Synchronization period of "Automatically"

[BlueSky83 6]

Hello,

What exactly happens when we set the synchronization period to "Automatically," under Options>Synchronization>Synchronize?

Does anyone know exactly how frequently in syncs?

Thanks!

[CalS 5,281]

It is supposed to be like on IOS, sync soon after you exit the note.  Not always immediate for some reason, but soon. 

[BlueSky83 6]

Oh, wow. So it sounds even faster than "Every 5 minutes." Thank you, CalS, for your answer.

I want the fastest syncing I can get because I have multiple devices that I switch between quite frequently on some days. I want the synchronizing to "just work."

I guess that if I change notes when I switch devices, that would argue for choosing "Automatic," because every note except the last edited on that device will be up to date on the server (at least soon after). 

However, if I work on the same note on different devices, but with a pause in between, that would argue for choosing "Every 5 minutes," because I don't have to exit the note for synchronization to occur. 

Does that sound right? Anyone with additional throughts?

[BlueSky83 6]

I've switched my setting to Automatic to see how it works. Faster is better.

[CalS 5,281]

1 hour ago, BlueSky83 said:

Oh, wow. So it sounds even faster than "Every 5 minutes." Thank you, CalS, for your answer.

I want the fastest syncing I can get because I have multiple devices that I switch between quite frequently on some days. I want the synchronizing to "just work."

I guess that if I change notes when I switch devices, that would argue for choosing "Automatic," because every note except the last edited on that device will be up to date on the server (at least soon after). 

However, if I work on the same note on different devices, but with a pause in between, that would argue for choosing "Every 5 minutes," because I don't have to exit the note for synchronization to occur. 

Does that sound right? Anyone with additional throughts?

You are welcome.  Safest method when frequently switching between devices is to manually sync when you exit the first and manually sync when you enter the second.  

I use Automatic but I don’t switch between devices that often.  I still sync when I enter my phone if EN was already open.  Starting EN on my Phone causes a sync. 

[dconnet 529]

22 hours ago, BlueSky83 said:

Does anyone know exactly how frequently in syncs?

It's defined by the service. So it might be 5 seconds. It might be 10 minutes. On the client side, we have no control - the service tells us - and we obey what it said! (Looks like we log the values - look for "Sync rate configuration changed:". Mine is currently saying 30sec.)

[CalS 5,281]

6 hours ago, dconnet said:

It's defined by the service. So it might be 5 seconds. It might be 10 minutes. On the client side, we have no control - the service tells us - and we obey what it said! (Looks like we log the values - look for "Sync rate configuration changed:". Mine is currently saying 30sec.)

Yeah, not sure this is working 100%.  Sometimes my notes sync within 5-10 seconds of completing the edit.  Other times the asterisk sits until I force a sync.  Perhaps the other two variables drive the process when it is working, one is set to 3 seconds, the other to 6??? 

Sync rate configuration changed:

08:01:53 [INFO   ] [8500] [5236] * syncStateIntervalMillis=30000

08:01:53 [INFO   ] [8500] [5236] * updateNoteWhenIdleForMillis=3000

08:01:53 [INFO   ] [8500] [5236] * updateNoteDuringEditIntervalMillis=6000

 

Anyway, as a test I just updated the body of a note as I started typing this and the stopwatch is over 5 minutes.  So this is a case of fail.  I would think this is a bug in that it should have synced by now.  Syncs before this one were working just fine, sync happening in less than 10 seconds.  Now at 7:30 minutes.... 

 

Just checked the web and none of the deletes/moves I have made in the last 10 minutes have synced either.  So client seems to have fallen asleep.  May be turning off automatic.

 

Manually synced.  Side bar, nothing to do with this, but a note I have in my main notebook on my PC is in the Inbox on the Web.  Geez.

 

EDIT:  The extra note was on the web but not on my PC.  I added inbox to the title and it synced to the desktop.  I deleted the "inbox" note since it is a duplicate of what I already have on the desktop.  I think I dragged and dropped a PDF into the inbox to create the note.  And I am back to 5 second syncs.....

