(Archived) Background Sync Broken on iOS 7

[SteveNY 4]

Background sync updates were working under 7.0 but now seemed to have stopped under 7.0.2. I tried logging out and logging in. I also tried deleting the app and reinstalling it but I still can't get it to work. I have the Evernote option checked in background sync updates in Apple iOS 7 settings as well as push notifications for Evernote turned on. Any way to fix?

[enki 33]

Hi, i have had the same problem. I also uninstall and reinstall but no way. First look which notes are no sync. Create another notes and copy the content of not sync notes in the new create notes. Delete the old notes and try to sync. It works for me.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

Hi. i haven't encountered this yet, but I would think the "force sync" button in your settings would help in this case.

[SteveNY 4]

Hi. i haven't encountered this yet, but I would think the "force sync" button in your settings would help in this case.

I realize this will get new content to sync but what I am saying is the feature is broken. Shouldn't the notes should just be there when you return to the app?

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

Hi. i haven't encountered this yet, but I would think the "force sync" button in your settings would help in this case.

I realize this will get new content to sync but what I am saying is the feature is broken. Shouldn't the notes should just be there when you return to the app?

Of course. I think that is how it is supposed to work. If it isn't working, though, and you are trying to get a sync to work, I think this force sync is easier than copying the content of unsynced notes into new ones.

[Nikhil7286 0]

Background sync hasn't worked for me with any version of Evernote 7.0.x (including 7.0.0).  All my appropriate settings are enabled, and tech support has been useless in this regard.  I have other apps with background sync (Pocket, Downcast, NYTimes) working perfectly, and it is a fantastic and useful feature that would suit Evernote if it ever worked.  I also tried deleting/reinstalling/logging out/logging in to no avail.  Tech support claims 7.0.2 was supposed to correct this bug, but I haven't noticed any improvement.

[TTQuattroTurbo 0]

Sync appears to be broken for me as well.  I update a note on my laptop, with update on 10/8/13 and then it's not on my iPad.  I try to sync the iPad and no go.  Then I sync the laptop and my note gets erased with the old note - losing my work.  Very irritating for a new user of Evernote.  This is useless if not fixed.

[BobP 7]

Same Problem. Evernote 7.0.2.304425 and IOS 7.0.2 (11A501)

Evernote will not sync unless done manually. Auto syncs OK on Windows and Mac OS.

I have to remember to manually sync my iPad before I leave the house.

[gabeboisvert 1]

Background sync hasn't worked for me with any version of Evernote 7.0.x (including 7.0.0).  All my appropriate settings are enabled, and tech support has been useless in this regard.  I have other apps with background sync (Pocket, Downcast, NYTimes) working perfectly, and it is a fantastic and useful feature that would suit Evernote if it ever worked.  I also tried deleting/reinstalling/logging out/logging in to no avail.  Tech support claims 7.0.2 was supposed to correct this bug, but I haven't noticed any improvement.

 

I just conquered this by removing the app, shutting down the iphone and waiting a minute (clears the database out), restarting the phone, re-downloading 7.0.2, logging in, and selecting offline for everything. If it bails on me later I will report back but early indications are that running 7.0.2 clean is the way to go.

[gabeboisvert 1]

On a side note, the problem I was having was that iPhone notes from local notebooks were showing different notes from shared notebooks due to what I thought was an ID mismatch so I started over to fix that which worked and activated the background sync.

[davidfoster 2]

I also had difficulties last night with Evernote on my iPad mini. I came close to the solution of deleting and reinstalling, but continued persistence and several relaunches finally forced Evernote to realize that it's October and time it started showing notes that I'd made in this month (like all 200 or so).

 

A major symptom of the issue is that in settings, Evernote said it had never been synced (yes - I dutifully upgrade as soon as any new version appears). That is, of course, not even remotely true. Pressing 'sync now' led to some icon twirling on the menu bar but no new notes. If I had to confront this again I'd suggest deleting and reinstalling provided a)you have the time, you are on WiFi. Neither solution is optimal if you are trying to look up a quick factoid that you entered just yesterday on your desktop, so...

 

Words of wisdom: Road warriors that don't daily use Evernote on your iPad mini or other mobile device. Load it up and check for concurrency before heading out. Make sure it is up-to-date and actually connecting with the mother ship.

