Guide contents
Account & working offline

Account & working offline

IngestDeck is built for places without Wi-Fi — a desert unit, a basement stage, a ship. You sign in once, and the app keeps working fully for about a month with no connection. Offline readiness takes care of itself whenever your Mac is online — there is nothing to configure.

Signing in

On first launch, a sign-in gate covers the workspace. Sign in opens a secure system browser window to your IngestDeck account (create one there if needed, with e-mail verification); when it completes, the app unlocks. Your password never passes through the app itself.

A subscription — or the free trial — activates the workspace. Buying, upgrading, changing billing cycle or device count all happen at ingestdeck.com/account, never inside the app.

Reading the account badge

The badge in the top-right of the top bar always tells you where you stand:

BadgeMeaning
Subscription activeOnline, everything confirmed. Everything works.
Trial activeSame, on the free trial.
Offline · license activeNo connection (or the service is unreachable), but you're inside the offline window — everything keeps working. The app switches back to the online state by itself when internet returns.
Locked / action neededAccess has ended — see below.

Working offline

What you can rely on:

  • About a month, fully working. Copy, verify, convert, reports — everything runs offline exactly as it does online.
  • Instant launch on set. Opening the app with no internet doesn't hang on any "checking your account…" step.
  • Nothing to prepare. Offline readiness refreshes automatically whenever the Mac has internet — use your Mac normally at home and you're always covered when you leave for a no-internet job.
  • Fully offline longer than the window? If a Mac stays completely disconnected past roughly a month, the app locks until it's online once (or you sign in again). For multi-month expeditions, one brief hotspot session along the way is enough.
  • Runs and results never expire. History, results and manifests are yours locally regardless of account state.

Devices

A plan includes a set number of Macs (you can add more on the pricing page or at your account). Signing in on a new Mac past the limit shows a device-limit sheet: it lists your active devices and lets you deactivate one to continue — the deactivated Mac locks in real time. The iOS monitor doesn't count against the limit — it's a least-privilege, read-only companion with its own identity.

When the workspace locks

If access ends — subscription ended, trial expired, or the offline window ran out — the workspace shows a lock overlay with exactly the relevant actions: Choose a plan (opens the account page), Start free trial (when eligible), Refresh access (re-checks online — the fix after renewing or landing back on internet), and Sign out. Your local data — tabs, templates, run history — is untouched behind the lock and all there when access refreshes.

Before leaving for a remote job: open IngestDeck once on real internet and check the badge reads Subscription active. That's it — you're covered for the month. (Billing dates matter: a subscription that expires mid-shoot expires mid-shoot; renew first.)