The Apple version of the Recollector App runs on the iPhone and iPod touch, and for the iPad there is the Recollector App HD. Both of these apps require version 6.0 or later of iOS. The Recollector App and Recollector App HD are free downloads from the iTunes App Store. Simply search for "Recollector" at iTunes to find the app and request to install it on your device.

The Android version of the Recollector App runs on Android phones and tablets, and requires version 2.1 or later of the Android operating system. The Recollector App is a free download from the Google Play Store. Simply locate "Recollector App" at Google Play and request to install it on your device.

The exported file should be put into the Apps/Recollector sub-folder of your Mac's Dropbox folder. If you have previously exported to this folder, then the panel will be initialized correctly to this folder location. But if this is the first time you are exporting, expand the file selection panel by clicking the down-arrow button on the right side of the Save As line. This will open up the panel (as shown in the figure below), and let you navigate to the correct destination folder. Choose Dropbox from the Favorites panel on the left, then open up the Apps folder on the right and select the Recollector sub-folder. This is where your export file should be placed. (If Dropbox doesn't appear in your favorites list, look for the Dropbox folder as a sub-folder of your login folder.)

In the Select Collection window of the Recollector App, click Scan Dropbox. Any collection files that have been fully downloaded from Dropbox to your device should then show up, and will be listed as being in the [Dropbox] category. The new entry in the list will look something like this:

     Antique Cameras
     [Dropbox] Mycameras_App.xml

After scanning Dropbox, a note may be displayed, which identifies any files that were found in Dropbox, but which are not eligible to be added to the list. The most common reasons a file cannot be added are: (1) The file has not yet been fully transferred from Dropbox to your device (in which case you should wait a minute or two and click Scan Dropbox again); (2) The file is not newer than an existing file for this collection that is already in your list of available collection files.

Select the [Dropbox] entry for your collection in the list, and click Select. Note that the list may also include a collection with the same name, but shown as being in the [Recollector file] category. This is the prior (older) version of your collection. Make sure that you select the copy that is listed as being in the [Dropbox] category, since that is the newly downloaded version. When you choose to open the [Dropbox] version, the Recollector App will ask you to confirm that this new version should replace the older version.

When you click Select, the Recollector App will open the selected collection. If the file contained images, the Recollector App will create the individual image files, something that it only has to do the very first time that it opens the newly downloaded file. The App will report the progress of the image-file creation process as it proceeds.

Once the newly downloaded collection has been opened in the Recollector App, if you return to the Select Collection window, you will see that the [Dropbox] copy of the collection is no longer found. It has now been moved to the [Recollector file] category. The [Recollector file] category is the standard home for all active collections managed by the Recollector App.

In the Select Collection screen of the Recollector App, click the Re-scan button. Any collection files that have been fully downloaded from Dropbox to your device should then show up, and will be listed as being (Dropbox) files. (If only one entry is shown in the list, click the down-triangle button at the right of the single entry; this will open up the full list.) The new entry in the list will look something like this:

     Antique Cameras
     (Dropbox)
     Mycameras_App.xml

If you don't see a (Dropbox) file that you expect to see, try choosing View scan log from the menu (click the 3-button icon at the top right of the window to open the menu). The scan log reports the files that the Recollector App found, but also reports on any Dropbox files that it cannot add to your list of available collection files, along with the reason why a file is excluded. The most common reasons a file cannot be added are: (1) The file has not yet been fully transferred from Dropbox to your device (in which case you should wait a minute or two and click Re-scan again); (2) The file is not newer than an existing file for this collection that is already in your list of available collection files.

Select the (Dropbox) item in the list, and click Open. Note that the list may also include a collection with the same name, but shown without a (Dropbox) notation. This is the prior (older) version of your collection. Make sure that you select the copy that is listed as being a (Dropbox) file, since that is the newly downloaded version. When you choose to open the (Dropbox) version, the Recollector App will ask you to confirm that this new version should replace the older version.

When you click Open, the Recollector App will open the selected collection. If the file contained images, the Recollector App will create the individual image files, something that it only has to do the very first time that it opens the newly downloaded file. The App will report the progress of the image-file creation process as it proceeds.

Once the newly downloaded collection has been opened in the Recollector App, if you return to the Select Collection window, you will see that the (Dropbox) copy of the collection is no longer found. It has now been moved to the main storage location for active collections and is shown without the (Dropbox) notation.

The program will then put up a dialog, where you specify how images should be handled during the export:

From the set of choices, pick which images to include in the export file:

If this is the first time that you have exported this collection for sending to the Recollector App, you will probably want to choose the first option and include all images.

If seeing your collection's images on your smartphone or tablet is not so important to you, you might want to choose the second option (just include one image per record) or the fourth option (exclude images).

If you have previously exported this collection, with images, then you will probably want to choose the third option, which will just export those images that are new, or that have changed since the previous export.

Images are exported as thumbnails. The size of the thumbnails is based on the thumbnail-size settings last used for a Recollector App export operation. (If you have never previously done a Recollector App export, the suggested thumbnail size is based on the Recollector preference for the size of thumbnail images shown in the Image Details view.) You can change the size settings here.

