What kind of sync are you doing?
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My sync is iCloud (Cloudkit), I’ve tried using Bonjour but it didnt seem reliable.
In the meantime I found that after my initial sync last night, one of my databases appears to have been restructured on the iPad- top level groups appear duplicated, with their original subcontent seemingly divided up between the dupes. Certain groups are showing up in entirely unexpected places. The original database on the Mac does not appear to have been changed.
So, I will close the app on the ipad, shut down Devonthink on the Mac, back up the databases as they are now, then turn it on and clean the sync store out- sound good?
Yes, that sounds reasonable.
However, I would suggest you use the Legacy sync if you’re going to use an iCloud sync. CloudKit has not been reliable for many people (and developers) in the past several months.
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Alas that it is so. It is a very fine set of apps, seemingly hamstrung by issues far beyond your control. that it works as well as it does is a wonder and a testament to your skill. Thank you again.
FYI I and others find Bonjour fastest and most reliable. Needs to be on the same network but that for me is not a constraint. When Bonjour fails, based on evidence here in this forum is usually caused when more than device on the network is set to accept incoming connections.
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Goof advice, thank you. Most of my sync is in house, so I shall work with getting that to work more smoothly
Indeed we all use Bonjour to some degree or another in here (though obviously we have different needs due to development and support). I’d say 90% of my personal syncing is fine via Bonjour on my network. The other 10%, WebDAV via a Synology NAS, but again only on my network.
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Ah, I went through and set up the Bonjour per the doc linked above (I used to turn it on for both sides), but Bonjour connection still times out and I can’t get it to restart. I’ve been digging though the old reports of such here, and so far checked:
- App versions are up to date
- network is the same IP range, subnet and router (it is a busy subnet, with some 30 clients)
- Devonthink Bonjour is off on the iPad, and turned on for the Mac, per the above ref doc
- both devices have been restarted
- verified VPNs & Apple Private Relay are off on both devices
The only thing that restarted the bonjour sync so far was to erase and restart the connection on the iPad- but that seems to restart the sync from scratch, and it can’t complete in time. I will try an extended shut down for both to see if it will help, but meantime, did I miss something?
Update: Tentatively good. Full shutdown for both devices, then bring up the Mac fully, then the iPad, and the sync has held long enough so far to finish at least 1 database. Got 12 more to go, so here’s hoping.
Well, I got further, but the bonjour sync still timed out- is there a way to restart it, barring a full shutdown / restart sequence? Will it recover on it’s own?
Generally speaking, a sync will try to resume automatically after a time.
Does the iPad have cellular data available?
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It has cellular but no plan. Our WiFi is a bit wonky but we had no outages this afternoon. I’ll give it time & see. Thank you for the reply.
FYI, you mention “outages” which suggest Internet service “out” via the router your Internet Service Provider (ISP) gives you. WiFi hosted on that router is internal to your residence and should work even though the Internet connectoin is "out*. My assumption though.
Sounds like the Router is wonky. Technical Term. Can you get another from the ISP? I don’t use the ISP’s WiFi here at Global HQ. I bought a set of Eero devices to provide fantastic WiFi and since then no “user support” calls from my colleagues (family). Yea!
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Our internet service is a 5g home router that sits on a fan box on a high shelf and drops out once every few days- before the fan, it was several times a day, for a while. It usually comes back within a few minutes
The router is an Airport Express cablec to the router- the housenet stays up even if the internet doesn’t.
I’ve been testing the Bonjour sync with both of my iOS devices- it’s wicked fast, until it fails, and then its Local Network (Offline). One device, the iPhone can reconnect, but the iPad Pro Bonjour has been offline since this afternoon. Earlier this year I was using Backerkit+Bonjour, but the latter would hammer me with connection failures til I turned it off.
Our housenet is busy; lotta apple stuff, lotta HomeKit stuff- I assume something is interfering with Bonjour. Tomorrow, I’ll try to set up a direct cable connection, maybe a localized subnet- now that I know Bonjour should work, it’s a goal to work for. Thanks.
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Whew. Those sort of network problems make my head spin. Good luck.
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Let us know what you find. Thanks!
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Well
Left to its own device, the iPad didn’t reconnect on its own, alas. Comparing iPhone & iPad settings, i could only find one thing that differed significantly, and so with some trepidation, I went to the beta site and put iOS 16 on the iPad. Afterwards, Bonjour connectivity was considerably better, tho it did eventually disconnect on its own, again. I’d guess that the update shook something loose rather than iOS 16 being somehow better than 15 at Bonjour connectivity.
Recovering the connection was easier- force quit the iOS app, turn WiFi on the iPad off, and then reverse seemed to do the trick, tho it hasn’t failed enough to test well. Also, internet sharing from the Mac to the iPad with a cable (just the right cable, discovered with some trial and error) seemed to work very well- the only disconnect from that was my pricy usb hub saying the iPad was drawing too much power and disabling the port.
Still, I’ve synced most everything in half a day rather than half a week. Bonjour in the house still appears iffy for unknown reasons, so I may need some other sync option (especially for offsite sync too). Is iCloud Legacy as good as it gets as a sync service currently- or as close to good as any of the options get, or is their a clear best service I should consider?
Thank you all again
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Is iCloud Legacy as good as it gets as a sync service currently- or as close to good as any of the options get, or is their a clear best service I should consider?
See this post regarding sync options and considerations…
That being said, Legacy is a different mechanism and seems more robust at this time. However, there are people who aren’t having any CloudKit issues. I’d suggest Legacy over CloudKit at this time. (Actually I’d suggest a sync on the local network unless a remote option was needed.)
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Yes, you & yours have been very clear on most all of these issues (often repeatedly); and I greatly appreciate your diligent patience in carefully & clearly explaining it. Balancing my own digital hoarding proclivities between affordable hardware (only 1100$ for that sweet extra iPad storage), online service reliability & security, and the actual case need for instant accessibility for any document at any time or place is… surprisingly tricky.
But we go on, as best we can; I can’t thank you enough for this wonderful product or its many useful features. Keep up the good work, and thank you again.
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You’re welcome and thanks for the encouragement. 