"Wireless Sync" isn't really wireless

[reesnomad]

For those with a PC...

Under Summary (with iPhone plugged in) Select Back up to iCloud
Once this is done AND you have Calender/Contacts connected to Outlook 2007 or higher...everything will sync wirelessly if you manually select it from the iPhone or whenever you plug into an Alarm Clock, Computer or the Wall. You can validate this by looking at iTunes and it will again say in Summary: Last backed up to iCloud: Today "time".

Mine is working just fine and can see everything moving between the iPhone, Outlook, and iCloud.

Well, I have not upgraded from Outlook 2003 to 2007 yet. Are you saying that I need to have that done before automatic or "unplugged" wi-fi syncing will work for everything else. That seems a bit silly.

----------

No go. I restarted my Mac Mini and all my iDevices. Still not doing anything when I connect them to power.

I haven't tried that yet, Hammie, but I am wondering if it is worth trying given that you efforts resulted in failure anyway.

----------

So is the option just gray when you try to sync manually on your phone?

Yes, it remains gray when the iPhone is NOT plugged in with a power cord to an outlet, but turns black and allows me to sync wirelessly when it IS plugged in with a power cord to an outlet. Go figure.

 

[tbayrgs]

Decide what to sync wireless from iPhone/iPad?

I have all of our iOS 5 devices set up properly to sync wireless and all seem to work. What I haven't figured out--not even sure if it's possible--is how to decide what to sync wirelessly from the iDevice itself. For example, I don't have all of my music synced to my iPhone and want to add additional songs via wireless sync. It appears this can only be done on my Mac. Is there any way to do this via my iPhone so that it transfers the additional music during the next wireless sync?

Seems to be if you cannot select the content from the iPhone and can only do so on my Mac, it defeats the purpose of having wireless sync in the first place.

 

[transmaster]

Backing up to iCloud and wireless syncing to iTunes are two different things

There you go!, iCloud is different. WiFi Sync does not work unless the iOS device is plugged into an external power source, such as a remote docking station or with an external battery pack. I have a Ivyskin Zapppack battery which is the same size as my iPod Touch 4G in it's Otterbox defender case. When it is plugged into it I can sync the Touch, without it the sync process automatically canceled. I am not sure why it was done this way except perhaps it uses to much of the internal battery's capacity.

 

[FranzMarc]

There you go!, iCloud is different. WiFi Sync does not work unless the iOS device is plugged into an external power source, such as a remote docking station or with an external battery pack. I have a Ivyskin Zapppack battery which is the same size as my iPod Touch 4G in it's Otterbox defender case. When it is plugged into it I can sync the Touch, without it the sync process automatically canceled. I am not sure why it was done this way except perhaps it uses to much of the internal battery's capacity.

I can both back up and sync my iPhone 4 with iCloud while it is not plugged in and merely on WiFi, while the sync obviously works automatically just like it did with MobileMe, as you said in your post.

Additionally however, if I have iTunes open on my Macbook then the iPhone appears AS IF it was plugged in, but it isn't, neither is it connected to a power supply. There I can access it and click "Sync" as if it was plugged in via USB.

So it does definitely work.

 

[synagence]

Definitely works for me ok.... my iPhone and iPad show as devices in iTunes regardless of power or plugged into the Mac.

I can sync either of them as if they were plugged in direct reverse works too if i initiate from device.

Just seemed to work ok for me

 

[AnthroMatt]

I shut off Wi-Fi sync because it was constantly syncing even when not plugged in. Very annoying. It appears that had I unchecked "Launch iTunes when this device is connected" I may have been able to prevent this from happening, but I didn't want to do this, because I only connect to my computer to sync. That, combined with the fact WiFi sync is so much slower (for me) and it just isn't worth using IMO.

 

[reesnomad]

Wi-fi sync works for some, but not others

Seems that true wireless syncing with iTunes and devices is working for some, and not for others. It would be nice to know why it's not working for some of us. It may be that it only works for Mac computers and not PC's, or some other reason or combination of reasons. I wish somebody from Apple could see this and give us an answer!

 

[Hammie]

Seems that true wireless syncing with iTunes and devices is working for some, and not for others. It would be nice to know why it's not working for some of us. It may be that it only works for Mac computers and not PC's, or some other reason or combination of reasons. I wish somebody from Apple could see this and give us an answer!

