Cloud backups and restore — Audely documentation

Recover the library around your audio

Audely Pro cloud backups protect the library around your source audio. They are separate recovery points stored in iCloud. Sync is for everyday continuity, while backups provide a way back after an unwanted edit, deletion, or reset.

What a backup contains

A backup can include podcasts and their episodes, audiobooks and their parts, audiobook metadata, notes, artwork, retained transcripts, favourites, played state, listening positions, supported preferences, and the creating device’s Now Playing item, play queue, and playback rate. It also keeps matching details such as original filenames and folder-relative paths so restored items can reconnect to local files. It does not contain source audio, source folders, their podcast/audiobook content mode, pending mixed-folder choices, device-specific permissions, absolute paths, or device-specific file locations.

An explicit restore applies the backed-up Now Playing item, queue, and playback rate only to the device that starts the restore. That session is not copied to other devices. Their existing sessions remain for items that are still present after the restored library syncs.

Backups count against the available storage in the signed-in iCloud account. Artwork and transcripts usually account for most of the backup size.

Create a backup

iPhone and iPad

Open Settings inside Audely and choose Backup.

Mac

Open Audely › Settings and select Backup.

Enable Back up to iCloud. Choose Manual, Daily, or Weekly. Manual turns off automatic creation while keeping Back up now available.

Ordinary backup creation keeps up to five recent recovery points across your devices. During restore, Audely creates an extra safety backup without removing an existing recovery point, so six may appear temporarily. The next ordinary verified backup returns the list to five.

With Daily or Weekly selected, a scheduled backup is created when Audely is used and the newest cloud backup is older than the chosen frequency. It is not a fixed clock-time event.

A new backup appears only after it finishes successfully. If creation fails, existing backups remain unchanged. Older recovery points are removed only after the new one is safely available.

Restore a backup

Open the Backup page in Settings.
Select the recovery point you want and choose Restore.
Review the preview showing the saved podcasts or audiobooks, audio files, and transcripts.
In Restore this backup?, confirm Restore.
Let Audely create a safety backup of the current library and apply the selected version.
Link or scan source folders on the current device if playback access is missing.

Audely creates and verifies a safety backup before replacement. If that safety backup fails, restore stops by default. Continuing without it requires a separate warning because the current library may not be recoverable.

If Audely verifies a failure before library replacement, the current library remains unchanged. In the rare case that the result cannot be verified, restart Audely before trying again as the alert directs. If the library was restored but sync was paused for safety, the restored library remains on the device and the alert explains how to retry sync.

Why source folders may need to be linked again

Folder permissions and content classification belong to one device and are intentionally excluded from backup data. After reinstalling or restoring on another device, link the folder that contains the matching audio, choose its content type, and run a source scan. Audely uses restored episode and part information to reconnect matches where possible.

Delete a backup

iPhone and iPad

Open the backup row’s options and choose Delete.

Mac

Select a backup in the table and use the delete control below it.

Deleting a backup removes only that version from iCloud. It does not change the current library, synced data, other backups, or source audio.

When your Audely Pro subscription ends, existing backups remain visible and can still be deleted. Creating, downloading, or restoring a backup requires active Pro access.

Sync compared with backup

Sync keeps current library changes moving between devices.
Backup preserves recent recovery points in case a current change should be undone.

Both use the signed-in iCloud account, but they solve different problems.

Resetting a local library or using Delete synced data does not delete cloud backups.