cavea

🔄 Shared mode

Understanding and using Shared mode: indicators, lock, save, and clean exit.

General principle

In shared mode ☁️, the cave.db file is hosted on ☁️ Google Drive or ☁️ Dropbox. Multiple devices can access it, but only one can write at a time (exclusive lock).

Important: Cavea always works on a local copy of cave.db. All your changes (adding, consuming, moving…) are saved locally first. They are only uploaded to the shared cloud storage when you save — either manually or on exit. Without an explicit save, your changes remain on your device only and may be lost.

Indicators

A permanent icon in the navigation shows the active mode and lock status.

Mode icon (always visible)

Icon	Meaning
💻 PC (grey)	Local mode — data on this device only
☁️ Cloud (blue)	Shared mode — data on Google Drive or Dropbox

Lock icon (Shared mode only)

Icon	Meaning
🔓 Open padlock	Write mode (green icon) — you hold the lock
🔒 Closed padlock	Read-only mode (amber icon) — another device holds the lock
↻ Spinning icon	Save in progress (blue icon)
⚠️ Error icon	Save error (red icon)

Buttons in Shared mode

In write mode 🔓

On PC (Windows / Linux): a 💾 Save button appears in the navigation panel. It triggers an immediate upload to the cloud without closing the app.

On Android: two icons appear in the navigation bar:

💾 Save (green floppy disk icon): immediate upload to the cloud
Quit (red exit icon): save + lock release + close app

In read-only mode 🔒

A 🔓 Take over button is shown. It lets you acquire the write lock if the other device has released it. A confirmation dialog appears before the lock is acquired.

Lock lifecycle

Startup

Cavea creates a “lock” file on the cloud to signal it has the write token
Cavea downloads the latest version of cave.db from the cloud
The app opens in write mode 🔓

If another device already holds the lock: Cavea opens in read-only mode 🔒. A dialog offers to stay in read-only mode or quit.

Clean exit

On PC (Windows / Linux):

Close the app window normally
Cavea saves cave.db to the cloud and releases the lock
Other devices can then acquire the lock

On Android:

Use the Quit button (red exit icon) in the navigation bar (only visible in write mode)
This button saves to the cloud, releases the lock, then closes the app

⚠️ Do not use the Home button or task switcher to exit. The lock will not be released (other devices remain blocked in read-only) and any changes since the last save will not be uploaded to the shared cellar. On the next startup, if the lock still belongs to you, a dialog will ask you to choose between uploading your local changes to the shared cellar or reverting to the shared version.

Crash recovery

On the next startup, if the lock belongs to the same device:

Cavea resolves the situation automatically and offers to re-upload your local copy or download the cloud version
On PC, a “Previous session interrupted” dialog may appear

Read-only mode — what is accessible

Feature	Read-only mode 🔒
🍷 Browse stock	✅
Filter / search	✅
ℹ️ Bottle details (read)	✅
📦 Browse by location	✅
History 🕐	✅
↔️ CSV export	✅
⚙️ Settings	✅
➕ Add bottles	❌
🍸 Consume / ↕️ Move / ✏️ Edit	❌
↔️ CSV import	❌

Switch cloud provider

In ⚙️ Settings > Sync mode, tap Change provider. This clears the stored tokens and relaunches the setup wizard.