Sync Trouble in 1Password 4 for iOS

SimonNZ

I used 1Password 3 without problems, but since upgrading to v4 on iOS and Mac I have had no end of problems. Usually it is whole items not syncing between the platforms, although I have had other problems like duplicates, endless syncing, rich icons not syncing, etc.

I am using 4.3.2 on iOS (iPhone and iPad) and 4.1.2 (App store) on Mac. I have tried both Dropbox and iCloud sync with the same results. I have no idea whether it is the Mac app, iOS app or both causing the problems.

• I add an item on the Mac. The iOS devices sync some time later (can be hours or days), but the item never appears on the iOS device. Sometimes it appears on once device and not another.
• Similar results if I change an item - the change is not always propagated.
• Sometimes no changes on the Mac appear on the Mac, sometimes some changes do and others do not.
• Usually the sync gears on iOS spins forever, and the sync icon in Settings keeps spinning, even though there is no progress bar in the Sync settings screen and the text says a sync finished some seconds or minutes ago. I have seen several messages saying this is fixed, but it is not.
• Sometimes it does several syncs one after another, some of which take a very long time.
• Duplicate items appearing on the Mac (I haven't seen duplicates on the iOS devices). If I delete one of the duplicates then both disappear from the iOS devices. The Mac one is still there.
• Force-quitting the iOS app and restarting it has no effect. The only way I can get some items to appear is to uninstall the app, re-install it and sync again.

A couple of times I have turned off all syncing, deleted and re-installed the apps on the iOS devices, then re-enabled syncing. Everything works as expected for a couple of days then the problems re-appear.

As it stands I feel that I cannot trust 1Password at all. I have no idea whether all my items are being synced and whether some will simply be lost. 1Password has taken a massive step backwards in reliability and trust.

S.

testastretta

+1

Tried iCloud since Dropbox has been down for two days now, and syncing is dismal. No progress bar for MacOS, hangs the app (can't quit). I'm on the beta channel, 4.1.3.

testastretta

Actually, in troubleshooting this due to the ongoing Dropbox outage, I determined that sync via Dropbox (I never used iCloud until today) isn't reliable, either.

I have three MacOS devices, all on the latest production release. Add to this four iPhones and one iPad. It would seem that regardless of sync method, items which are deleted (moved to Trash, and then Trash is emptied) do not remove those entries from any other devices. My "All Items" count was 465 on my main Mac, the one where most of the 1Password changes takes place. When I switched it over from Dropbox to iCloud, the count jumped to 488. Turns out that items I had deleted months ago reappeared -- they were never deleted from the other devices, and the Merge via iCloud dispersed them to all of the other devices. This is definitely a bug you guys need to fix.

I've had to turn off sync on all Macs and removed the iPhone/iPad app until I can trust sync again, be it via Dropbox or iCloud. This is disappointing, to say the least.

SimonNZ

Yes, I originally used Dropbox for syncing, but after the V4 Mac version was released I started having problems, so changed to iCloud to see whether that was better. Unfortunately not. I switched back to Dropbox but it actually seemed to be worse, so switch again to iCloud.

The real kicker is that sync appears to work. I get no error messages, both the Mac and iOS devices say they have synced. You only find out later that they are not in sync because you cannot find an item you know you entered on a different device. At least if there was an error message then it would be obvious that the sync was failing.

SimonNZ

Oh great, now I have found that attachments have been corrupted. The item shows the attachment file names, but no icons, and the files are zero bytes in length when dragged out of 1Password into Finder.

How can I ever trust 1Password again?

Megan

Hi @SimonNZ,

I'm so sorry to hear that you've been having such trouble getting things all synced up. First of all, I'd like to mention that there is a bug in the current iOS app that causes the gears of the Settings icon to spin endlessly, whether sync is occurring or not. Please note that this is a cosmetic bug and does not actually represent if your device is syncing. Our developers have squashed this bug and you'll see an update soon that fixes things, but in the meantime, it's really nothing to worry about!

As with every major release, we've seen our share of hiccups with 1Password 4, and some of these bugs have resulted in some sync errors. But our developers have been working around the clock to get things working smoothly, and you should be seeing improved and more reliable sync with the 4.1.2 update.

Since you mention that you are concerned about data corruption though, I'd like to take a closer look at your system. Could you please send us a Diagnostics Report?

