TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
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Thank you for your response.
After browsing through this thread some people have tried to fix it on their end and it has worked for them. Not sure what approach to take.
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iCloud tabs not syncing
- Thread starter Morac
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After browsing through this thread some people have tried to fix it on their end and it has worked for them. Not sure what approach to take.
Any “fixes” are coincidental. I’ve found the tabs intermittently sync and then don’t sync.
Technically they are syncing, but the time it takes to sync is anywhere from instantly (which is how it’s supposed to work) to up to 24 hours. Anything more than a few minutes makes the feature unusable.
Well, if Apple does end up making a car in the future don't count on their roadside assistance. You might be on the side of the road for a couple of weeks. lol
I can put up with a crash every once in a while - no software is perfect and I don't expect it to be. It's just so crazy to me that this kind of stuff can persist for months. It's so noticeable and widely reported on, kind of like keyboard lag in messages.
So today, tabs are back on my iPhone, after reappearing yesterday on my MacBook. Still AWOL on my iPad.
So random...
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My iPhone and iPad can see tabs open on each other and on Mac. Mac cannot see any cloud tabs. All three devices running latest releases.
Interestingly, the MacOS User Guide https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/welcome/mac makes no mention of iCloud tabs, but the linked Safari user guide https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT211788 does, complete with iCloud tabs checkbox in start page settings. On the other hand, the latest edition of the Apple Book 'MacBook Air Essentials' (for M1 MBA) under 'customize your Safari start page' shows no such checkbox in settings.
I just ran across an article on AppleInsider from a month ago. It had this section in it; note they spot the same issues:
For some reason, iCloud tabs are inconsistent. At time of writing, for instance, we have a Mac where Safari is insisting that the associated iPhone 12 Pro has only two tabs open. In reality, it has seven.
Similarly, both the Mac and iOS device's iCloud tabs list include an option that in theory closes the tab on the other device. But it doesn't.
You should be able to open Safari tabs from your other devices right there on your Mac.
On the Mac, if you hover over another device's tab in the list, you get an X button. On the iOS device, swiping across the name of another device's tab gets you a red Close button.
In both cases, clicking the X or tapping Close will remove the tab from your list — and do nothing on the other device. It's not as if we're so tidy that we want to remotely clean up our Safari tabs on every Apple device we own, but it's peculiar how the option is there.
You may never notice it, you may never try it, and since it doesn't work anyway, you will never care that you can or can't close tabs on another device. Whereas the inconsistency between what tabs are really open on your iPhone and what your Mac thinks is open, that's more frustrating.
Nonetheless, iCloud tabs work often enough that they are useful. The ability to squeeze out and see previews of all the tabs in your Mac Safari's current window is excellent.
Limitations and oddities with tabs
It's definitely brilliant when you can be at your Mac and open a tab you remember reading earlier on your iPad. It's just that it's less brilliant when you can't.For some reason, iCloud tabs are inconsistent. At time of writing, for instance, we have a Mac where Safari is insisting that the associated iPhone 12 Pro has only two tabs open. In reality, it has seven.
Similarly, both the Mac and iOS device's iCloud tabs list include an option that in theory closes the tab on the other device. But it doesn't.
You should be able to open Safari tabs from your other devices right there on your Mac.
On the Mac, if you hover over another device's tab in the list, you get an X button. On the iOS device, swiping across the name of another device's tab gets you a red Close button.
In both cases, clicking the X or tapping Close will remove the tab from your list — and do nothing on the other device. It's not as if we're so tidy that we want to remotely clean up our Safari tabs on every Apple device we own, but it's peculiar how the option is there.
You may never notice it, you may never try it, and since it doesn't work anyway, you will never care that you can or can't close tabs on another device. Whereas the inconsistency between what tabs are really open on your iPhone and what your Mac thinks is open, that's more frustrating.
Nonetheless, iCloud tabs work often enough that they are useful. The ability to squeeze out and see previews of all the tabs in your Mac Safari's current window is excellent.
