Use ShowGen Settings → Backup & Restore for portable recovery of your ShowGen setup. Band Sync, applicable private iCloud sync and a live ECHOSystem session are separate services; none is a complete backup.
Export a backup
Choose Export ShowGen Backup… and save the file somewhere independent of the device. The current backup includes Profiles, Bands and memberships, Working Band selection, the active Flow library, personal Sheets Charts and annotations, Pulse User Sounds/audio and saved settings, BopPad presets and Chart/Song setups, portable Ears layout, and General/workspace preferences.
Factory audio comes from the installed app. Login credentials, physical audio/MIDI connections, mixer addresses, live mixer/session state and caches are excluded. A saved Ears layout is not a saved live monitor mix. StoreKit entitlement and device-local synchronization checkpoints are not portable backup content.
Restore deliberately
- Export your current setup first.
- Stop playback and other live/device activity. Follow the app’s storage and readiness checks; restore requires On This Device storage.
- Choose Restore ShowGen Backup…, select the backup, review the replacement warning and confirm only when you intend to replace the included local data.
- ShowGen validates and verifies the replacement and returns to Home. Restored content remains behind the app’s local reconciliation hold until you explicitly follow its reconciliation workflow. A failed reconciliation keeps the protective hold; follow the displayed instructions before resuming synchronization.
- Recheck audio outputs, MIDI device selection, mixer address and monitor bus on the receiving device.
Restore is replacement/recovery, not a merge. Older backups restore only the content they contain. Use normal Chart/Song import or reviewed Band sharing when you only want to add material.
A backup preserves unresolved references to missing Sounds rather than silently removing those references. It cannot recreate audio that was already missing. Damaged data or conflicting identities can still block export; keep a successfully exported copy before removing an installation.
Content recovery does not restore access
Stored Band and membership information is a content snapshot, not proof of current access. Restore does not join a Band, reactivate a removed member, restore a signed-in session or recreate account authority. Membership must be checked against the current ShowGen Account and Band binding. Use a normal Re-invite when membership access has ended.
Restore does not restore or grant an Apple subscription. Use Restore Purchases to ask StoreKit to verify an active purchase. Subscription lapse does not erase your canonical content.
Permanent personal Profile deletion markers travel with the applicable Profile backup and remain preserved when restoring an older backup. Current deletion markers win over old identity data; restore cannot revive a deleted account/Profile or use old membership information to regain access. Resume any pending account-deletion operation on its originating device before replacing that device. See Delete ShowGen Account.
Synchronization is separate
Band Sync supplies persistent shared Band Flow data for active members. Personal Flow sync uses the signed-in account’s own scope. Neither uses the retired private Flow CloudKit transport. Applicable iCloud/CloudKit sync handles your own supported cross-device data, including supported Profile identity, Sheets and Pulse content. ECHOSystem / Flow Mode coordinates a live local-network Host/Follower performance; Flow Mode also works locally without networking.
Working Band selection and hardware choices are device-local. Deleting content in an applicable synchronized feature can affect other devices. A portable backup does not transfer another device’s sync checkpoints or override current server, membership or deletion authority.