 

Assume nothing.

[gewappnet 82]

This thread is somehow messed up. It should be ONLY about problems with background sync, the new feature of iOS 7. Every other problems with sync (no sync at all, sync works only manually) should be in other threads.

 

Does background sync work for anybody in Evernote? Background sync means: You add new notes in Evernote on the Mac, you open Evernote on the iPad (it was completely closed before) and all added new notes are already there even without a current online connection because the sync happened before in the background. For me this new feature of Evernote never worked.

[megsaint 441]

Do the people who are having trouble with background syncing have Background App Refresh enabled for the phone and turned on for Evernote? I know that turning off Background App Refresh is a popular tip for extending battery life. However, I discovered a number of apps that have to have this enabled in order to work properly.

Settings>General>Background App Refresh

[gewappnet 82]

Do the people who are having trouble with background syncing have Background App Refresh enabled for the phone and turned on for Evernote? I know that turning off Background App Refresh is a popular tip for extending battery life. However, I discovered a number of apps that have to have this enabled in order to work properly.

Settings>General>Background App Refresh

Yes, everything is turned on.

 

So I take the answer as "it should work". There are actually people out there for who the background sync in Evernote works? Interesting. I asked in a German forum and I could not find anyone who could confirm this. In which intervals should the background update happen in Evernote?

[BobP 7]

I posted earlier reporting background sync didn't work.

 

As of Oct 18th in the AM, it seems to work now.

 

Here is what I did:

- Deleted the App off my iPhone 5.

- Powered down the iPhone 5, and restarted.

- Installed the latest Evernote app.  Made sure push notifications are ON

- Made sure 'Background App Refresh' was turned ON, and that Evernote was turned ON.  (In the iPhone Settings App)

- Made sure the Evernote app was closed or minimized on the iPhone

- Created a note in Evernote on my MacBook and manually sync'd (on the MacBook only)

- Waited 5 min

- Put my iPhone in Airplane mode (turns off cellular and wifi), bacause I noticed Evernote does a sync when I launch the app.

- Launched Evernote app on the iPhone while in airplane mode and the new note created in step 6 above WAS present on my iPhone.

 

Hope this helps.

[megsaint 441]

I don't quite understand why you would put the phone into Airplane mode. It it's just a question of relaunching the app to force a sync, what is the reason you don't just relaunch the Evernote app? Does that not work for you?

[gewappnet 82]

- Waited 5 min

- Put my iPhone in Airplane mode (turns off cellular and wifi), bacause I noticed Evernote does a sync when I launch the app.

- Launched Evernote app on the iPhone while in airplane mode and the new note created in step 6 above WAS present on my iPhone.

 

Hope this helps.

Interesting, didn't work for me. Are your notebooks configured to be available offline (premium)?

[BobP 7]

Good question.

 

I was attempting to test if Background Sync worked.  I didn't want the app to sync when I launched it - I wanted my notes to already be there.

With the iPhone it isn't such a big deal since it can sync over the cellular network when away from home.

 

But I only have the wifi version of the iPad.  So going into airplane mode should simulate my iPad sync'ing in the background, grabbing my iPad without turning it on, leaving the house and all my notes will be there on the road.

 

Make sense?

[BobP 7]

No, I do not have the premium version.

[gewappnet 82]

I don't quite understand why you would put the phone into Airplane mode. It it's just a question of relaunching the app to force a sync, what is the reason you don't just relaunch the Evernote app? Does that not work for you?

Are you sure you understand what this thread is about? It is not about forcing syncs or getting the usual functionality. It's about getting updates of your notes in the background while the app is closed, so you always have all the updated notes ready on your iPhone or iPad, even if you sit on an airplane and you hadn't used Evernote on this device the weeks before.

[gewappnet 82]

No, I do not have the premium version.

So maybe it's related to this. All my notebooks are configured to be offline available.

[BobP 7]

Gewappent, another test I did was launch Evernote on my iPhone and left it up.  (Had to touch the screen periodically to keep the screen from going dim)

 

Then I created a note on my MacBook and manually sync'd Evernote only on my MacBook.

