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All Devices iOS 13 Notes changes don't sync very often

m.gol

m.gol

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 1, 2019
3
5
Ever since I updated my iPhone SE to iOS 13 (now at 13.1.2) & my iPad (5th gen) to iPadOS 13.1 (now 13.1.2) I have severe Notes syncing issues. Very often a modification made on one of the iOS 13 devices doesn't show up on other devices or modifications done on iOS 12 or macOS Mojave don't show up on iOS 13 devices.

In the latter case it's often enough to modify a note again from the device with an "older" OS so that the sync is triggered and all batched updates go to the iOS 13 devices.

I have a note shared with my wife; if she makes a notification I always see it in Mojave quickly, if I modify it in Mojave, she sees the update, too. Only when iOS 13 comes into play the sync breaks apart.

I was hoping iOS 13.1.1 fixed it since its release notes mentioned fixing slow syncing of Reminders but, alas, that's not the case. iOS 13.1.2. is broken as well. Has anyone seen the same issue or knows if there's a workaround?

I submitted it to Apple using the Web version of the Feedback Assistant, I also submitted a copy of the bug on Open Radar at https://openradar.appspot.com/radar?id=5055117506117632
 
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Yep. Same problem. Syncing not working or very patchy and slow with iOS 13. Having to resort to making notes on MacOS only.
 
Great... I migrated Reminders to the new format which means when Catalina gets released I'll have a choice between Reminders working on macOS with broken Notes sync or no Reminders on macOS but working Notes...

I tried to google the issue but I couldn't find anything Notes-specific. Please report the issue to Apple at https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/; if they see lots of duplicates there's a higher chance of them fixing it quickly.
 
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I find that closing Notes and reopening will bring up the modified notes but it still takes a while. It's definitely annoying.

The other problems I have with notes is selecting text using tapping or dragging.
 
parkds said:
Having the same issue. Feels like it is even worse on shared notes.
Click to expand...
The notes where I see it most often are shared between me & my wife. But it doesn't often even sync when I modify the note from Mojave. What a complete clusterf***.
 
All apps that sync through iCloud in iOS 13, even 3rd party ones, are having significant issues. Safari history items, Reminders completed notifications, Mail, Notes. A 3rd party app, Due essentially a Reminders type app, that I've never had any issues with I now do because...it syncs through iCloud. Any such apps are going to have intermittent significant syncing issues. Maybe by the time 13.5 arrives this will all be sorted out.
 
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Yes same in my case. However if I create notes in iPadOS, that notes are quickly synced with my iOS 12 iPhone. But not vice versa.
 
I have had serious issues with Notes not syncing. I just went to edit a note on my iPad that I had made on my iPhone yesterday. The note wasn’t even on my iPad.

If I recall correctly it was only two or three iOS’s ago where I found Apples syncing to be so unreliable that I didn’t use it. I didn’t bother with shared notes, reminders etc. because I couldn’t count on them syncing. But they had finally seemed to get that straightened out. Syncing really isn’t a hard thing to do. But apparently modern Apple just can’t get basic things right. Buying all this expensive Apple hardware is supposed to make my life easier, but yet again it isn’t.
 
This issue really irks me as i use notes everyday for business... Apple has no excuse in releasing Catalina before these issues were totally vetted... I'm sure there is a NOTES team at Apple.... The lead of this team needs to be held accountable for this screwup... . With that said does anyone know of an alternative to notes that i can use on all my devices that is reliable?
 
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It seems Apple's entire iCloud is under fire. Many problems with Photos, Notes and Reminders, and in the betas also iCloud Drive.
 
