Slow startup with iCloud sync
If your library is in iCloud and your Mac is running low on disk space, macOS can move your library's files out to iCloud to make room, and SuperCards has to download them again before it can show them. Your cards are safe. Here's what's going on and how to fix it.
Update to SuperCards 0.7.7 or later. Versions 0.7.6 and earlier could take many minutes to open on a Mac like this, and sometimes opened to a blank window. Version 0.7.7 opens in seconds, and browsing your Library no longer downloads your cards. To update, click the SuperCards logo at the top of the sidebar and choose Restart to Update (choose Check for Updates first if it isn't there yet), or use the update button in Settings. You can also download the latest version and replace the app in your Applications folder. Version 0.7.7 and later need macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
What you might see
- A short wait when you open a deck — if a deck's cards are in iCloud only, the Card Editor downloads them before it opens the deck, with a count as they arrive ("Downloading 3 of 21 cards from iCloud..."). On our test Mac, a deck of 150 cards took about 8 seconds.
- Pictures that take a moment the first time — card previews and images on a card download the first time you see them. SuperCards keeps a copy of each preview and deck background on your Mac, so after that they appear at once, even offline.
- A notice that some cards are unavailable — if your Mac can't reach iCloud while some of a deck's cards are only there, the Card Editor says so. Those cards open once the connection is back.
Why it happens
With iCloud sync on, your library lives in iCloud Drive. When your Mac gets low on disk space and Optimize Mac Storage is on, macOS makes room by removing the copies of files it keeps on your Mac and leaving them in iCloud. Your cards are among those files, and SuperCards has to download each one again before it can read it.How often it happens depends on how full your disk is. With some space to spare, macOS removes files only now and then, so you might notice a wait only after a few weeks away from SuperCards. When space is very tight, macOS removes the same files again within minutes, so a deck you opened earlier has to download again the next time you open it. Apple doesn't publish where that line is; on the Mac where we measured it, it was about 15 GB free on a 500 GB disk.
If iCloud sync is off, your library is stored on your Mac and none of this applies.
What to do right now
- Still on 0.7.6 or earlier? Give it time. A slow launch does finish, and force-quitting to start over won't make it faster. Once the window opens, update as described above.
- If the window opens blank, quit SuperCards (right-click its Dock icon and choose Quit) and open it again.
- Fix the cause with any one of the options below. The first three don't need SuperCards to be open, so you can do them while you wait.
Fix the cause
Keep your library downloaded
On macOS 15 or later: in Finder, open iCloud Drive, Control-click the SuperCards folder, and choose Keep Downloaded. macOS downloads your library and leaves it on your Mac even when space is tight, and syncing with your iPhone carries on as before.Free up disk space
This is the root of the problem, and the more space you free, the better: macOS removes files far less often, and what SuperCards downloads stays put. To see what's using your disk, open System Settings → General → Storage.Turn off Optimize Mac Storage
Open System Settings, click your name, then iCloud (on macOS 15 or later, click Drive next), and turn off Optimize Mac Storage. macOS then keeps everything in your iCloud Drive on your Mac, so only do this if your Mac has room for all of it.Keep your library on your Mac
In SuperCards, open Settings, switch off iCloud Drive Sync in the Data section, and confirm. SuperCards copies your library to your Mac, where macOS leaves it alone. Every file is downloaded first, so the move can take a while.The trade-off is that changes you make on your Mac stop reaching your iPhone on their own. To send a deck over, click Share Deck on it in the Library and AirDrop it to your iPhone. If it opens there as a file preview, tap Share, choose SuperCards, then tap Install.