You have the option of exporting full-size images as well as thumbnails. If you include full-size images, then the thumbnails seen on your smartphone (or tablet) will, when clicked on, bring up a full-size version of the image. Full-size images will usually be larger than a smartphone's screen, but you can pan and zoom around the full-size image. Including full-size images will significantly increase the size of the export file. This will result in slower downloads and longer initial processing time (the very first time you open your newly downloaded file on your smartphone or tablet). But you may find that having full-size images is well worth it, despite the extra time for initial processing. To request full-size images (as well as thumbnails), turn on the Download full-size images checkbox.

Normally the program exports data for all fields in your collection (other than image fields, if you requested no images to be included). However, only fields included in the List View are exported if you are in Limited Item Details mode. This is the mode that you can turn on with the menu toggle on the Options menu: Limit Item Details to Only Fields Shown in List. In this mode, only those fields that are included in the List View are shown in the Item Details view. And, similarly, when you are in this mode, only those fields shown in the List View will be included in the download file for the Recollector App. (Images are treated specially: They are exported based on the choices described above for handling images in the download file, regardless of whether the image fields are included in the List View.) This special handling of export when in Limited Item Details mode provides a way for you to export just a specific set of fields (rather than all of your collection’s fields), when sending your collection to the Recollector App. If you are in Limited Item Details mode, the program will warn you before executing the export; the warning will remind you that not all of your fields will be included in the download file.

Transferring to an Apple iPhone, iPod touch or iPad:

If you are transferring to an Apple iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, connect the device to your Mac using a USB cable. Then open iTunes on your Mac. Select your mobile device (depending upon the version of iTunes you are running, you will either find your device listed in the DEVICES section in the panel at left, or you will find it listed in the iTunes menu bar) and click the Apps button. Use the scroll bar at the right to scroll down to the File Sharing section. You should see Recollector (or Recollector HD) in the list of Apps that support file sharing:

Select Recollector (or Recollector HD) from the Apps list, and then click the Add button at the bottom of the Recollector Documents pane. Navigate to, and select the export file that you created in the prior step. The file will be transferred to your mobile device and you will see it in the Recollector Documents pane:

Transferring to an Android smartphone or tablet:

If you are transferring to an Android smartphone or tablet, connect the device to your Mac using a USB cable. When you plug in the USB cable, your device may present you with a screen asking what kind of connection you want to make. You should indicate that you want to connect your device as a disk drive. This will cause the SD card (the memory card) of your mobile device to be mounted as an accessible disk device on your Mac. Open the Finder and you should see your Android device listed as a DEVICE. Select the device (shown as NO NAME in the example, below):

You may see a folder named Recollector on the device. (This folder will be present if you have run the Recollector App on your Android device at least once.) Open another Finder window and navigate to where the export file, created in the previous step, is located. Then drag that file and drop it onto the Android device in the original Finder window. This will place the export file at the top level directory of the Android device's SD card, and this is a location where the Recollector App knows to look for such files. If a Recollector folder already exists on the Android device file system (the folder shown highlighted in the image, above), then you also have the option of dragging and dropping your export file right into this Recollector folder. The Recollector App will also find export files in this folder.

Note: Here is a shortcut to consider: Create the export file (as described in the previous section of this help page) directly in the Recollector directory on the mounted SD card device. If, prior to doing the export, you connect your Android device to your Mac, then, when you specify the destination file for the export, you can navigate directly to the Recollector folder on the disk device that corresponds to the mobile device's SD card, and place the export operation's output file right there. Then the current step, moving the export file to the Android device, does not need to be done, since the file will already be located there!

In the Select Collection window of the Recollector App, click the Options button, and select Re-scan for collection files. You should then see a collection listed as being in the [Documents] section. (If you are running Recollector App HD on the iPad, choosing Change collection from the Options menu will automatically perform a re-scan to find any new collection files.) The new entry in the list will look something like this:

     Pacific Shells
     [Documents] PacificShells_App.xml

Note: There may also be a collection with the same name listed as being in the [Recollector file] section. Make sure that you select the copy that is listed as being in the [Documents] section, since that is the newly downloaded version. When you choose to open the [Documents] version, the Recollector App will ask you to confirm that this new version should replace the older version.

Recollector will then proceed to open the collection. If the file contained images, the Recollector App will have to create the individual image files, something that it only has to do the very first time that it opens the newly downloaded file. The App will report the progress of image-file creation as it proceeds.

Once the newly downloaded collection has been opened in the Recollector App, if you return to the Select Collection window, you will see that the [Documents] copy of the collection is no longer found. It has now been moved to the [Recollector file] section. The [Recollector file] section is the standard home for all active collections managed by the Recollector App.

When you start up the Recollector App on your Android device, the program will scan the device's SD (memory) card looking for Recollector data files. If more than one is found, you will be given a chance to use either the most recently used collection or to browse for a collection. Choose "browse" and a drop-down list will let you select from among all available collection files. If, in the previous step, you dropped the export file into the SD card's top-level directory, the particular file will be recognized in the drop-down list by a location designator: (Top Level). The entry will look something like this:

     Pacific Shells
     (Top Level)
     PacificShells_App.xml

If you dropped the export file into the Recollector folder, no folder location will be listed, but you will recognize the file by its name (both the collection name and the file name will be listed). The entry in the drop-down list will look something like this:

     Pacific Shells
     PacificShells_App.xml

If you were already running the Recollector App when you transferred the export file to your Android device, you can ask the Recollector App to scan for new collections by pressing the device's menu button and then select Change Collections. This will take you to the drop-down list where you can find and select your newly transferred collection file.