Q. Which of your apps is the most direct replacement for Xmarks?
Synkmark. For other alternatives, please see our Selection Guide.
Q. Why is your BookMacster Sync extension gray in Google Chrome’s toolbar and nothing happens when I click it?
The BookMacster Sync extension sleeps in the background waiting for bookmarks changes. It has no user interface. Unfortunately, a year or so ago Google decided that Chrome all extensions must show in Chrome’s toolbar, even if they have nothing to show. So there it sits. For your security, they say. I and other developers complained, but you can never win an argument with security :))
Q. Well, how do I force Synkmark or BookMacster to “Sync Now”?
Run Synkmark or BookMacster, and click the File menu and choose one of the Import or Export commands.
Q. Why does syncing between two browsers on the same Mac take 5 minutes or so?
The default wait is 4-5 minutes. We set this default many years ago, to minimize usage of system resources. Since it takes about as much energy to sync one new bookmark as fifteen new bookmarks, if you’re adding new bookmarks rapidly, we can coalesce what would be multiple syncing operations into one if we wait a few minutes.
You can speed things up in BookMacster or Synkmark’s Preferences > Syncing. Set Minutes to wait… to a lower value. Actually, we might do that for you in a future version.
Q. Does Synkmark or BookMacster need to be launched for sync to work?
The opposite. Automatic detection and syncing of bookmarks changes occurs only when the .bmco document window is closed in BookMacster, or when Synkmark is quit. This is to prevent conflicts which could occur if changes were pulled in from browsers while you were editing bookmarks in BookMacster or Synkmark. You should leave BookMacster or Synkmark quit except when you want to do major bookmarks housecleaning – once a week, month or whatever.
You can do such major bookmarks housecleaning in Chrome or Safari if you want, but it’s better to do this in BookMacster or Synkmark. There will be less CPU because you’ll sync only once, when you are done. Also, there is no chance of conflicts, and for heaven’s sake we have a much better user interface with more tools than any of the browsers’ bookmarks managers.
Q. Do I need to do any kind of “migration” from Xmarks?
Unlike Xmarks, our apps are compatible with and work in tandem with iCloud-Safari syncing. But it cannot clean up the corruption in iCloud which was caused by Xmarks for Safari. Even if you stopped using iCloud-Safari and Xmarks for Safari years ago, the corruption could still be there in iCloud. So, after deleting Xmarks for Safari, you should rebuild your iCloud bookmarks as part of configuring Synkmark, Smarky or BookMacster.