Right now there are syncing issues for any app that uses iCloud to sync through. I had a problem with a 3rd party Reminders type app that had always been rock solid. I resorted to it when the native Reminders app was not syncing consistently across devices. But since it uses iCloud to sync it also had problems. That seems to be resolved for me at this time, both are syncing consistently. I have not yet had a problem with Notes but any Notes type app that uses your iCloud account to sync through may also give you problems. If you can find one that doesn’t sync through iCloud, maybe it uses Dropbox or some other method, that might temporarily solve your problem. At least till we get another update or two that deals with this issue.
 
papbot said:
Right now there are syncing issues for any app that uses iCloud to sync through. I had a problem with a 3rd party Reminders type app that had always been rock solid. I resorted to it when the native Reminders app was not syncing consistently across devices. But since it uses iCloud to sync it also had problems. That seems to be resolved for me at this time, both are syncing consistently. I have not yet had a problem with Notes but any Notes type app that uses your iCloud account to sync through may also give you problems. If you can find one that doesn’t sync through iCloud, maybe it uses Dropbox or some other method, that might temporarily solve your problem. At least till we get another update or two that deals with this issue.
Click to expand...

It would be interesting to see if Numbers, Pages and Keynote have the same problem. I haven't used these with iCloud for a few weeks.
 
I've also noticed it with Ulysses which is syncing through iCloud. For a moment, my entire library disappeared. Otherwise it's slow.

Notes is unusable at the moment for me on iOS 13. Having to use it exclusively on MacOS.

Some calendar events failed to come through to my Mac too from iOS 13. This is the first iOS I've have syncing problems with.
 
Just to update the progress.
- I did reset all setting last night
- today, early morning suddenly notes has progressingly updated. I have around 2700 notes, the numbers are increased slowly from 0, hundreds until completed. A bit slow but it finished in around 15 minutes
- I tried to update from my iPhone (iOS 12) and see the updates in my iPad (iPadOS 13), it synced correctly but quite a bit slow. Wait for around 30 minutes, test again. It synced normal. I open the same notes in both, and see how the updates reflect almost instant in the other device.
- It worked until now normally. Hopefully these changes is permanent
 
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Wife and I definitely had (still have problems) - they weren't synching at all initially. I had to turn off iCloud --> Notes and then turn it back on for them to sync. But still, you can sit there for 5+ minutes and not see a note on one device that you made on the other.

My wife and I share shopping lists - even after a 10 min drive to the grocery store, the list still had not yet populated on my wife's iPhone that she entered on her Mac. She just now did the iCloud off/on to see if that resolves her issue.

Up until now, we've had no issues with Apple Notes. :/ Oh well.
 
Just did a test - using the stopwatch feature on my Apple Watch.

Took almost 3 minutes for a change I did on my Mac to a note to appear on my iPhone (both apps had the Apple Notes app up.

Took 20 seconds for a change on my iPhone to appear on my Mac.


Second test:
2 minutes for a change on my Mac to show on my iPhone
Took 8 minutes for a change on my iPhone to appear on my Mac.


Starting to see why Day One went with their own cloud syncing service.....
 
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I upgraded my iPad Mini 5. Changes on macOS go to the iPad immediately. Changes on the iPad don't go to macOS. I'm upgrading my iPhone 7+ to see if iOS to iOS works or not.

The iPadOS bug with changing orientation is fixed.
 
pshufd said:
Yeah, Notes is still broken. Looks like it didn't bubble up the priority list to get fixed. I live on Notes so I really need it fixed.
Click to expand...
That's extremely disappointing. Issues with basic cloud sync is one of those things that should not go unfixed for this long.
 
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Notes is crucial for my workflow. Thanks for reporting this issue, and someone please update this thread when the issue is resolved!
 
Same situation with Notes. Beside the syncing problem I have also found that any pdf files ( saved from Safari) appear in Notes on the device you save them to - but - any other device the loading wheel keeps spinning and doesn't load.
 
Still an ongoing problem despite turning off iCloud, deleting notes and then resyncing. Speaking with some friends they are having similar problems.

Also, our shared group note of gym workouts, which previously worked flawlessly, doesn’t sync. One member got removed from the group note even though no one removed him.

For the time being, having to use Google docs for shared and syncing stuff. Notes is unusable. I hope they fix it because docs is a hassle.
 
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