Sync conflicts NOT created!

3strikes

Hi, using 1PW 5.3 on Mac Mini and latest versions on iOS iPhone 6 and iPad mini 2, sync-ing on iCloud ...
I was editing a 1PW login entry on the Mac and for some reason this wasn't saved at the time, so when next started up and the same login accessed, I had the "Resume Editing" option, which I took.
Meanwhile, away from home on business, I'd been editing the same entry on my iPad, but putting in different data, anticipating that both versions would appear in one merged entry on all platforms, which I could then edit, to obtain the definitive entry on all, after sync-ing.
Not so :(
When the sync-ing was finished eventually, I watched as the iPad entry was replaced by the Mac entry, with no Conflict data saved on any platform, so the iPad entries are lost.... or are they?
Questions, please:
Why did the data get lost with no Conflict entry?
Is the missing data lost, or hiding somewhere?
Thanks.

Ben

Hi @3strikes,

I'm trying to figure out what exactly happened here. To clarify: the devices were connected to the internet and able to sync while you were away, right? So you made changes on the iPad, which were likely immediately synced to the Mac, but didn't show because you were in the middle of editing the item there as well... Then you hit the save button on the Mac after finishing edits there, overwriting the iPad?

If so, that sounds as though it may be working as designed. If someone is actively editing an item on device A, opens it up and edits and saves it on device B, and then saves the edits on device A (syncing right along via iCloud) the result we'd expect is that whatever was displayed on device A would now be what is stored everywhere for the item.

I think the only way we could really improve this would be to make it possible to 1Password to detect if an item you are currently editing is updated elsewhere. I'm not sure the feasibility of that, but I will certainly pass along the feedback to our developers.

Ben

3strikes

Hi Ben, thanks for looking into this. It's almost as you said, but not all devices were switched on and connected to the Internet all the time ... chronology -
1) iPad Mini2, iPhone6 and MacMini switched on and connected to Internet ...

2) Edit of an entry was started on MacMini but for some reason (not recalled) this was interrupted and not saved; MacMini was switched off and iPad and iPhone taken on trip ...

3) While away, edits of a differing nature made to the same record using iPad (the changes started but not saved on MacMini were obviously not replicated on the iPad or iPhone); oddly, these iPad changes didn't sync to the iPhone, although 1PW on the phone was set to sync with iCloud (I don't know if any other records altered on iPad during the trip were sync-ed correctly or at all) ...

4) Upon return home some days later, all devices once more on and connected to Internet: the subject entry was accessed on the MacMini and I noticed that the original edits made were present, as was the option to "Resume editing"; none of the iPad changes showed after completing and saving the MacMini entry ...

5) Automatic (and then manual) sync-ing took place on all three devices: the MacMini stayed as it was, with its edits correct, the (hitherto untouched by either edits) iPhone took on the MacMini's version and the iPad's differently-edited entry was replaced by the MacMini's now-saved version! What I expected to see also were Conflict entries copied across all three platforms, with all data from both sources present ... not so!

I hope this makes some sense Ben - the result of this scenario is not something which will affect the future of mankind; rather I (and presumably some other users) would like to know what happened so that if a similar situation recurs I can take steps to ensure no data is lost.

Thanks
Greg

AGAlumB

@3strikes: I'm sorry for the trouble you're having here! Unfortunately, 1Password only deals with 'sync conflicts' when they are presented by the cloud servers, since 1Password itself is not doing any syncing.

I hope this makes some sense Ben - the result of this scenario is not something which will affect the future of mankind

Maybe not the future of mankind, but the future of our data, certainly! Thanks for the detailed explanation. It makes sense only in the sense that I know what you mean! Otherwise that seems very odd -- in the sense that what caused this to happen isn't apparent.

Sync services of all kinds are not perfect, unfortunately, and their state can sometimes fall victim to some discontinuity. Since iCloud is effectively a 'Black Box', not giving any of us any insight into what might be going wrong, often the best thing to do is to reset the iCloud datastore to start from scratch so that all devices and the server are on the same page again.

Please try the steps in our iCloud troubleshooting guide (which culminates in resetting the datastore) to see if that helps, and be sure to let us know if you have any questions! :)

3strikes

Thank you anyway Brenty, but no luck I'm afraid! Decided to avoid sending good time after bad and to rebuild the data in this record.

AGAlumB

Decided to avoid sending good time after bad and to rebuild the data in this record.

@3strikes: Understood. I'm sorry that there didn't seem to be a better option, but sometimes it is 'simplest' to do it yourself so you know exactly what you're getting. Be sure to reach out if we can be of further assistance!