I have a Mac computer and it is not working for me... Must be some other reason.

 

[milo]

One thing to check - wireless sync is disabled when the battery is below a certain point (20 percent?). If your device is low, try it again when it's more charged.

 

[WeegieMac]

I have to plug my iPad into the charger to even sync it. How can you call something wireless when you have to be wired to something?

When iOS 5 detects iTunes is open on your computer, it will sync. When I come home from work and turn on my iMac, my iPhone that I leave downstairs, syncs and shows up on iTunes.

If I want to evoke a sync myself I go into settings and choose the Sync option and, as long as iTunes is available on the network, I can press Sync and it syncs.

 

[Moyank24]

Definitely works for me ok.... my iPhone and iPad show as devices in iTunes regardless of power or plugged into the Mac.

I can sync either of them as if they were plugged in direct reverse works too if i initiate from device.

Just seemed to work ok for me

Same here. Definitely true wireless syncing for me so far. I haven't updated my iPad to 5 yet, but it's working for my 4S. No wires necessary.

 

[transmaster]

I can both back up and sync my iPhone 4 with iCloud while it is not plugged in and merely on WiFi, while the sync obviously works automatically just like it did with MobileMe, as you said in your post.

Additionally however, if I have iTunes open on my Macbook then the iPhone appears AS IF it was plugged in, but it isn't, neither is it connected to a power supply. There I can access it and click "Sync" as if it was plugged in via USB.

So it does definitely work.

That is correct on an iPhone. One of the reasons why this was done was it was found people with iPhone's where not syncing them in regularly, and in some causes had not been upgraded for months. Apple realized something had to be done for the iPhone and this is what the decided to do. I think that in future this will be expended to other iOS-5 devices.

 

[sand_man]

Those that are able to successfully sync your devices to your pc/mac have you configured your iDevice using a static ip address or DHCP?

 

[netnothing]

Those that are able to successfully sync your devices to your pc/mac have you configured your iDevice using a static ip address or DHCP?

DHCP

-Kevin

 

[gentlefury]

Sync wirelessly anytime you like...the idea behind plugging in to auto sync is that if the screen is off and its plugged in your more than likely not using it, so thats the perfect time to sync.

It guarantees it will never interrupt you.

 

[sand_man]

DHCP

-Kevin

And no syncing issues?

 

[Zcott]

DHCP here and no syncing issues.

 

[sand_man]

Okay, so unlikely to be any correlation between DHCP and static ip address..

Some folk have tried manually re-starting "Apple Mobile Device" with some success....

Control panel > Administrative Tools > Services > Apple Mobile Device - Right click Stop and then Right click Restart...

 

[netnothing]

And no syncing issues?

Other than an occasional disappearance in iTunes or a -50 error.....generally syncing has been fine.

This is with 2 iPhone 4's and 1 iPad2

-Kevin

 

[sand_man]

I would assume that the wifi standby mode that was built into some of the earlier versions of iOS wouldn't be a potential contributor to syncing instability...?? Or would it...??

 

[blondepianist]

I have to plug my iPad into the charger to even sync it.

Thus, why it is called Wi-Fi Sync, not Wireless Sync.

 

[zipster]

Thus, why it is called Wi-Fi Sync, not Wireless Sync.

What was that, Apple Certified Tech?

 

[netnothing]

What was that, Apple Certified Tech?

Image

What the graphic fails to mention is.....you can manually start a WIRELESS sync. Either from iTunes or from the device. No wires, no cables, no plugs, no MSG

So far it's been working pretty good for me. I can download updates on my Mac, and sync my wife's iPhone without it leaving her purse.

I also like how when you do plug it into power.....it sync automatically.

-Kevin

 

[boomhower]

Wireless sync works fine for me while unplugged. Even if it's greyed out you can still click on it and it'll work, at least it does for me.

 

[SilverSkysurfer]

Hi,

Adding my 2 cents...wifi sync fails for me as well. I'm running Win7 on a MBP 2011 using Parallels 7. All I need is to sync Outlook 2010 with the iPhone...and Apple customer support told me that is not possible. Not with wifi and using iCloud fails to sync Outlook Notes.

So, I guess there's a group of us who are are stuck with using the USB cable. Hopefully, Apply comes up with the fix soon or someone here drops the secret code.

Lawrence