 

Watched Evernote on the iPhone and the note appeared on its own after 2-3 minutes.

 

(I made sure I was looking at the right notebook and tag, of course :-)

[BobP 7]

'Are you sure you understand what this thread is about? It is not about forcing syncs or getting the usual functionality. It's about getting updates of your notes in the background while the app is closed, so you always have all the updated notes ready on your iPhone or iPad, even if you sit on an airplane and you hadn't used Evernote on this device the weeks before.'

 

Exactly!  Getting notes while the app is closed is exactly what I have been trying to do for a couple weeks now.  I get pretty busy and follow the Getting Things Done Methodology of tracking my stuff.  I found a great video of how to configure Evernote for Getting Things Done, and now use Evernote on my phone, iPad, Windows computer and MacBook.

I really need all my notes on every device.

[megsaint 441]

Are you sure you understand what this thread is about? It is not about forcing syncs or getting the usual functionality. It's about getting updates of your notes in the background while the app is closed, so you always have all the updated notes ready on your iPhone or iPad, even if you sit on an airplane and you hadn't used Evernote on this device the weeks before.

In order to have an updated version of the note, the iOS app needs to sync to the Evernote server, so yes, syncing is involved. The poster to whom I was responding said that they were putting the phone in airplane mode "because I noticed that Evernote does a sync when I launch the app". Putting the phone into Airplane mode is not necessary to accomplish that.

[gewappnet 82]

 

Are you sure you understand what this thread is about? It is not about forcing syncs or getting the usual functionality. It's about getting updates of your notes in the background while the app is closed, so you always have all the updated notes ready on your iPhone or iPad, even if you sit on an airplane and you hadn't used Evernote on this device the weeks before.

In order to have an updated version of the note, the iOS app needs to sync to the Evernote server, so yes, syncing is involved. The poster to whom I was responding said that they were putting the phone in airplane mode "because I noticed that Evernote does a sync when I launch the app". Putting the phone into Airplane mode is not necessary to accomplish that.

 

That's a misunderstanding. He did this because otherwise his test would have been difficult. Because Evernote does a sync when launched the app, you can't really see if the updated note was just synced or five minuted ago while being in the background. To prevent syncing at launch he turned on airplane mode.

[gewappnet 82]

I really need all my notes on every device.

I am not sure how you will manage to do this without a premium account to enable offline storage on the device. Without an active Wifi connection Evernote on your iPad will only have the headers of the notes and not the actual notes and attached files.

[JEF 0]

Please forgive my complete ignorance: Where is the sync button on the iphone 5?

[gewappnet 82]

Please forgive my complete ignorance: Where is the sync button on the iphone 5?

It's off topic, but here you go: Menu (the elephant in upper left corner) -> Your name (upper left corner) -> Sync now

This is only for forcing sync. The normal sync is done automatically.

[AndyDent 114]

No, I do not have the premium version.

Bob, if you don't have premium then you are not supposed to have any notes available offline - any available offline are only temporarily cached until they are moved to the server. Offline notes are one of the big features of premium.

 

So, Background Sync will work to the extent of having note metadata available locally (I'm pretty sure) but not note content.

[JMichaelTX 4,119]

 

Please forgive my complete ignorance: Where is the sync button on the iphone 5?

It's off topic, but here you go: Menu (the elephant in upper left corner) -> Your name (upper left corner) -> Sync now

This is only for forcing sync. The normal sync is done automatically.

 

 

This is a problem.  In both EN Win and EN Mac, the app syncs automatically (if the user has set the preference to do so) at user specified intervals.   However, they BOTH also have a manual SYNC button that is always visible.

 

One of the most important things to all users is making sure their data/info/document/note has been SAVED.  In fact, we have been taught for years to "save, and save often."

 

Sync in Evernote is the equivalent (to the user) of saving.  It gives him/her confidence that their Note has been SAVED to the Evernote Cloud.

 

So PLEASE, Evernote, PUT the Sync button in the same location on all screens of the iOS App, including the top level.

[JEF 0]

My last question was off topic but helpfully answered, so thank you.  I've never used an on-line forum before, so I don't know the rules.  Forgive me if this question is also off topic:   Forced syncing now works between my devices (Macbook pro, desktop mac, and iphone 5) for syncing the original documents, but it still doesn't sync changes I make in those notes.  Isn't Evernote supposed to do that?  Or is that just with Premium?

