iCloud Notes Suddenly Syncing One Way Only

[Lausamsam]

Very interesting: I did another test. The scenario is like that.

1. I use my mum's iphone6Plus to test on her iCloud account. That's no problem. I can create and update from her iPhone to iCloud or iCloud to her device. This is totally fine as usual as before. So, I assume her iCloud account is working normal in the server side.

2. Then, I use my iPhone7Plus and sign in with her account. I tried to create a new note but this time is not going to sync to iCloud. Only a new created note from iCloud to my iPhone. That's having the same issue as what we have been experiencing.

So, this issue isn't from the account itself. BUT, if I conclude this is from my iphone7Plus device, I don't think it makes sense. As this issue happens to my other devices(iMac, iPad and my old iphone6). I even tried to setup my iphone7Plus as a brand new iPhone. However, it still won't work. And this is very rarely all of my devices can have the same issues at the same time.

I just wonder if you have any ideas of this testing result. Would anyone think about "Virus" this term?

I almost totally have given up for the testing and troubleshoot. Hope this test can inspire any of us here to give out some new ideas...

 

[Lausamsam]

Now, I am going to use my mum's iPhone. Sign in with my AppleID. It won't work as expected. But the most interesting thing is when I signed in with her iCloud ID in her iPhone. It wouldn't work anymore... I think my test is kinda screwing up one more device. Well done Apple. None of my devices are working to sync for Note...

 

[sracer]

Now, I am going to use my mum's iPhone. Sign in with my AppleID. It won't work as expected. But the most interesting thing is when I signed in with her iCloud ID in her iPhone. It wouldn't work anymore... I think my test is kinda screwing up one more device. Well done Apple. None of my devices are working to sync for Note...

Good detective work! I think that your test demonstrates that the root of the issue is tied to a particular iCloud account and that the problem transfers to any device that attempts to sync with that same iCloud account.

I suspect that if you wiped out and restored your mom's iPhone from a backup dated from before you used your account on it then note syncing would work again.

 

[Ben Harley]

Same issue with me! Please inform here if suitable solution is out! Thanks

 

[shareef777]

Rick (Apple tech) stated that this issue is somewhat tied to Sierra, though that doesn't explain the issues with our iOS devices. Can someone test to see if they can push Notes up to their iCloud account from a pre-Sierra install?

 

[Lausamsam]

Good detective work! I think that your test demonstrates that the root of the issue is tied to a particular iCloud account and that the problem transfers to any device that attempts to sync with that same iCloud account.

I suspect that if you wiped out and restored your mom's iPhone from a backup dated from before you used your account on it then note syncing would work again.

Hi sracer, I think once this issue happened, it won't work again anymore even if you restored the previous setting or setup as a new iPhone. For iPhone, the staff from Apple Store was testing in a brand new iPhone, but still won't work.
For my iMac, I restored using TimeMachine to the date that Note was working. But it won't work neither.

So, once the account/the device(I am confused which part cause the issue now) has been screwed up, there is no way to make it work anymore. That's why I mentioned this is like a virus spreading over and over... So terrible Apple.

 

[sracer]

Hi sracer, I think once this issue happened, it won't work again anymore even if you restored the previous setting or setup as a new iPhone. For iPhone, the staff from Apple Store was testing in a brand new iPhone, but still won't work.

Did the Apple Store staff attempt to sync YOUR account with a new iPhone? If so, that won't work if my theory is correct. But I suspect that your mom's account would sync correctly with a new iPhone. If it doesn't, then it would further isolate the cause to being iCloud-based... that once a sync is attempted with an "infected" account it spreads to the device and then spreads to other accounts that were synced with that infected device.

 

[wpdv]

My Notes on my (mid-2010) 27" iMac no longer sync to iCloud, at all. The last time they did sync was on 12/12/16. Apple Care told me that iCloud had received an update that same day. Prior to that, my iPhone 7+ and my iMac both were syncing without issues. As of now, my iPhone and iCloud are syncing perfectly. The iMac is not. Hoping Apple fixes this very soon as I really use this app a lot. I should add that my iMac is using OSX Yosemite (10.10.5) and the iPhone is updated to iOS 10.2

 

[Lausamsam]

Yes, they used a clean and brand new iphone6 to troubleshoot. They also used my mum's account on the same phone. Nothing works. At that time, I thought it will be the account issue. But now after the test I performed last night, I think the problem could start from my original account and spread it to my mum's account.

