So I updated all of my idevices last night and enabled messages in icloud on my iphone 8. I also have an Apple Watch and a Mac laptop running 10.13.4. I don't see any options in the Apple Watch app or elsewhere to enable Messages in iCloud for the watch. I've checked Messages on the Watch, settings on the Watch, and the same on my iPhone. It doesn't seem that deleting a message on the phone or watch or reflected in the other. Am I missing something? I even checked at icloud.com, but I don't see any options for managing which devices use Messages in iCloud there.
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Messages in iCloud on Apple Watch?
- Thread starter Supp0rtLinux
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It isn't included now or at all? If at all, that is hugely annoying... and short-sighted on Apple's part.
I was literally about to post the same question!! I deleted a message thread from my iPhone, I then checked my Watch and it is still showing on my watch. I thought the whole point of Messages in iCloud was to sync them across all Apple devices. Not including the Watch is pointless. I guess we'll have to keep doing double work and deleting the Messages from Watch!
Honestly that's BS cause the wording from Apple's marketing speak is "across all your Apple devices". There's no disclaimer about WatchOS... no: *except on WatchOS
"across all your Apple devices" would include all devices that support Messages: OSX, IOS, and WatchOS. This is very short-sighted of Apple.
"across all your Apple devices" would include all devices that support Messages: OSX, IOS, and WatchOS. This is very short-sighted of Apple.
The one on the Watch isn’t called Message to iCloud. A lot of users are confused about Message to iCloud but it is basically Message backup to iCloud like Photos and not the Message sync between Watch and iPhone. The Watch just sync Messages from the iPhone but it fails to actively sync when messages are deleted either on Watch or iPhone which that specific message will stay on the other device. This has been an issue for awhile now.
The latest Watch update address the long bootup might be stuck for some users. Message to iCloud only applies to iOS and macOS as shown in the release note.
The latest Watch update address the long bootup might be stuck for some users. Message to iCloud only applies to iOS and macOS as shown in the release note.
End of the day, Apple's wording was "across all your Apple devices" which should cover all devices that use Messages regardless of how its used or how the backend syncs. If you want an iPhone to sync to iCloud and the watch to sync to the phone, that's fine. But if you delete a message on your iPhone once Message in iCloud is enabled, it needs to delete on the watch too.
I’m confident Apple will add this feature to watchOS at some point in the future.
Unfortunately, considering Apple announced iCloud Messages syncing almost exactly 12 months ago to the day and the feature has been official for only 24 hours, we might be waiting for an extended period of time.
Unfortunately, considering Apple announced iCloud Messages syncing almost exactly 12 months ago to the day and the feature has been official for only 24 hours, we might be waiting for an extended period of time.
I thought the watch was only a “slave” of the phone - that is - it contains a cached version of whats on your phone. So if a message is deleted on the phone it should reflect within reasonable time on the watch.
Rene Ritchie has posted multiple times that he’s been told it was not ready for watchOS yet but is coming in a future update.
The Apple Watch is a companion device as Apple would call it. It has iCloud functionality with calling, messaging and find my iPhone (watch) however thats it. All other iCloud type task it does (photos, music. back ups, etc) are done through the iPhone.
There are a few issues in the way Messages on the Watch behaves that would make it very challenging to sync messages to iCloud and they all revolve around storage capacity.
On an iOS and MacOS an image or video from one to other is a mirror image and fully functional. That is not the case for the Apple Watch. Since the screen is so small you can't notice the lossy compression. Keep in mind this messages in iCloud is for syncing and seeding to devices, not backing up. All the information has to be the same.
Watch OS automatically purges messages after ~30 days. This is a problem because if the Watch was syncing with all your devices you would be losing all your picks that are older than 30 days.
The alternative is just as bad. If you could remove the automatic message purge and then you are limited by the amount of storage available on the device with the least. Or at least they are syncing very well at that point.
Apples way of doing it is my preferred method anyway. While I completely understand how annoying it would be to delete messages from the Watch I just let them delete themselves and never worry about.
There are a few issues in the way Messages on the Watch behaves that would make it very challenging to sync messages to iCloud and they all revolve around storage capacity.
On an iOS and MacOS an image or video from one to other is a mirror image and fully functional. That is not the case for the Apple Watch. Since the screen is so small you can't notice the lossy compression. Keep in mind this messages in iCloud is for syncing and seeding to devices, not backing up. All the information has to be the same.
Watch OS automatically purges messages after ~30 days. This is a problem because if the Watch was syncing with all your devices you would be losing all your picks that are older than 30 days.
The alternative is just as bad. If you could remove the automatic message purge and then you are limited by the amount of storage available on the device with the least. Or at least they are syncing very well at that point.
Apples way of doing it is my preferred method anyway. While I completely understand how annoying it would be to delete messages from the Watch I just let them delete themselves and never worry about.
I appreciate your thoughtful post on this topic. However, I am still annoyed that I have to scroll through each message on my Watch and delete them one-by-one if I don't want to wait for the 30 days. I wonder why deletion on the Watch requires a second confirmation? If Apple can't come up with a solution then at least let me turn off Messages on my Watch.
Works for me. You have to delete from your phone and it will be gone from Watch. Or reboot the Watch.
There is hope... but doesn't work for me... yet. Deleted messages from my phone that I received both before and after my iOS12 upgrade and rebooted in both cases. Messages still on my Watch.
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How do you have Messages set up on your Watch? I have it set as "Mirror my iPhone"
Same as yours Mirror my iPhone. Do you even have iMessage in the clould turned on in iPhone?
I have perfect sync for Messages across my MacBook Pro, iPad and iPhone. Doesn't work with my Watch
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Same with me. Works perfectly between my phone, Mac, and iPad but not with the watch. Restarting didn't help either.