any other internet file service that you have configured to work with the Files app.
• Click on the Save button.

Overview

Restoring a database backup can only be performed with the macOS edition of News Explorer. Restoring a backup includes restoring the data in iCloud, when iCloud sync is enabled. This means that once a backup has been restored, your other devices with News Explorer will receive the same restored data via iCloud sync.

When you restore a database, the current data will be replaced with the data in the backup file. Depending on the age of the backup file, this means that you will lose all data after the backup file has been made. However, some of these lost articles will re-appear in News Explorer because they are still part of current RSS feed data.

Compatibility

Make sure that all your devices run News Explorer 1.9.9 or newer. Older versions are incompatible with the iCloud data structure that is being used by News Explorer database restore procedure.

Preparations

Restoring data to iCloud may lead to rejections of the iCloud server if your iCloud account generates too many requests in a short time. This may happen when you have other devices with News Explorer connected to internet, that are all trying to get in sync real-time with the new restored data, or even worse, are trying to merge local old data with the new data in iCloud.

Perform the following steps on all your other devices with News Explorer, to prevent any iCloud server interruptions or data merging:

macOS

Quit the app, for example by pressing ⌘ Command + Q on the keyboard.

iOS, iPadOS

Delete the app by tapping on the Delete menu item of the long press context menu of the News Explorer app icon on the Home screen.

tvOS

Delete the app by first selecting the News Explorer app icon on the Home screen, and then selecting Delete from the menu.

Restore procedure

Follow these steps in the macOS edition of News Explorer to restore a database backup:

• In the File menu, click on item Restore Database.
• The Restore Database Assistant appears that will guide you through a few steps.
• Read the warnings in the first two steps, and click on the Next button to go to the next step.
• In the third step, click on the Select Backup File button.
• Select the database backup file that you want to restore, and click on the Restore button.
• Click on Next.
• A summary will be displayed of all the steps that will be performed.
• Click on the Restore button to start the restore procedure.
• The backup file will be unpacked, inspected and prepared for restoring. All other steps listed in the said summary will be performed.
• Once restore procedure has been completed, a confirmation dialog will be displayed.
• Perform a Resync All procedure on all your other devices with News Explorer.

Resync procedure

Perform the following steps on your other devices, after the Database restore completion dialog has been presented:

macOS

Start the app, while holding down the Shift key on the keyboard. The app will immediately start with a 'Resync All' procedure on startup.

iOS, iPadOS

Re-install the app from the App Store and start the app. The app will automatically download the restored data from iCloud.

tvOS

Same procedure, re-install the app from the App Store and start the app.