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M_W

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 18, 2016
20
2
USA
I've recently enabled iCloud for Safari, Notes, Photo Library, etc. and for the most part, it seems to be working well. However, say for example that I write a note on my iPad and it gets saved to iCloud, when I open up the notes app on my iPhone it takes a few seconds for the note to download. Is this the way iCloud is supposed to work, or is it supposed to do everything in the background? (Safari tabs have also been problematic and don't seem to sync very well.)

Do the Settings>Mail>Accounts>Fetch New Data>iCloud have anything to do with it, or do those options only control iCloud Email? It's a little confusing because on the Accounts page, it shows iCloud with "Notes, Contacts, iCloud Drive, and more...", so that's making me think that the Fetch New Data options control how and when iCloud data syncs, not just Email. I have it set to push, but things only appear to show up when I actually open whatever app.

If that's how iCloud is supposed to work, then great, I'm just not sure if it is or not, or if those settings have anything to do with it.
 

Mlrollin91

macrumors G5
Nov 20, 2008
14,156
10,163
I've recently enabled iCloud for Safari, Notes, Photo Library, etc. and for the most part, it seems to be working well. However, say for example that I write a note on my iPad and it gets saved to iCloud, when I open up the notes app on my iPhone it takes a few seconds for the note to download. Is this the way iCloud is supposed to work, or is it supposed to do everything in the background? (Safari tabs have also been problematic and don't seem to sync very well.)

Do the Settings>Mail>Accounts>Fetch New Data>iCloud have anything to do with it, or do those options only control iCloud Email? It's a little confusing because on the Accounts page, it shows iCloud with "Notes, Contacts, iCloud Drive, and more...", so that's making me think that the Fetch New Data options control how and when iCloud data syncs, not just Email. I have it set to push, but things only appear to show up when I actually open whatever app.

If that's how iCloud is supposed to work, then great, I'm just not sure if it is or not, or if those settings have anything to do with it.

With regards to Notes, make sure that you have it set to Push and that you have Background Refresh turned on for Notes. With out the latter, it will not update the Notes app if the app itself is closed out.
 

M_W

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 18, 2016
20
2
USA
With regards to Notes, make sure that you have it set to Push and that you have Background Refresh turned on for Notes. With out the latter, it will not update the Notes app if the app itself is closed out.
Ohh, Background Refresh, that's it! So without that I might as well leave it on Manual?
 

Mlrollin91

macrumors G5
Nov 20, 2008
14,156
10,163
Ohh, Background Refresh, that's it! So without that I might as well leave it on Manual?

For Notes, yes. But if you leave it on manual, then you will not get calendar notifications, email notifications, Safari iCloud tabs and any of that type of stuff that syncs unless you manually open that specific app.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,392
19,461
With regards to Notes, make sure that you have it set to Push and that you have Background Refresh turned on for Notes. With out the latter, it will not update the Notes app if the app itself is closed out.
I don't believe background refresh is really related to push--one should work fine without the other.
 

Mlrollin91

macrumors G5
Nov 20, 2008
14,156
10,163
I don't believe background refresh is really related to push--one should work fine without the other.

Notes wouldn't be the only app with iCloud that has an option for background app refresh if it wasn't required to keep notes up to date without opening the notes app. That is the only background refresh app that I keep turned on and I have never had problems with opening my Notes app and it taking a few seconds to sync. Its always up to date immediately.
 

Chiara Von Schlobohm

macrumors newbie
Mar 8, 2017
1
0
I've recently enabled iCloud for Safari, Notes, Photo Library, etc. and for the most part, it seems to be working well. However, say for example that I write a note on my iPad and it gets saved to iCloud, when I open up the notes app on my iPhone it takes a few seconds for the note to download. Is this the way iCloud is supposed to work, or is it supposed to do everything in the background? (Safari tabs have also been problematic and don't seem to sync very well.)

Do the Settings>Mail>Accounts>Fetch New Data>iCloud have anything to do with it, or do those options only control iCloud Email? It's a little confusing because on the Accounts page, it shows iCloud with "Notes, Contacts, iCloud Drive, and more...", so that's making me think that the Fetch New Data options control how and when iCloud data syncs, not just Email. I have it set to push, but things only appear to show up when I actually open whatever app.

If that's how iCloud is supposed to work, then great, I'm just not sure if it is or not, or if those settings have anything to do with it.
Just curious...when you check your iPad do you still have open tabs or process open that would affect the iPad retrieving data and I also would like to know if having refresh background in apps has made any difference in battery consumption as I have read conflicting opinions including improvements as to i's function in updated versions. Any opinion. As for sun Hong are your devices running the same operating systems with the same settings...iPhone to match iPad or another device all together?
 

Bladery

macrumors 6502
Apr 12, 2015
415
113
No, the mail push thing is not related to your problem.

It's a problem which exists for years, basically since iCloud was launched!
It's very annoying with safari tabs as sometimes it won't work st all...
 
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