Sync and data freshness
When TrueRoyalties refreshes your data, how fresh Amazon's own reports are, why the last 60 days are re-read, and how to force a sync when you need one.
When syncs happen
You never have to trigger a sync. Every platform refreshes on its own schedule.
KDP and Kobo Writing Life — read directly by TrueRoyalties' own servers, using the session you captured when you connected. No browser or app tab needs to be open:
| Trigger | When |
|---|---|
| Automatic | KDP roughly every hour, Kobo once a day — each account on its own slot, anchored to when it was connected |
| Automatic — Apple Books and your own stores | Apple Books once a day; Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace, ThriveCart and Fourthwall every 4 hours — read from our servers with the key or authorization you gave when connecting |
| Sync now | Whenever you click it, in Platforms |
Draft2Digital — still read by the extension, from your own browser:
| Trigger | When |
|---|---|
| Background alarm | Once a day, as long as Chrome is running and you stay signed in to draft2digital.com |
| Sync now | Whenever you click it, in Platforms |
Amazon Ads spend — read from Amazon's API, no extension involved:
| Trigger | When |
|---|---|
| App open | Any TrueRoyalties tab, open or in the background, once the last successful sync is over 2 hours old |
| Reconnecting | Straight away, without waiting for the 2 hours — you reconnect because something was wrong |
| Automatic repair | Every 15 minutes we resume any sync that stopped halfway |
| Meta Ads | Read from Meta's API too, no extension involved: when you open its page in TrueRoyalties, once the last successful sync is over 2 hours old |
| Automatic — once a day | Even if you never open TrueRoyalties: each ad account is synced once a day by our servers, at its own time of day |
Amazon generates the ad report on its own time, so a refresh usually takes a few minutes to land. Nothing to press while you wait.
A sync only runs if one is actually due, so opening the app ten times in a row does not hit Amazon ten times.
When ad spend looks out of date
The dashboard says so, in amber, above your figures. In almost every case it fixes itself — keep the tab open and it refreshes.
One case needs you: if it says Amazon wants you to reconnect, your authorization expired or was revoked on Amazon's side. Go to Platforms and connect Amazon Ads again — a sync starts as soon as you come back. Nothing else on this list requires a click.
How fresh Amazon's data is
This is the part most people are surprised by. TrueRoyalties can never be fresher than the report it reads:
- KDP royalties — the estimator refreshes roughly every 24 to 48 hours.
- KDP orders — usually within 24 hours.
- Kindle Unlimited — pages read appear quickly, but the KU royalty rate for a month is only set by Amazon in the middle of the following month.
- Amazon Ads — daily, and Amazon keeps revising the last few days.
So today's sales are normally visible tomorrow. A "Sync now" will not make Amazon publish a number it has not published yet.
Why the last 60 days are re-read
Amazon revises recent figures — returns, refunds, corrected attributions. Every sync re-reads the last 60 days so your history reflects those corrections. Older data is already final and is left untouched.
Ad orders "pending shipping"
On the Orders page you may see a note about orders generated by ads that are pending shipping. Amazon reports a print sale when it ships, not when it is ordered, so ad-attributed print orders show up a day or two later. Nothing is lost.
Forcing a sync
Platforms → Sync now. It bypasses the normal schedule and asks for a refresh right away.
Requirements: the platform connected, with a captured session that has not expired (KDP, Kobo) or, for Draft2Digital, the extension enabled and a live browser session. If the button does nothing, see Troubleshooting.