Same for me when I try to exchange faulty M1 MacBook... I have to phone to special customer support - but everytime I try to reach them, I will be hung up in the waiting loop.
So this morning I checked, and now the tabs are back on my iPad. I also verified they're still working on my iPhone and MacBook Pro as well.
EDIT: Moments later, and the tabs are now gone on my MacBook. LMFAO.
Damnit Apple sucks.
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
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So today I tried to submit feedback and it's not even letting me do that. Very frustrating ugh!!!
I don't think I have anything new to add to the conversation, but I can say I have the same issue. None of my iCloud tabs are syncing across my three devices: iPhone 12 Pro (14.3), Macbook Pro M1 (11.1), and iPad Air 4 (14.3). I have tried a number of things to fix this, from resetting my network settings on each device, turning off Safari in iCloud, and completely signing out of iCloud on all devices.
Nothing has worked, not even temporarily. In speaking with Apple support today on the phone, I was advised to update all devices and try again. At the time, my iPad and iPhone were not on 14.3. Still, updating has not changed anything.
Moreover, the Apple genius told me it seems that iCloud tabs appear differently on the new software so it was possible I was just missing them. I'm not sure what she meant, but I don't see the tabs anywhere.
It surely seems that this is an Apple server-side issue at this point and I am hoping they soon feel some urgency to fix it.
Nothing has worked, not even temporarily. In speaking with Apple support today on the phone, I was advised to update all devices and try again. At the time, my iPad and iPhone were not on 14.3. Still, updating has not changed anything.
Moreover, the Apple genius told me it seems that iCloud tabs appear differently on the new software so it was possible I was just missing them. I'm not sure what she meant, but I don't see the tabs anywhere.
It surely seems that this is an Apple server-side issue at this point and I am hoping they soon feel some urgency to fix it.
This appears to be an intermittent, recurring issue entirely on Apple's end. So no sense wasting time on local troubleshooting efforts.
Taken last night right after I set my iPad “Pro” 10.5 up as a new device. I’m having battery issues and was advised to restore and set up as new, (something I always do anyway) Look at all these old tabs I’ve closed them weeks ago. Same thing showed up when I set up my brand new 11” iPad “Pro” a few weeks back, and after doing a fresh restore on my old iPhone 6S Plus. It’s like they don’t care about this feature at this point. Ridiculous!
Ok. Tired of this. Seems that the culprit is MacOS Big Sur. My wife’s iMac and my Son’s MacBook Pro have not been upgraded and I checked their iPhones (iOS 14) with their Macs and everything works as expected.
If it does, it will not last. The culprit most certainly is not Big Sur it would seem, as many people have concluded on here unfortunately.
Expanding on this, I logged in my wife’s iMac and didn’t work for me. The only things that comes to mind is that none of them have sync their iCloud accounts with a Big Sur machine.
i also checked with my daughter’s MacBook Air with Catalina and all works for her.
I had this issue way before I installed Big Sur. I can assure you it is nothing to do with Big Sur.
It’s absolutely beyond my comprehension why they haven’t sorted this. It used to work flawlessly so they have done something to screw it up. I think they need to employ some better programmers.
Today I noticed it was working on my Mac. Oh, goody. I started working with them, and while I was using them after two tries they stopped working. Now I'm going through my devices and typing down or bookmarking my web pages, and then closing tabs. Not worth it. Definitely not a good "experience."
It may be a Big Sur issue, affecting some devices/accounts and may well not be. In either case, happened to me right after upgrade to Big Sur/iOS 14. Removed tabs not synced by clicking X on the list of tabs - since then they have not reappeared, even delayed, at all on either device. It's just blanc where tabs section used to be. MB pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPad 5th gen. Seems to be working though for family members on their devices, MB pro + iPhone 11 Pro Max and iPhone X + iPad 8th gen.
Seeing more and more apple ecosystem persistent bugs each year. I'd be very cautious to buy Apple car if it's ever released.
Seeing more and more apple ecosystem persistent bugs each year. I'd be very cautious to buy Apple car if it's ever released.