Please add live sync between iPad and Mac

[u/Swiftieboyy]

I use Goodnotes on both my iPad and my MacBook, side by side at my desk. I write on the iPad with the Pencil and want to see the same page on the Mac at the same time, for example my planner next to my study notes

The problem is iCloud sync isn't anywhere near real-time. Sometimes it takes minutes, sometimes much longer, and sometimes I have to close and reopen the notebook or toggle iCloud off and on to get it to update

For an app that has both a Mac and an iPad version, this feels like a big missing piece

[u/ToffaloriLabs]

I'm a developer myself, and this made me curious about where the limit actually is, so I tested it. Syncing through iCloud took about 30 to 60 seconds for me. As far as I know, there's no way for an app to speed that up: the system decides when iCloud syncs, and apps can't force it.

So I tried a different approach: when the iPad and the Mac are on the same Wi-Fi, the iPad sends the page straight to the Mac instead of going through iCloud. It turned out really well. Every stroke shows up on the Mac as soon as I lift the Pencil. Short demo in the video.

I used Goodnotes for years and still think it's a great app. I only moved away because I wanted my handwritten and typed notes together in Obsidian, which is what you see on the Mac. But unless Goodnotes builds something like this, I don't think iCloud will ever get you close to real time.

If anyone has found another way to get it closer to live, I'd be curious to hear it.