Sync Plans, Resource Use, and Service Speed

A sync plan provides a shared allowance for cloud services used by the Troves you own. Family Treasures measures that activity in Sync Load Units (SLU). SLU is a common measure that combines different kinds of resource use, such as image and document storage, database, and AI activity.

What counts toward usage?

Metered activity includes work with the cloud database, such as syncing records; transferring files such as photos and attachments; keeping database records and files in cloud storage; and AI activity such as field suggestions based on images analyzed. These activities have different resource costs. For example, transferring many or large photos generally uses more resources than syncing a small text change, and stored files continue to use storage resources even when you are not using the site.

Each activity is weighted and combined into one overall SLU total. The combined total is what is compared with the plan limit. There is no separate allowance for each type of activity or each Trove.

The 14-day average matters

Family Treasures looks at your rolling 14-day usage and calculates a daily average. The plan thresholds are based on that average across the full window, not on one busy day by itself. A day with heavy activity can be balanced by lighter days. There is no special penalty for a single busy day if the overall average remains within the plan’s range. That busy day still counts in the calculation, though, and can raise the average until it rolls out of the 14-day window.

For example, imagine a household spends one day scanning and uploading many photos, then uses the Troves lightly for the next several days. That busy day contributes to the average, but the lighter days bring the average down. By contrast, frequent uploads, edits, downloads, or AI requests across many days can keep the rolling average high.

What happens when usage is high?

Going over the plan’s normal range does not immediately turn everything off. Family Treasures has two usage thresholds:

Above the plan threshold: cloud-backed operations are throttled. Sync and some other features continue, but may take longer. The higher the 14-day average rises toward the upper threshold, the more noticeable the slowdown can become.
Well above the plan range: some cloud-backed activity, including sync operations, may be temporarily blocked. This is reserved for usage significantly above the plan’s range.

Throttling and blocking are based on the owner’s overall 14-day average. Once that average drops back into range, service resumes automatically. If your household’s regular use needs more headroom, upgrading to a plan with a higher limit can help.

One plan covers all Troves you own

Plan limits are attached to the Trove owner’s account, not to an individual Trove. An owner can have many cloud-synced Troves under one subscription. Resource use from all of them is added together when calculating that owner’s average.

Only the Trove’s Owner needs a sync-plan subscription for that Trove’s cloud service use. Activity from every member of the Trove is counted against the Owner’s plan, because the Owner’s plan supports the shared cloud resources used by that Trove.

Example: An Owner has three synced Troves. The Owner's own activity is light, but another member uploads a large set of photos to one Trove and a different member downloads many attachments from another. Both members’ activity contributes to the Owner’s combined usage across all three Troves.
Example: The Owner does not sign in for several days, while collaborators continue adding records and files. The Owner’s plan can still move into the throttled range because member activity is attributed to the Trove Owner.

When ownership changes

The person accepting ownership must have an active sync plan, and the account must not already be in the Blocked state for exceeding its own limit. An account that is throttled but not blocked can still meet the current ownership-transfer check. After the transfer, new resource use for that Trove is attributed to its new Owner’s plan; the previous Owner no longer owns that Trove’s future usage.

See your plan and usage