Official UX Sync And Platform Delivery Update

Since the last update, the work has moved from customization controls into something broader: turning the UX ecosystem into a more complete product loop.

That has meant giving Companion a real account system, bringing the official UX store directly into the app, making official downloads sync across devices, tightening a few important Edge reliability problems, and getting both iOS and macOS release delivery into a healthier state.

This round was not about one isolated feature. It was about connecting surfaces that used to feel separate.

Companion Now Has A Real Shared Account System

One of the biggest changes in this stretch is that Companion now has a real Apex account flow instead of staying local-only by default with no identity layer around cloud features.

Originally, the goal was to avoid putting accounts into Companion at all. That would have been a simpler and cleaner product story if everything stayed local. But once synced official UX and cross-device library behavior became real platform goals, an account layer stopped being optional.

Companion now supports sign in, account creation, email verification, password reset, and Sign in with Apple through the same account system used by Face Studio. That matters because it gives the platform one identity model instead of fragmenting accounts across products.

Just as importantly, the account experience is not hidden away like an implementation detail. It now behaves more like a real product surface, with a clearer home in the app and a more consistent signed-in state across the major Companion views.

There is also still an intentional local-only path. Users can continue without signing in, which keeps the core device workflow accessible while reserving cloud behavior for the places where identity actually matters.

The Official UX Store Is Now Inside Companion

Another meaningful step is that the official UX store now lives inside Companion itself.

Instead of treating the website as the only place to browse official published UX, users can now open the store from the Faces screen, see the live catalog, review previews and metadata, and download official UX directly into the app.

That changes the feel of the platform in an important way. Official UX content is starting to behave like part of the product instead of something that exists somewhere else and eventually gets imported back in.

Official Downloads Now Sync Across Devices

This is the most important product-system change in the round.

Once a user is signed in, downloading an official UX in Companion now records that UX in the user's synced official library. On another signed-in device, Companion can pull that same official library and restore the downloaded UX there too.

That means the platform now has the beginning of a real multi-device content story.

There is an important boundary here: this sync path is intentionally scoped to official store content and creator-owned published content. Local imported UX files still remain local. That is the right tradeoff for now because it keeps private or experimental local content out of the cloud while still making the official ecosystem portable.

Edge Reliability Continued To Improve

A lot of useful device work landed in parallel with the cloud and app work.

On the wrist side, Edge picked up a more stable boot path for persisted custom UX restore, along with a materially better swipe experience under repeated use. That work was not glamorous, but it addressed the kind of friction that can undermine everything around customization if left unresolved.

The outcome is not perfection in every edge case yet, but it is a noticeably better device experience than it was before this pass.

Mobile Companion Feels More Deliberate Too

There was also a good round of iPhone polish in Companion.

The UX selection screen now handles compact layouts more intentionally, including better tile behavior, internal scrolling inside the Classic and Edge sections, cleaner send controls, and a more restrained use of explanatory text on narrow screens. Preferences previews were also tightened so they behave better on phone-width layouts.

These are the kinds of changes that matter because they remove the feeling that mobile is just inheriting a desktop layout by accident.

Release Delivery Is In Better Shape

This round also helped on the delivery side.

Companion's Apple release pipeline needed real signing and provisioning cleanup before it could be trusted. That work is now in a much better place. The iOS TestFlight path is working, the macOS TestFlight path is working, and the release workflow is no longer depending on ambiguous profile selection in CI.

That matters because platform progress does not count for much if the delivery path is still fragile every time a build needs to ship.

Where This Leaves The Platform

The overall story now is stronger than it was a few days ago.

Companion is becoming a real signed-in product. Official UX can be browsed in-app. Official downloads can follow a user across devices. Edge is more dependable. Mobile app surfaces are cleaner. And Apple delivery is closer to something that can be repeated confidently instead of negotiated each time.

That is the right direction for the platform.

The system is starting to feel less like a collection of promising pieces and more like one connected product.