iCloud Sync Problem w/ iPhone

[Tom Winter]

I downloaded Tap Forms Lite then upgraded to full version within the app. I’ve had nothing but problems with syncing with iCloud. The app does not see other registered devises or does not download all of the records from iCloud.

I purchased Tap Forms HD through iTunes and Tap Forms Mac from the App Store. These function flawlessly. I suspect the upgrade to the full version on my iPhone is incomplete or corrupted. I have deleted the app from my phone and downloaded a fresh version, as well as rebooting, etc. etc., but the problems persist.

Are there are any known issues with the upgrade and any recommended solutions?

[Brendan]

Hi Tom,

Generally when you don’t see all your devices in the list of Registered Devices, that means that iCloud’s Documents & Data service just isn’t syncing files. What Tap Forms is doing on that screen is very simple. It’s displaying the contents of a series of files to you that have been synced to your device via iCloud. Each file is generated on the device where you enabled iCloud sync by flipping the switch (or clicking the Enable iCloud Sync checkbox on the Mac version).

Tap Forms writes a file to a shared iCloud container (folder). Anything that goes into that folder gets automatically synced to all your other devices. This is done even without Tap Forms doing anything. Now, when you are viewing the list of Registered Devices, Tap Forms is simply displaying the contents of all these files.

If Tap Forms isn’t displaying all your devices in the list of Registered Devices, it means that iCloud isn’t doing its job. Not that I’m trying to pass the buck here, I’m just trying to explain exactly what’s going on. If a file is there, Tap Forms will display its contents. Each of these files contains an icon, the name of the device, and the date of the last sync. So there’s really not much going on here.

So what we need to do is get to the bottom of why iCloud isn’t syncing these files. You say you’ve rebooted your phone. Did you do a complete power off and power on again using the swipe to power off function? Sorry if that’s a silly question. I’m just being thorough.

One other thing you can try is to disable Documents & Data on your iPhone and then re-enable it. You’ll need to give your iPhone time to re-sync all the files in your iCloud Mobile Documents folder.

Let me know if this makes sense and helps at all.

Thanks!

Brendan

[Tom Winter]

Hi Brendan,

Thanks for the detailed reply, it was indeed very helpful and pointed towards the solution to my problem.

I was too brief in my description of the problem in my first email, I didn’t want to send a two page essay on the subject. To clarify…

After deleting the app from my iPhone and reinstalling, I could finally see all of the registered devises, but only 7 of the 24 records in 1 form were down loaded. None of the 400+ records in 7 other forms ever appeared on my iPhone, even after 24 hours. Oddly, changes made on my iPad & Mac did appear on my iPhone, but none of the missing records. The fact that my iPad & Mac continued to function flawlessly made me think something was corrupted on my iPhone, but probably not in Tap Forms. So…

I deleted Tap Forms from my iPhone, turned of “Documents & Data”, and shut down (press the off button and swiped to “Power Off”). Then rebooted, turned on D&D, downloaded TF Lite, installed the upgrade, and enabled iCloud Sync. All is functioning properly now.

Thanks for your help. It’s a nice piece of software. Keep up the good work.

Tom

[Brendan]

Hi Tom,

Excellent. I’m glad that you got it working now.

I’m nearing release of an update which will contain some iCloud bug fixes (not for the registered devices list issue since that’s kind of out of my control), but for some other non-updating issues in certain situations.

Thanks!

Brendan

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