Just rang to AppleCare again this morning, they want me to do the test again and again with the diagnostic report. And I refused this time as I have spent nearly 3 hours to perform it 3 weeks ago. I got a strong feeling that they would/could say they cannot fix it due to the insufficient information provided by the customer. But this is totally ********, as I have done so many tests with them. And now they want to put back the responsibility to their customers.

What I will do is to write a letter to fair trading to see if this is going to give them some pressure. (I know they are big enough to ignore...) As the service they advertise is misleading to customer. It won't do what they say.

 

[wpdv]

I'm pretty confident that they will come up with a fix, hopefully, in the next OSX update. Seems to be happening to a lot of people.

 

[Lausamsam]

My Notes on my (mid-2010) 27" iMac no longer sync to iCloud, at all. The last time they did sync was on 12/12/16. Apple Care told me that iCloud had received an update that same day. Prior to that, my iPhone 7+ and my iMac both were syncing without issues. As of now, my iPhone and iCloud are syncing perfectly. The iMac is not. Hoping Apple fixes this very soon as I really use this app a lot. I should add that my iMac is using Yosemite (10.10.5) and the iPhone is updated to iOS 10.2

Hi, can you please keep an eye on your iPhone? I believe it will affect to your iPhone soon if my guess is correct. This is what happened to my ipadPro which got affected recently. It started from my iMac --> iPhone --> iPad pro...

 

[wpdv]

Hi, can you please keep an eye on your iPhone? I believe it will affect to your iPhone soon if my guess is correct. This is what happened to my ipadPro which got affected recently. It started from my iMac --> iPhone --> iPad pro...

For sure I will. I have been checking it every few hours. If anything changes, I will post it here.
[doublepost=1482452091][/doublepost]The iPhone has been perfectly synced since it was added to my account on 11/01/16.
[doublepost=1482454480][/doublepost]

ONE WORD OF CAUTION:

When I drug all of my notes onto On My Mac https://www.dropbox.com/s/dc9poryqt4oeunc/Screen Shot 2016-12-22 at 7.48.28 PM.png?dl=0

I LOST ALL of my screenshots in my iMac's copy of the Notes. Now I will have to go to iCloud and make screenshots of the screenshots and add them back, one by one. I have over 1200 Notes, so it will take a while. The reason I drug all of my notes over, was to make a backup. There really should be a way that we can make backup copies of our Notes.

 

[wpdv]

I am making a SWITCH. Just purchased Notebooks. I REALLY like how I can sync directly to my Dropbox account. This GIVES me access to each and every note stored in Dropbox, unlike Apple's Notes. The Developer is offering the iPhone & iPad version for $1.99. I bought both the Mac version and the iPhone version. Syncs perfectly in seconds!!

 

[Lausamsam]

Awesome wpdv. I think Apple is forcing us to leave their Note. I am using Google Keep which is better in some points.
[doublepost=1482480189][/doublepost]Thanks for sharing the app Notebooks. Will give it a try too.

 

[sracer]

I am making a SWITCH. Just purchased Notebooks. I REALLY like how I can sync directly to my Dropbox account. This GIVES me access to each and every note stored in Dropbox, unlike Apple's Notes. The Developer is offering a discount for the Mac version. I bought both the Mac version and the iPhone version. Syncs perfectly in seconds!!

Thanks for pointing us to Notebooks. It looks promising but I have so many questions that it prevents me from seriously considering it.

Just a few:

• Are the notes stored in a proprietary database or individual files? (in other words, are the notes accessible by other apps or only by Notebooks?) This is especially important considering the type of data that is being stored.
• What are the benefits of using Notebooks over OneNote?
• How well does Notebooks reach "feature parity" across operating systems?
• Does it support the Apple Pencil on the iOS version?
• Does it make proper use of the higher resolution screen of the 12.9 iPad Pro?

 

[wpdv]

Thanks for pointing us to Notebooks. It looks promising but I have so many questions that it prevents me from seriously considering it.

Just a few:

• Are the notes stored in a proprietary database or individual files? (in other words, are the notes accessible by other apps or only by Notebooks?) This is especially important considering the type of data that is being stored.
• What are the benefits of using Notebooks over OneNote?
• How well does Notebooks reach "feature parity" across operating systems?
• Does it support the Apple Pencil on the iOS version?
• Does it make proper use of the higher resolution screen of the 12.9 iPad Pro?

