When does syncing happen?
Hi 1Password team,
I use a 1Password account to sync my data on my macOS and iOS devices. I'm interested in understanding when/how changes to my data are synced across native clients.
Say I sign onto my.1password.com and change data in my vault. That change must get pushed to my devices.
On macOS, what needs to happen in order for this change to be reflected in the device's local cache?
- If the vault is locked (but 1Password Mini is running), does the change get pushed to my device's local cached copy?
- If the vault is unlocked, does the change push automatically? Do I need to interact with the client in some way? Does the client itself need to be open?
On iOS, I'm curious to understand the same thing:
- Do I need to open and unlock the app in order for the change to get pushed to the device?
- Is it done via background refresh?
(Another way of asking my overarching question is: if all my devices are connected to the internet, what do I need to do on each of them in order for a change on one to be locally updated on the other? I recognize that in practice, with devices that are constantly connected, this is mostly invisible to the user, but I'm more curious about what's happening behind the scenes.)
1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided
Referrer: forum-search:when does sync happen
Comments
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Hi @brebre
Thanks for taking the time to write in.
As you might imagine sync is a rather complex topic and there is a lot that goes on to make it work smoothly. With 1Password for Mac 1Password mini has a notifier process that listens to 1Password.com for changes. Those changes are downloaded to your Mac as soon as the notifier receives them, but the database doesn't actually update until 1Password is unlocked.
The process is very similar on iOS, except there is obviously no 1Password mini, and so the notifier only connects when 1Password is open. Once unlocked the changes are merged into the database. You can see this happen in real-time if you open and unlock 1Password on both devices and then add a new item that'll appear at the top of the list on one of them. It should appear instantly on the other. On the other hand if 1Password is locked the change cannot be merged until unlocked. When 1Password for iOS is locked, iOS may background sync data from 1Password.com, but that data won't be available to you until you unlock. This isn't as reliable / real-time as the notifier.
Ben
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Thanks so much for the comprehensive answer, Ben!
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You're very welcome. :)
Ben
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Hey Ben - I had a quick follow up question related to this. Periodically, when I try to copy one item to another vault, it takes a bit to sync the changes across two machines (e.g., I often have them both open next to each other, and when I move/copy the item, the change doesn't immediately appear in the destination vault on the second computer).
Is there a way I can force a sync on the receiving computer?
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I use 1Password on two Mac's. This morning I added an item to the vault, on one mac, but it wasn't updated on the 2nd mac. I quit 1Password on both Mac's -- still no update. I finally did a system restart on the 2nd Mac, and then the item appeared. Is this to be expected?
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