[updated]I just discovered that my newly upgraded-to-iOS7 iPad4 is not syncing calendar or notes entries to iCloud. Yet my not-upgraded iPhone5 is syncing in both places.
I checked GoogleNews without success, but I found an entry in the Apple Forums from September 20:
Since installing iOS 7 on my iPhone 5 and iPad mini, I’ve noticed that my iWork documents have stopped syncing across devices (those 2 mentioned and my MacBook Pro)…
Furthermore, I cannot access my documents from the iCloud.com website. If I log in and attempt to navigate to one of the iWork for iCloud programs, I just get sent back out to the icloud.com main menu screen and am asked to reenter my login info. I CAN access all other features of icloud.com without issue (Mail, Notes, Reminders, etc.), so this isn’t a total iCloud problem…
On September 24, Kento Ito wrote:
Unfortunalty, due to launch of iOS 7 and new iPhone, iCloud storage server suffered through massive failure. Because of the fact that each server needs to be fixed manually, the best solution at this point, according to Apple senior engineer I spoke with, is to sit tight, and wait. (even if it takes a week or so).
I upgraded to iOS7 on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, my iPad synced notes and calendar items with my MBP and iPhone. Today, after a 1.30 meeting where I took notes on the iPad, I discovered syncing was AWOL. It had disappeared by Wednesday night, as notes from a PM meeting are missing in iCloud.
From Twitter
Whahaha, epic fail. Unable to sync iCloud bookmarks with Safari for Windows. pic.twitter.com/VLqOnpm8bp
— Pipo Koeien (@Sleurhutje) September 24, 2013
iCloud sync is down.
— Jimmy Tan (@jimtkm) September 25, 2013
iCloud sync is down？
— nelson.zhu | DEC (@nelsonzhu2008) September 25, 2013
Oh. Good. Grief. http://t.co/i3tVhhNbHd iOS7 -> “iCloud storage server … massive failure” requiring *manual* fix per server #fail
— Kathy E Gill (@kegill) September 26, 2013
Why is this not #techNews? How widespread is iCloud sync failure? http://t.co/i3tVhhNbHd cc @toddbishop @mathewi @digiphile
— Kathy E Gill (@kegill) September 26, 2013
@kegill Yes, just tried it, and it did not work. Sent a report to Apple.
— SMV (@itzme2) September 26, 2013
News reports
After I published the first version of this post, I discovered the MacWorld tweet while searching Twitter.
Have your iCloud-syncing apps not been syncing? There’s an issue affecting some iCloud users: http://t.co/cNnNMDe2po
— Macworld (@Macworld) September 26, 2013
Apple Support
I connected with support via chat for two sessions/three reps.
Session 1: After a pleasant information exchange, Alex told me that iOS 7.0.2 update was helping some people with sync issues. Hung up and tried to update the OS via iTunes. (I always back up to my hard drive before starting any update. Since I’m connected via USB, my habit is to use iTunes for the update.) iTunes failed twice; not the same error message. It seemed as though something was hanging, because start-to-error was about 20 minutes.
Session 2: It was past midnight and I was getting tired. Christine asked about firewalls and virus software. No and no. She escalated to Kevin (he of the !s). Double checked to make sure the sync issue wasn’t in both directions; it wasn’t -> just iPad to iCloud. Double checked with contacts as well. Kevin asked me to update the OS over the air. Ah… success, very quickly.
This solved the calendar and contacts syncing issue, but not existing Notes. New Notes sync properly but the two old ones would not, even after editing. I copied&pasted (noting that fact so I can tell if the others ever show up) and now have full sync. Hope this helps someone else.
Observation
Tech support was very good. However, Alex had not heard of the issue with Ubiquity and syncs. I pointed him to this article & MacWorld.
- I’m troubled by Apple’s response. Nothing on system status page and nothing to front-line support? Kevin, OTOH, seemed aware of the issues.
Edits
- Added tweets from other Mac customers
- Added tweet from MacWorld
- Added support session
