Bridge — connect a device

The Devices tab in the Cloud Accounts window connects another device to your Mac and does two things: it shares that device's folders so they appear right alongside your cloud accounts, and it shares your clipboard both ways — what you copy on one device turns up in the other's Junk Yard. It's powered by Storage Studio Bridge, a free companion app you install on the other device. Bridge for Windows is available now; Android and Linux are coming later.

Unlike a cloud account, a Bridge connection is direct and end-to-end encrypted — there's no server and no cloud in the middle, so your files never pass through anyone's servers. It works whether the two devices are on the same Wi-Fi or far apart across the internet.

How Bridge keeps your data private

Bridge is a private, direct connection between just your two devices — think of it as a personal VPN that exists only between them. Everything that crosses it is end-to-end encrypted: it's scrambled on the device that sends it and only unscrambled on the device that receives it. Nobody in between can read it — not us, not your internet provider, no one — and nothing is ever stored on a server or kept in the cloud.

Each device is identified by its own security key, and the six-digit Tunnel Code shown on both screens lets you check that you're linked to the right device with no one in the middle.

The link works whether the devices are on the same network or far apart across the internet, and either way the data stays encrypted the whole way. When two devices that are apart are first finding each other, that brief step may use public internet infrastructure, but your actual files and clipboard are always encrypted and never readable by anyone else.

If you'd rather Bridge never touched the internet at all, turn on Local network only (off by default). With it on, Bridge stays entirely on your local network, so the two devices must be on the same Wi-Fi or local network to find and reach each other.

How to connect

1. Install Storage Studio Bridge on the other device and open

it. It shows a short connecting code (three groups, like XXXX-XXXX-XXXX).

1. On your Mac, open Cloud Accounts → Devices.
2. Type the connecting code into the box and click Pair.
3. A Tunnel Code (six digits) then appears on both the Mac and

the device. Check they match — that's your assurance the link is the right one and nobody is in the middle.

Turning Bridge on or off

Bridge is on by default. If you'd rather not pair anything, one switch turns the whole feature off (and back on again). You can pair more than one device with your Mac — up to a set limit (five by default) — and each one keeps its own settings.

Where shared folders appear

Whichever folders you choose to share from the other device show up inside the Storage Studio drive in Finder, in a folder named after that device. Turn on the Cloud Drive (the Cloud Drive tab) to browse them. A device that's offline is simply skipped until it's reachable again — everything else still mounts.

Staying connected

Under the connecting box, Keep connected for sets how long to stay connected — from 15 minutes up to a week, or Always. After that time the device disconnects on its own.

Each paired device has its own row with Connect, Disconnect, and Forget buttons, and you can pause and resume sharing at any time. Forgetting a device removes it; you'd need the connecting code again to re-pair.

Pausing keeps the link warm

Pausing — from either the Mac or the device — stops everything you copy or share from going out, but it does not disconnect. The connection stays alive in the background, so each side still sees the other and resuming is instant. While paused, both sides clearly show Paused rather than a misleading "Connected", and tell you which side did the pausing.

Heartbeat — proof the link is healthy

While connected, a tiny keep-alive beats roughly every 20 seconds — even while paused. Both the Mac and the device show last handshake … ago as live proof the link is up and well.

App versions and updates

Each side shows the other's app version. Bridge can check for its own updates — automatically when it opens, and any time from a Check for updates button in its Help. Storage Studio also lets a connected Bridge know when a newer version has been released, shown as an Update available banner with a button to go get it. Nothing ever installs by itself — it just points you to the download.

The Bridge Activity monitor

There's a dedicated Activity view — a window on the Mac, and the Activity tab in the Bridge app — that shows the whole picture for All devices at once or for a single device you pick. At the top you get the live receiving and sending speed and the lifetime totals, and below that three charts:

• Throughput — speed over time
• Total transferred — the running cumulative amount
• Items transferred — scraps versus files

Hover over any chart to read the exact values, zoom and pan to look closer, switch the time range, or jump to a past date — Bridge keeps about a month of history. Underneath, a searchable activity log names every item sent and received, along with connections and pauses.

Clipboard sharing (optional)

Each device has a Share my clipboard with … switch. Turn it on and whatever you copy on one paired device appears in the other's Junk Yard — text, images, and files and folders. Received items wait in the Junk Yard as scraps; they're not dropped straight onto your system clipboard, so nothing you've copied gets quietly replaced — you click a scrap to copy it when you actually want it. It's off until you turn it on, and you can set it differently for each device. Passwords are never shared.

Passwords are never shared — anything copied from a password manager (or marked secret) is skipped on purpose.

Two master switches in the Junk Yard header

Above the per-device switches are two global controls, right in the Junk Yard header:

• Capturing — saves what you copy on this device into your own Junk

Yard. Off ⇒ nothing you copy is recorded as a scrap.

• Sharing — sends what you copy to your connected devices. Off ⇒

nothing leaves this device, no matter what each device's "Share my clipboard" switch says.

They're independent — capture locally without sharing, share without capturing, both, or neither. Sharing only happens while a device you share with is actually connected.

Copies showing up on your other Mac with sharing off? If both Macs use the same iCloud account, that's macOS Universal Clipboard (Handoff) — an Apple feature, separate from Storage Studio. Turn it off in System Settings → General → AirDrop & Handoff on both Macs.