Understanding Backups, Page Sets, Syncing, and Page Bundles in TD Snap
It's important to understand the different ways content can be saved and shared. Each method serves a distinct purpose and contains different data. Choosing the right one can prevent data loss, save time, and make collaboration far easier.
Quick Reference: What Each File Contains
| File Type / Action | Pages | Page Preferences | Page Set Preferences | User Preferences |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| User Backup | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Page Set | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Sync (Page Set) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Page Bundle | Yes (Specified Pages) | Yes | No | No |
1. What Is a User Backup?
A user backup is the most complete file type in TD Snap. It captures everything associated with a specific user profile.
What it contains:
- All of the user's Page Sets and their settings
- Page preferences, Page Set preferences, and user-level preferences (the user's custom settings applied when they are loaded)
What it does not contain:
- Voices are not included. However, voice settings are preserved, and the selected voice will download automatically if it's not already on the device (an internet connection is required).
A user backup can be saved locally (or to a USB drive) or backed up to a myTobiiDynavox account.
2. What Is a Saved Page Set?
A Page Set file contains the full communication system a user navigates—all the pages that make up that Page Set.
What it contains:
- All pages associated with that Page Set
- Page preferences and Page Set-level preferences
What it does not contain:
- No user information or user-level settings
Page Sets can be exported/imported locally, shared through myTobiiDynavox, or kept consistent across devices using Sync.
3. What Is Page Set Syncing?
Sync is a cloud-based way to keep the same version of a Page Set consistent across multiple devices and users. Instead of manually saving and re-importing a file every time you make a change, Sync stores an up-to-date copy of the Page Set in the cloud.
How it works:
- When you press the Sync button in the Top Bar, you send the changes you made on your local device and receive any changes made on other synced devices.
- Once all devices have synced, they all hold the same version of the Page Set.
- The Sync button in the Top Bar signals when an updated version is available or when you have local changes waiting to be pushed to the cloud.
- Syncing to myTobiiDynavox also doubles as a quick and easy Page Set backup system in the cloud.
- The Sync Page Set button will show an image of an arrow going into the cloud, out of the cloud, or two images of clouds with arrows going in and out of them depending on which direction the sync will go.
Important considerations:
- No simultaneous same-page merging. Sync does not merge changes made to the same page from multiple devices in the same sync. If two people edit the same page at once, the last device to sync overwrites the other's version. Best practice: communicate about which pages you're editing and sync frequently.
- Access method must match. When syncing across multiple devices or users, the navigation type (access method) setting must be identical for all syncing devices/users.
- Size limit: Sync works with Page Sets up to 1 GB. Anything larger will not sync.
- Extra options: You can revert to a previously saved synced version, overwrite the cloud version with your current one, or use Pull-only Sync (receive changes but don't send any—requires a passcode-protected Edit Mode).
4. What Is an Exported Page Bundle?
A Page Bundle is the most focused of these methods. It lets you share just a subset of a Page Set—one or more pages of your choosing.
What it contains:
- Only the specified pages you select (the current page is always included automatically)
- Page preferences for those pages
What it does not contain:
- No Page Set preferences, no user preferences, and no system preferences
Important note: If a bundled page has buttons linking to pages that don't exist on the recipient's device, those links will do nothing. Page Bundles are saved as .spb files and can be exported to a local file, to myTobiiDynavox, or shared directly with another myTobiiDynavox user.
Real-Life Situations
Situation 1 — When to Create a User Backup
Scenario: A student, Paul, is getting a replacement device, and his therapist, Maria, needs to preserve everything before migrating him to the new hardware.
A user backup is the right choice because it captures Paul's entire user profile—every Page Set plus all of his user-level settings—so he can be fully restored on the new device exactly as he was. (In fact, TD Snap recommends creating a user backup before permanently deleting a user, just in case they're needed later.)
Situation 2 — When to Save a Page Set
Scenario: A speech-language pathologist, Maria, has built a customized Core First Page Set and wants to reuse it as a starting template for other clients, or keep it consistent across her own devices.
Saving the Page Set is ideal here because it carries all the pages and Page Set preferences without tying it to one specific user's personal settings—making it easy for Maria to reuse, share, or Sync across devices.
Situation 3 — When to Export a Page Bundle
Scenario: A teacher, David, created a handful of holiday-themed activity pages and wants to share just those pages with his colleague, Maria—without handing over his entire Page Set.
A Page Bundle is perfect for this because it exports only the specified pages. Maria can then import (and even directly link to) just those pages. David just needs to remember to include any linked destination pages, or those links won't work on Maria's device.
Situation 4 — When to Sync a Page Set Instead of Saving It
Scenario: Paul uses a classroom device while his SLP, Maria, and his parent, Suzie, each maintain a copy of the same Page Set on their own devices. The teamis continuously editing and refining Paul's vocabulary—adding new topic pages, tweaking button labels, and adjusting layouts on an ongoing basis.
Sync is the right choice here—rather than saving and re-sharing a Page Set file each time—because the edits are ongoing and collaborative. With Sync, every approved device stays automatically up to date: when Maria adds a page, Paul's home device and the classroom device receive it on their next sync. Saving and manually re-importing a Page Set would mean repeatedly overwriting older copies and risking version mismatches.
Support Tips
Think of it as zoom levels:
- User Backup = the whole person (everything)
- Page Set = the whole vocabulary system (all pages, no personal settings)
- Page Bundle = a handful of pages (just what you pick)
Save vs. Sync — the rule of thumb:
- Save a Page Set when you need a one-time snapshot, a template, or a copy for someone without ongoing edits.
- Sync a Page Set when the same Page Set is actively maintained across multiple devices and everyone needs to stay current.
Source: TD_Snap_UsersManual_en-US.pdf