Download the 1Password Troubleshooting utility and follow the instructions to generate the report.

Then attach the entire file to an email to us: support+forum@ agilebits .com

Please do not post your Diagnostics Report in the forums, but please do include a link to this thread in your email, along with your forum handle so that we can "connect the dots" when we see your Diagnostics Report in our inbox.

Once we see the report we should be able to better assist you. Thanks in advance!

Hi @testastretta,

I do apologize for the recent syncing troubles you've been having! There was a bug in earlier versions of 1Password 4 where 1Password could lose permission to sync after a system restart, but that has been fixed in the 4.1.2 (MAS)/4.1.3 (webstore) release version, so you should be seeing an improvement in syncing behaviour.

It sounds to me like you may have had some old data stored in iCloud and when you switched back to iCloud after using Dropbox, iCloud merged your new database with the one already stored there. If you'd like some assistance getting things sorted out, please follow the instructions above to send us a Diagnostic Report so we can take a closer look at what's going on. :)

SimonNZ

Thanks for replying Megan. Diagnostic report created and sent.

sjk

Hi, @SimonNZ.

We've received your report (thanks!) and will follow up directly through email so that we're not muddling things up between here and there :)

mathieulemaire

hello. I have the exact same problem. what should I do? run the troubleshooting utility?
thanks

sjk

Hi there, @mathieulemaire.

I'm sorry you're having the exact same problem. Since a few have been reported here I'm not sure exactly which one(s) you mean. :)

Maybe you can describe more about the trouble you're having to and what you've already tried (if anything) to fix it? Also, which versions of software are you're running on which systems/devices? Thanks in advance for the additional information!

jhbarker

Sync has also stunk for me since V4. Namely, change on my Mac usually do not show up on my iPhone and iPad. Switching from Dropbox to iCloud improved nothing. I have multiple vaults on the home mac, but only use the primary vault. I will submit a diagnostics report from the iPhone. Frankly, this is not the sort of performance one expects from a 50 dollar app.

Megan

Hi @jhbarker,

I'm so sorry to hear that you've been having trouble with sync. I did a quick search in our email system using the email address attached to your forum account, and I see that one of our support team is already helping you out. We'll continue to work directly via email so that we don't duplicate efforts or cause any confusion between here and there!

vincenthernandez

My iPad 2 1password app no longer works I sign in but Content is no longer showing up. I have problems syncing with iCloud. I also tried wifi and Dropbox no luck. It was working until today. 1-24-14. Sunday. HELP ME. Thank you. Vince H.

Megan

Hi @vincenthernandez,

I'm so sorry to hear that syncing isn't working well for you right now. In order to get you sorted out, I'm going to need a few more details. First off, it's a bit tricky to troubleshoot all 3 sync solutions at once. In general, we recommend picking the sync solution that best fits your needs and sticking just with that. Switching back and forth between multiple solutions could result in merged databases. So, please let me know which sync you would like to use, and we'll get that one working smoothly for you!

Here's what I need to know:

• What is the version number of 1Password you currently have installed on your iPad
• What version of iOS are you using?
• How many other computers and devices are you using 1Password on? (Please give me the version numbers of both 1Password and your operating systems there as well)
• What sync solution are you hoping to use?

There are a few general things to check out when sync goes wonky.

• For iCloud: Please check that iCloud is enabled on all devices and logged in with the same user account
• For Dropbox: Ensure that Dropbox is enabled and logged in with the same user account, and that all devices are pointing to the same folder

Once I know a bit more about your situation, we should be able to get things working for you!

testastretta

Megan: as noted in my submission, "I never used iCloud until today." So this being due to an old instance of a database simply isn't possible. I'll watch the total entry numbers across machines and report if this problem (Trash sync) is still an issue.

sjk

Hi, @testastretta.

In your previous reply you mentioned:

I've had to turn off sync on all Macs and removed the iPhone/iPad app until I can trust sync again, be it via Dropbox or iCloud.

Which cloud sync service, if any, are you currently using with 1P4 and is it enabled on all your systems/devices?

testastretta

DropBox is the only thing I used, and continue to use. Sync seems to be improved in the latest version, but I haven't dug into it in detail. I do notice that Trash is finally syncing up.

sjk

Thanks for the followup, @testastretta.

I'm glad to hear your Trash syncing issue is resolved. I'd noticed that one, too, which was fixed after an update and resetting syncing.