 

[JMichaelTX 4,119]

My last question was off topic but helpfully answered, so thank you.  I've never used an on-line forum before, so I don't know the rules.  Forgive me if this question is also off topic:   Forced syncing now works between my devices (Macbook pro, desktop mac, and iphone 5) for syncing the original documents, but it still doesn't sync changes I make in those notes.  Isn't Evernote supposed to do that?  Or is that just with Premium?

 

Jef, Syncing, forced (manual) or automatic, does the same thing:  syncs all changes to Notes, Notebooks, tags, saved searches, everything, between the device and the Evernote Cloud.  So, syncing on your iPhone has NO impact on your Macbook, yet.  You have to then sync the MacBook with the Evernote Cloud to see the changes/adds that you made on the iPhone.

 

Notes are a container for the text in the note, as well as all attachments to the Note.  So when you sync a "Note", everything is synced in the Note.

 

HTH.

[JEF 0]

 

My last question was off topic but helpfully answered, so thank you.  I've never used an on-line forum before, so I don't know the rules.  Forgive me if this question is also off topic:   Forced syncing now works between my devices (Macbook pro, desktop mac, and iphone 5) for syncing the original documents, but it still doesn't sync changes I make in those notes.  Isn't Evernote supposed to do that?  Or is that just with Premium?

 

Jef, Syncing, forced (manual) or automatic, does the same thing:  syncs all changes to Notes, Notebooks, tags, saved searches, everything, between the device and the Evernote Cloud.  So, syncing on your iPhone has NO impact on your Macbook, yet.  You have to then sync the MacBook with the Evernote Cloud to see the changes/adds that you made on the iPhone.

 

Notes are a container for the text in the note, as well as all attachments to the Note.  So when you sync a "Note", everything is synced in the Note.

 

HTH.

 

I thought that's what I was doing, but it just worked back and forth between my iphone and my macbook pro.  Thank you!  I'm still having trouble with one note, though, which won't sync from my macbook to my phone.  I just noticed that it says "conflicting changes" in a little window above the note.  Is that the problem, and if so, what should I do about it?

[jefito 5,598]

No, I do not have the premium version.

Bob, if you don't have premium then you are not supposed to have any notes available offline - any available offline are only temporarily cached until they are moved to the server. Offline notes are one of the big features of premium.

Just to clarify a bit: with respect to caching, using an offline notebook (for which you need to be a premium subscriber) guarantees -- within limits of your storage -- that notes in that notebook will be cached on your mobile device. However, there's no opposite guarantee that notes in a normal, non-offline notebook will not be cached at any time either. I think that it's based on access: if you access a note from a non-offline notebook while you're online, then its content is downloaded to your device, and will likely be cached for some time, hence available offline later on. Conversely, an offline notebook is cached via a sync of the entire notebook, and once synced, you need not have previously accessed a note in the notebook to have it be available offline.

So it's very possible to have a number of notes cached on your mobile device, even if you're not a premium subscriber or don't have any offline notebooks. Caching notes helps speed up the application and cuts down on net traffic, so it's actually a good thing that this works this way. It's just that there's no guarantee that notes in a non-offline notebook will necessarily be available when you're offline, so users need to be careful about depending on that.

[gewappnet 82]

This is a problem.  In both EN Win and EN Mac, the app syncs automatically (if the user has set the preference to do so) at user specified intervals.   However, they BOTH also have a manual SYNC button that is always visible.

Well, as nobody (especially from Evernote) is commenting on the topic of problems with the new background sync, I guess we can stay off-topic ...

 

The main difference is that the iOS version is always syncing immediately and not "every 5 minutes" or whatever. So normally the immediately automatic syncing should be faster than even thinking about pressing a sync button. BTW: A "save" button is unknown in most iOS apps. Everything should be saved immediately according to Apples guidelines for apps.

[Dan Wilson 85]

Do the people who are having trouble with background syncing have Background App Refresh enabled for the phone and turned on for Evernote? I know that turning off Background App Refresh is a popular tip for extending battery life. However, I discovered a number of apps that have to have this enabled in order to work properly.

