Trouble with syncing

[Patrice Hof]

Hi Brendan,
Since last upgrade, I canon sync properly. I followed the instructions step by step. Nevertheless, I have to reset syncing every time I use tap forms.
I sync my db on 3 Mac (TF 2.2) an iPad (3.8.2) and an iPhone (3.8.2) and when I open TF, the message says the sync failed and prompt me to reset iCloud sync. How to use TP without reset iCloud sync continuously?
Thanks for your help

[Linda Young]

That is my problem also, Patrice, but now even when I reset syncing, it still won’t sync. I have read all there is to read on the internet to fix this problem. I have followed every step. VERY frustrating.

Before this problem, I really loved Tap Forms. Used to have Bento but this is so much better. Please help us fix this problem!!!

[Brendan]

Hey guys,

Have you made sure that the encryption key is set to the same value on all of your devices? That’s the key to getting sync to work now.

There is a sticky forum post at the top of this forum which describes the issue and describes the fix for it.

‘Synchronization Failed’ error message? Read this.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Leo]

Brendan,

once in a while this fault comes back, my guess is that it shows up after a slow or faulty syncing on one device and after that on all the device (including Mac OSx).
After retrying or force shutdown and restart Tapforms the problem is over.

Leo

[Patrice Hof]

Thanks for your prompt answer, Brendan.
If I understand the post you refer to, setting an encryption key is compulsory when I share a DB between several devices through iCloud sync. I was thinking that it was just an extra security.
Does that mean that I’ll have to type the key whenever I open TF?
Thanks
patrice

[divinenanny]

I have syncing going without an encryption key. It is the first sync that is fiddly and can mess everything up. What works for me is:

– Reset iCloud sync on your master device (for example, for me, Tap Forms on my Mac is always the most up to date and where I also make backups). So, I turn on iCloud sync on Mac.
– Turn on iCloud sync on the Mac
– Sync the Mac (Wait for it to finish!)
– Check syncing on device 1. Is it empty and off? Great, that means the device sees what I just did on the Mac. Continue. Is it still on and showing other devices? Then it has lost its link. Turn off iCloud documents for Tap Forms in the device settings. Turn off the device. Turn on the device. Turn on iCloud doucments for Tap Forms. Reopen Tap Forms, now the list should be empty and iCloud sync off (because I reset it on the Mac)
– Turn on iCloud sync on device 1
– Sync device 1 (Wait for it to finish!)
– Do the same thing for any other device, and remember to wait for it to finish
– Now, re-open Tap Forms on each already synced device. It will probably automatically sync again (and despite there being no changes, this will take nearly as long as the original sync). Wait for it to finish.

In the end, Tap Forms is in sync across devices, and it will only (automatically) sync in the case of changes. Only if you have changes you force a sync (by pull down or the button).

[Patrice Hof]

Thank you divinenanny for your tip.
I’ve just followed your suggestion, and it seems to work.
I notice that iCloud sync works pretty well between the three mac, but not so well with iOS. My iphone is ok. The iPad as well but appears twice in the list of synced devices. It also shows 2 records in one of my DB, which contains 190, but when I display the DB, the 190 records are present.
If the trouble persists, I’ll turn on the encryption.

[KenMac]

Hi Brendan,

I got the sync to work but when I start Mac Tap Forms, it takes 105 seconds to start and almost the same to sync. During those 100+ seconds, “Activity Monitor” shows: “Tap Forms (Not Responding)”, it is using 100% of CPU time, and I often get a Console “System Diagnosis Report” saying Tap Forms had a “.cpu_resource.spin”.

I have a 2014 27″ iMac with an i7 processor and all my software is current.

I never had this slow start with Mac Tap Forms v2.1.1. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

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[Brendan]

Hi Patrice,

No, you don’t have to actually encrypt the database. Just set the keys. Technically speaking you don’t have to have the encryption key set on any device and Tap Forms will revert to using only the algorithmically generated key to encrypt the sync files as it did before this change. But sometimes a customer had the key set on one device and not the other. It was just easier to tell people to set the key to the same value on all devices. Especially since on the iOS version you can’t remove the key once set without uninstalling and re-installing the app.

Thanks!

Brendan

[Brendan]

Hi Divine,

Thanks for providing that helpful information. But I think one item you have in your list is simply an issue of having patience.

Check syncing on device 1. Is it empty and off? Great, that means the device sees what I just did on the Mac. Continue. Is it still on and showing other devices? Then it has lost its link. Turn off iCloud documents for Tap Forms in the device settings. Turn off the device. Turn on the device. Turn on iCloud doucments for Tap Forms. Reopen Tap Forms, now the list should be empty and iCloud sync off (because I reset it on the Mac)

If the other device hasn’t cleared its list of Registered Devices after you Reset iCloud Sync on the Mac, it’s because those commands just haven’t reached that device yet. iCloud can sometimes take a while to propagate the commands which tell the device to delete the files in the folder Tap Forms is looking at when it displays the list of Registered Devices. That’s really all I’m doing. Deleting some files. iCloud will notify Tap Forms when it has changes in that folder (e.g. files were deleted, added, or modified). So all those things that you recommended I think may be coincidental in allowing iCloud to have some more time to finish its job.

That delay in notification from when you do something on one device to when it shows up on the other device is completely out of my hands. I am at the mercy of iCloud with respect to that delay.

I hope that makes a tiny bit of sense :-)

Thanks!

Brendan

[divinenanny]

Hi Brendan,

That might be the case in a lot of cases (that looks weird…). But, usually the reason I am resetting iCloud sync is because one of the devices seems to have lost ‘connection’ to all others. Last time it happened was with the OSX update of last week. All of a sudden the Mac version didn’t see the changes on the iOS version, and vice versa.
Again, an iCloud issue and not your fault I know, but that is why the extra iCloud off/on action helps me.

Sara

[Brendan]

Hi Sara,

Alright. Understood. Thanks again for your help with this. I really appreciate it.

Thanks!

Brendan

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