Device Overrides ¶

Device Overrides lets one setting stay different on one device while the rest of your Neptune preferences continue to sync normally.

Unlike Settings Profiles, which provide named settings environments, a Device Override keeps one setting on one physical device.

For example, you can keep the Immersive item-detail layout on one device and use Minimal on another without separating every other preference.
You can also keep an iPhone player Action Button order or visibility choice on that device while Apple TV retains its own layout.
Creating a new override requires Settings Sync to be enabled when you use Keep Here manually, while existing overrides remain manageable when sync is off.
Editing an unlocked setting in an active Server Profile is the exception: Neptune creates the Device Override automatically so it can preserve the server-owned definition.

Keep a Setting on This Device ¶

Use the shortcut on a supported setting row:

The setting receives a This device only badge.

Some controls cannot host a swipe or press-and-hold action, including sliders and reorder editors.
You can manage every eligible setting from:

Settings > User Preferences > Backup and Restore > Device Overrides

The Device Overrides screen groups settings by their normal Settings section.
On iPhone and iPad, you can also search by setting name.

What an Override Does ¶

Applying an override:

• Keeps the setting's current value on this device
• Stops future changes to that setting from being uploaded by this device
• Ignores ordinary changes to that setting downloaded from other devices
• Leaves every other setting synchronized
• Does not immediately change the server or any other device

This is forward-only behavior.
If two devices already have the same value, applying an override does not give the other device an older value or try to reconstruct what it used previously.
Its current value stays as it is.

Overrides belong to one server account, profile, and physical device.
They do not travel inside the cloud backup.
Switching profiles or servers uses that profile's own override list.

If the active Settings Profile also contains an overridden setting, the Device Override wins by default.
Other settings in the profile continue to apply.

A profile can instead save Replace Device Overrides as part of its definition.
When that profile becomes active, Neptune removes only the overrides for settings included in it, then uses its saved values.
Unrelated overrides remain.
A user-initiated selection—including switching to Auto—shows a confirmation with the number of affected overrides before anything is removed.
A later background automatic activation follows the profile's saved choice without another prompt.

Sync a Setting Again ¶

To remove one override:

• Use Sync Again from the setting's swipe action on iPhone or iPad
• Use Sync With Other Devices from its Apple TV context menu
• Or remove it from the Kept on this device list in Device Overrides

When the override is removed, this device's current value is normally queued for sync.
It will be sent the next time Neptune can reach the server, even if the device is offline when you remove it.
If the active Settings Profile owns that setting, its value takes over locally instead and is not uploaded as an ordinary settings change.

Choose Sync Everything Again to remove every override at once.
Settings not controlled by the active named profile are queued using their current values; profile-owned settings remain under that profile.

Managing Overrides While Sync Is Off ¶

The Device Overrides screen remains available when Sync across devices is off.

• Existing overrides remain active.
• You can inspect or remove an existing override.
• Removing one queues its current value until sync is turned on again.
• You cannot create a new override manually with Keep Here until Settings Sync is enabled.
  Changing an unlocked setting in an active Server Profile can still create its Device Override automatically.

Deleting the cloud backup does not delete this device's overrides.
Neptune also does not immediately recreate the backup after deletion.
A later local change can create a new backup if Settings Sync is still enabled.

Administrator Changes ¶

Neptune MDM supports both one-time administrator changes and persistent locks.

When a setting is marked Lock for User, the server value stays locked and wins over a Device Override.
An explicitly locked member of the active Settings Profile does the same whether that profile is optional or Required.
Neptune does not delete the Device Override in either case—it preserves it underneath and restores it when the lock is removed.
Requirement controls which profile stays active; it does not lock that profile's members.

A Server Profile definition itself remains server-owned.
Changing one of its unlocked settings creates or updates a Device Override automatically, so the user can customize the active profile without rewriting the shared definition.

With Neptune MDM, a server administrator's ordinary one-time change takes priority over an override for that same setting:

• The administrator's value is applied.
• The matching Device Override is removed.
• Overrides for settings the administrator did not change remain in place.

This still works if the device was offline during the change.
The forced value is applied when Neptune reconnects, even if ordinary device-to-device sync is off.

The complete order for one setting is: directly locked server value, explicitly locked member of the active profile, unseen one-time administrator push, explicit Device Override, active named Settings Profile, then regular synchronized settings.
A profile allowed to replace a conflict removes that matching Device Override before this order is evaluated.
Marking a profile Required does not change this value priority.
An administrator push suppresses only the conflicting member of an active profile until that profile field is edited or the active selection changes.
Server Defaults are a starting template used only when there is no personal backup; they are not an administrator push.
They bootstrap configured, untouched synchronized settings once even when Settings Sync is off.
A Device Override wins over the corresponding default, omitted template values have no opinion, and later default changes are not retroactive.
The additional empty-document guard applies specifically to adopting the template's Settings Profiles library.

Which Settings Can Be Overridden? ¶

The browser includes synchronized profile settings from Appearance, Home, Playback, Conductor, Search, Sounds, Images, Metadata, plugins, Live Activity, and Seerr preferences where those controls are available on the device.

Device-local or temporary values do not appear.
Examples include diagnostics logging, the Sync across devices switch itself, and runtime-only last-used values.

An iPhone-only setting can be kept on an iPhone even though it has no effect on other device types.
The preference remains part of the synchronized profile unless you override it.

Troubleshooting ¶