Settings>General>Background App Refresh

Yes, everything is turned on.

 

So I take the answer as "it should work". There are actually people out there for who the background sync in Evernote works? Interesting. I asked in a German forum and I could not find anyone who could confirm this. In which intervals should the background update happen in Evernote?

I think that background refresh is meant to work whilst the app is open but in the background - that's my understanding. On previous versions sync would only happen whilst the app was in the foreground. Background refresh was happening on my iPhone until (after many freezes I had to delete Evernote and reinstall from iTunes) recently. It now doesn't seem to work, I need to bring Evernote to the foreground on my iPhone, however on my iPad it works well.

[iangtodd 1]

Just chiming in, I am an Evernote premium user and have all my notebooks synced offline, I have reinstalled the app a number of times. Background syncing is enabled in settings. Neither iPhone or iPad app under iOS 7.0.3 will sync in the background. I have to actually open the app before leaving wifi and it will sync which sort of defeats the purpose of background syncing. Rather that adding superfluous features or screen clutter, perhaps evernote should fix the issues first?

 

 

[Dan Wilson 85]

I think that this is an iOS wide issue. I have a number of unrelated apps that support background refresh but are not actually updating until I bring them to the foreground.

Now having same issue on iPhone and iPad.

[Dan Wilson 85]

As I thought, there are some others having issues with B.R. over on Apple Communities: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5392543

[JMichaelTX 4,119]

As I thought, there are some others having issues with B.R. over on Apple Communities: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5392543

 

Dan, thanks for sharing, but it looks like the general BR issue is being reported by only one, maybe two, users.

Maybe it is an iOS7-wide issue, but it seems to early to tell to me.

[JMichaelTX 4,119]

I'm NOT upgrading to Apple iOS 7, NOR Evernote iOS 7, for now.  Still too many bugs in iOS 7 itself.

Checkout this article:

19 problems with iOS 7

And general failure of the new Background Refresh is not even mentioned.  IF that is a real bug, then that's just one more reason to stay away from iOS 7 in general.

[Tom Crofford 1]

I have read a couple of threads in this knowledge base about synchronization not working correctly on iPads and IOS 7. I am also having a problem with sporadic synchronization. I force it to synchronize a lot.

After reading these posts, I did delete and reinstall the app. It was a painless process.

The only thing is that it did not fix the problem completely. It may be working slightly better now that it did before the removal and reinstallation process.

I think Evernote is a very useful product. I want to know if Evernote sees this as a bug and whether or not it is creating an update that resolves the problem.

Thanks.

[Tom Crofford 1]

Today is 11/13/2013. I noticed that the synchronization from my iPad is now working correctly.

The Evernote app updated three hours ago. I believe this fixed the iPad sync problem.

Thanks, Evernote for fixing this problem. I like your software.

[derlinzer 5]

Background sync hasn't worked for me with any version of Evernote 7.0.x (including 7.0.0).  All my appropriate settings are enabled, and tech support has been useless in this regard.  I have other apps with background sync (Pocket, Downcast, NYTimes) working perfectly, and it is a fantastic and useful feature that would suit Evernote if it ever worked.  I also tried deleting/reinstalling/logging out/logging in to no avail.  Tech support claims 7.0.2 was supposed to correct this bug, but I haven't noticed any improvement.

 

 

Instacast & Pocket Casts use silent push notifications to trigger updates. For this to happen, the apps don't have to be available while multitasking. Pocket on the other hand, doesn't use silent push notifications and has to be available while multitasking to receive updates.

 

And Evernote? No silent push notifications and hit and miss while available to multitasking.

 

IF Evernote finally started to use (silent) push notifications, background sync AND reminders would work as they should. But they seem to be completely deaf to this possibility.

[derlinzer 5]

I'm NOT upgrading to Apple iOS 7, NOR Evernote iOS 7, for now.  Still too many bugs in iOS 7 itself.

Checkout this article:

19 problems with iOS 7

And general failure of the new Background Refresh is not even mentioned.  IF that is a real bug, then that's just one more reason to stay away from iOS 7 in general.

 

The broken background sync has nothing to do with iOS 7. It's Evernote's fault.