The files are accessible individually in DropBox, though you could setup your own server too.
(See attached)
(See attached)

Not familiar with OneNote.

It works well on my iPhone 7+ and my iMac. The developer seems to be very responsive and the app is also available on Windows. The Mac Desktop version supposedly has less features (than iPhone & iPad version). However, it has more than enough features for me and way more control over the appearance of the note and the note location itself. I am very happy so far. Syncs well across my devices.

Not sure about Apple Pencil. I don't use an iPad so I can say. My iMac is a 27" and the notes look fine on my screen. I have the font set the same as I did on Apple Notes and the two look nearly identical. HTH.

 

[Traverse]

Hey everyone, the Apple Senior called me today and said the the engineers have found the issue and will roll a fix into a later update. I don't know if that means iOS 10.2.1, but he said they will fix it and if after the next "iOS and macOS update" I am still experiencing the issue then to contact them again. So I'll wait to macOS 10.12.3 before I try it again.

I don't know if there will be an iOS 10.3 or just another 10.X.1 update.

 

[wpdv]

Thanks for pointing us to Notebooks. It looks promising but I have so many questions that it prevents me from seriously considering it.

Just a few:

• Are the notes stored in a proprietary database or individual files? (in other words, are the notes accessible by other apps or only by Notebooks?) This is especially important considering the type of data that is being stored.
• What are the benefits of using Notebooks over OneNote?
• How well does Notebooks reach "feature parity" across operating systems?
• Does it support the Apple Pencil on the iOS version?
• Does it make proper use of the higher resolution screen of the 12.9 iPad Pro?

Appears that you can use a stylus and it's designed to use the full resolution of your iPad Notebooks thread

 

[csprof]

Hey everyone, the Apple Senior called me today and said the the engineers have found the issue and will roll a fix into a later update. I don't know if that means iOS 10.2.1, but he said they will fix it and if after the next "iOS and macOS update" I am still experiencing the issue then to contact them again. So I'll wait to macOS 10.12.3 before I try it again.

I don't know if there will be an iOS 10.3 or just another 10.X.1 update.

I really hope this fixes the issue. I still have not heard from my tech support person, but glad that you have and thanks for providing the update!

 

[jwm]

After spending almost a week working with Apple's Senior engineer team, and an email I sent to Tim Cook, yesterday I received a call from customer relations.

The issue is Sierra related and a fix will be rolled out in the future. However, Apple could not say when. There is a workaround for the issue, and I have a call scheduled on 28th December to implement the temp fix. I'll document the steps and share back here next week.

 

[Traverse]

After spending almost a week working with Apple's Senior engineer team, and an email I sent to Tim Cook, yesterday I received a call from customer relations.

The issue is Sierra related and a fix will be rolled out in the future. However, Apple could not say when. There is a workaround for the issue, and I have a call scheduled on 28th December to implement the temp fix. I'll document the steps and share back here next week.

I don't know if it's always Sierra related. Notes stopped working on my iOS device a day before the Mac stopped pushing.

 

[csprof]

I don't know if it's always Sierra related. Notes stopped working on my iOS device a day before the Mac stopped pushing.

I wonder too because I experienced inconsistency across both. However, maybe Sierra is creating data that could be hosing up iOS as well.

I also emailed Tim Cook and Eddy Cue on 12/21 because I have not heard back from support after multiple attepts for two weeks. Unfortunately I did not receive a response yet.

 

[jwm]

I don't know if it's always Sierra related. Notes stopped working on my iOS device a day before the Mac stopped pushing.

My iMac and iPad stopped syncing before my MacBook and iPhone. As soon as I signed out and back in, all my devices had the same symptoms.

I'm hoping the workaround will be robust enough to last until the fix is published in the future updates.

 

[Alrescha]

Just to add my two cents, my updates to Notes on my Mac reliably sync to my iOS devices, but not the reverse. If I create a new note on my iPad, I will never see it on my Mac. If I add the same data to Reminders, it gets updated immediately.

(iOS 10.2, macOS 10.12.2)

A.

 

[Quartermarsh]

Just a courtesy post to confirm that El Cap is also affected.