Reproducible iCloud sync Mac <-> iPhone issue

henrikn

It seems I can reproduce a sync issue consistently by syncing a secure note from desktop to phone, then deleting it on the phone.

Would be interesting to hear if others can, or can't.

Setup:

• Desktop: 1Password 5.3 on Yosemite
• Phone: 1Password 5.4 on iOS 8.3
• Both configured to sync via iCloud.

Reproduction steps:

• Open app on iOS and desktop
• Add a secure note saying "foo" to the desktop. Verify in preferences that it synced.
• See the note appear on the phone.
• Open the note on the phone, hit "Edit", hit "Delete Secure Note", confirm.
• Go to iOS app settings, make sure it says it synced.
• Force desktop app to sync by changing vaults and back again. Verify in preferences that it synced.
• Note that the note didn't go away in the desktop app!
• Edit the note in the desktop app. Verify in preferences that it synced.
• Go to iOS app settings, make sure it says it synced.
• Note that the note did not appear on the phone!

henrikn

If, after the above, I add a new note to desktop and sync, then both the new note and the edited note from before appear on the phone.

So presumably the edit on desktop isn't enough to really cause a sync, but the new note on desktop is.

henrikn

Similarly, if I

• remove a note (call it "X") on my phone
• add a new note (call it "A") on my phone
• make sure the phone prefs says it's synced
• make sure the desktop prefs say it's synced

then X won't be gone on desktop, and A won't be added. So those changes haven't actually synced.

It seems that adding a note (A) on the phone doesn't seem to force a real sync.

But if I then add a note (call it "B") on desktop, then suddenly X and A and B will all sync as expected.

This yet again seems to indicate that only some types of changes actually trigger a visible sync. But once that sync happens it does include other changes as well.

jtucker

I carefully went through your first set of steps three times and the problem you describe does not occur for me. I did the steps in your third post twice and again, the problem does not occur for me. In no case did a deleted note reappear on the other platform.

What I did notice is that the iCloud sync is not always quick -- in the first attempt, the iPhone sync after deleting the note took about 4 minutes (I waited for to automatically sync, I did not tap "Sync Now"). And it seemed that it was quicker on the addition of an item than on the deletion of an item but a half dozen tries with only subjective measurements is certainly not definitive.

I would not be surprised to learn that iCloud sync was flakey -- I've used every one of Apple's network-based storage services, starting back in the iTools days -- I've had an "@mac.com" email address for 15 years. The ideas have been good; the execution has often been quirky.

littlebobbytables

Hi @henrikn,

Despite all the improvements Apple have made to try and make syncing a more consistent and responsive experience, the entire system is still essentially a black box at times.

I couldn't reproduce your findings, and with the steps in your final post both changes had synced before I could even turn my attention to the Mac. It could very well be that some of this is based on how responsive iCloud is being at that point in time. If you try to replicate these steps over a slightly longer period of time do you still find it behaves the same way?

If you want we could try looking at the diagnostic reports for your devices - see if anything springs out there.