Documents in the Cloud sync

[ugahairydawgs]

Question for those that use the Docs in the Cloud service of iCloud.

Back when the service was first demoed there was a seamlessness to the syncing that was going on. The guy updated a doc on his phone and by the time he picked up his iPad the change had already taken place. However, when I use it with my account I have to open the app, regardless of which device I am using, to get it to update.

How does this work for everyone else? Does it update behind the scenes for you? Or do you also need to open the app to get it to update?

 

[laughjimbo]

Mine updates when I open the app on my iOS devices. I think it has always been this way. Things like calendar, contacts and bookmarks i think update in the background but not documents.
hth

 

[ugahairydawgs]

Definitely not how it was demoed when they announced the service.

http://youtu.be/gfj7UgCMsqs?t=1h32m36s

 

[HazyCloud]

It was probably scripted to insure it went smoothly. Would you rely on iCloud for a public presentation? It still works as advertised. It doesn't need to be updated until you open the app anyway.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

It was probably scripted to insure it went smoothly. Would you rely on iCloud for a public presentation? It still works as advertised. It doesn't need to be updated until you open the app anyway.

I would disagree there. A lot of times you can update a doc on another device and then try and open it on another and you end up getting in there and doing something before things start updating. The updating seems to take between 5 and 10 seconds after you open the app before it starts doing its thing. No big deal if you know to be looking for an update, but if you forget it can muck things up.

 

[HazyCloud]

I would disagree there. A lot of times you can update a doc on another device and then try and open it on another and you end up getting in there and doing something before things start updating. The updating seems to take between 5 and 10 seconds after you open the app before it starts doing its thing. No big deal if you know to be looking for an update, but if you forget it can muck things up.

First off, iWork tells you when a document is being updated and it shows which one is being updated. I'm not sure how you can forget which one was updated when the apps tell you.

In the tests I preformed today, mine update within a few seconds and that's with adding images. Mine also start updating immediately once I open the app so I don't see how someone could jump in and mess things up before it updates, plus IT TELLS YOU like I said above.

If you can't wait more than 5 seconds for it update, you probably shouldn't be using iCloud to sync anything. Will things get better in the future? Sure, but I'm pretty happy the way they are now. I guess Apple can't please everyone.

 

[eawmp1]

Perhaps in the WWDC demo he had Pages open in the background on the iPad and it updated in the background in the 5-10 seconds he took to put down the iPhone and pick up the iPad.

 

[EmpyreanUK]

Like the OP, I was under the impression that changes were 'pushed' to each device in the background. Despite HazyCloud's scepticism that such functionality is useless, one obvious scenario in which this would be useful would be when you want to use your phone/tablet to edit a document when no mobile or wifi signal is available.

I've been having a similar problem with Reminders —*I set a reminder on my laptop, expecting my phone to beep when I later arrive home, but as the reminder is not 'pushed' to all devices I have to open Reminders on my iPhone so that it can update. This totally defeats the object of there even being a sync service, as by this point I may as well add the reminder on the phone itself.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

Like the OP, I was under the impression that changes were 'pushed' to each device in the background. Despite HazyCloud's scepticism that such functionality is useless, one obvious scenario in which this would be useful would be when you want to use your phone/tablet to edit a document when no mobile or wifi signal is available.

I've been having a similar problem with Reminders —*I set a reminder on my laptop, expecting my phone to beep when I later arrive home, but as the reminder is not 'pushed' to all devices I have to open Reminders on my iPhone so that it can update. This totally defeats the object of there even being a sync service, as by this point I may as well add the reminder on the phone itself.

Been having the same issue with Reminders too.....not all of the time, but definitely something here and there that has been popping up.

 

[HazyCloud]

Like the OP, I was under the impression that changes were 'pushed' to each device in the background. Despite HazyCloud's scepticism that such functionality is useless, one obvious scenario in which this would be useful would be when you want to use your phone/tablet to edit a document when no mobile or wifi signal is available.

If you don't have access to a cellular signal or Wi-Fi, how would the document update in the background? And of course you can still edit a doc without any type of connection. Don't get me wrong, updating in the background would be nice, but I don't see it being very good for battery life. For instance, Pages would always have to be running in the background on all of your iOS devices and constantly looking for updates. The doc updates itself when you open the app which is pretty remarkable, IMO.

EDIT* I just tested your issues with Reminders and the same thing happens to me. If I create it on one device, the others don't notify me unless I open the app first which basically defeats the purpose. Is this how it's always been? Seems pretty counter-intuitive if you ask me.

EDIT2* Okay, I got Reminders to update without having to have the app open. It was actually a really easy fix.

Close Reminders from the multitasking tray. Then go to Settings>iCloud>Reminders and turn it off. I choose to delete the data on the devices. I then logged in to Reminders on iCloud.com and created a test reminder. Once that was created, I then turned iCloud Reminders back on and I began receiving timed reminders on both my iPad, iPhone and Mac all at the same time.

 

[EmpyreanUK]

If you don't have access to a cellular signal or Wi-Fi, how would the document update in the background? And of course you can still edit a doc without any type of connection. Don't get me wrong, updating in the background would be nice, but I don't see it being very good for battery life. For instance, Pages would always have to be running in the background on all of your iOS devices and constantly looking for updates. The doc updates itself when you open the app which is pretty remarkable, IMO.

Say for example that I have a Pages document that is a work-in-progress, I could work on it in the evening on my computer, and then whilst on the Tube the following morning (where I would be unlikely to have any data connection), if a sudden amendment popped into my head, I would be able to make in on my phone, as the document would have been pushed to the phone after I had worked on it the previous evening.

That obviously works if the changes are pushed; as things may or may not stand at the moment (it isn't all that consistent in my experience), this isn't possible.

Regarding battery life, I don't think it would be as bad as you say because, as far as I understand it, iCloud documents and data is an OS-wide service, so it wouldn't be as if all apps would individually have to 'listen' for changes. Besides, a persistent data connection is required for other pushed services such as e-mail, which doesn't seem to be affect battery life too adversely.

EDIT2* Okay, I got Reminders to update without having to have the app open. It was actually a really easy fix.

Close Reminders from the multitasking tray. Then go to Settings>iCloud>Reminders and turn it off. I choose to delete the data on the devices. I then logged in to Reminders on iCloud.com and created a test reminder. Once that was created, I then turned iCloud Reminders back on and I began receiving timed reminders on both my iPad, iPhone and Mac all at the same time.

Thanks for posting your findings, I'll give it a try!