[allendick 98]

Very disappointed in the sync.  I did a lot of web page saves from my browser on a different computer last night and expected them to be available on this laptop  laptop on my flight this morning. .They weren't, even though both machines were on with Evernote running for at least and hour after I did the saves and both are set to supposedly sync automatically.  The headers were there, so it looked as if the machine had synced, but the content was not downloaded!  After landing, I synced manually and the machine worked for about fifteen seconds and now the content is still not here and the header says, "Requested". Another says, "Loading".   This a fast machine with TB of space, so there is no excuse IMO>

This is not the performance I expect from an app for work.

Seems like a serious bug.

 

[s2sailor 2,247]

2 hours ago, allendick said:

Very disappointed in the sync.  I did a lot of web page saves from my browser on a different computer last night and expected them to be available on this laptop  laptop on my flight this morning. .They weren't, even though both machines were on with Evernote running for at least and hour after I did the saves and both are set to supposedly sync automatically.  The headers were there, so it looked as if the machine had synced, but the content was not downloaded!  After landing, I synced manually and the machine worked for about fifteen seconds and now the content is still not here and the header says, "Requested". Another says, "Loading".   This a fast machine with TB of space, so there is no excuse IMO>

This is not the performance I expect from an app for work.

Seems like a serious bug.

 

Sync for the most part just works for me.  I rarely think about it but have seen the occasional glitch.  For times (such as plane trips) when I absolutely need to make sure content recently added to one machine must be on another, I get into the habit of manually sync'ing and checking each before leaving.  Having a fast machine with TB of space really doesn't factor into sync much, network speed and quality is probably the bigger factor.  Not sure what the specific issue was for you, maybe the service was down for a little bit, but learning to occasionally do manual syncs has definitely saved me some grief in the past ... FWIW.

[allendick 98]

Thanks.  Understood.

Network was fine and fast. As I say, headers were loaded and the All Notes list showed them there.  However, the contents were not there when I needed them.

In the past my impression was that notes were synced as quickly as they were changed with no obvious delay.  Maybe I was wrong and in this case, the notes were clipped web pages.

Regardless, this is a major failure from my perspective and if it happens again, I am going to have to reconsider my longstanding relationship with Evernote.  I can't be going from machine to machine checking and syncing every note manually.

I am aware that the Android version only downloads notes as needed and caches a few due to the nature of cellular data and typical phone storage, but I certainly expect all my notes to be stored locally on every Windows machine that is connected and active and not to have to depend on manually checking as I go out the door.  Not everyone is connected all the time or wants to be.

[allendick 98]

Found the problem. The issue is not a bug as it seems.  It is apparently a feature!

I discovered that the "enable on demand sync" checkbox in options is not enabling a manual sync on demand but disabling automatic sync even when automatic sync is selected.

This option means that a new note on the server is not downloaded.  Only the header is. Only when the note is opened is a request made to the server!  Tough if you are offline and counting on using it.

I discovered after some searching that his option was checked on my recent installation on this new laptop. 

This setting should come with a clear warning that it disables what we expect when we select automatic sync even if automatic sync is selected.

[dcon 166]

9 hours ago, allendick said:

This setting should come with a clear warning that it disables what we expect when we select automatic sync even if automatic sync is selected.

If you hover over the setting, the help tip does tell you.

[allendick 98]

While that is true and can be observed but will not be seen by everyone, especially, those who take the description at face value, then come across the option to sync automatically further down and assume it takes precedence and is unqualified.

This is order and separation is confusing , seeing as selecting it does not grey out the option to sync automatically or indicate that only a partial sync is being requested going forward.

I think to most, the term syncing, unless qualified, means bringing all copies into conformity.  Syncing 'headers only' should be located  under the sync setting as a qualifying option and says so in so many words,  not somewhere above where it is easy to misunderstand. the implications.

I don't know how that option got checked on this new installation, but it almost cost Evernote a long-time paying client.

For any one who bothers to question and complain, a hundred or more just leave silently.

FWIW.

[CalS 5,281]

16 minutes ago, allendick said:

This is order and separation is confusing , seeing as selecting it does not grey out the option to sync automatically or indicate that only a partial sync is being requested going forward.

It still syncs automatically, it's just the header that syncs until the note is actually accessed at which point the content is downloaded.  I think ODS was added back when for those who wanted to to release some disk space and maybe get a performance improvement.  Never used it myself per the issue you bumped into plus a couple others (backup and note merging).  

[allendick 98]

> it's just the header that syncs until the note is actually accessed at which point the content is downloaded.

Well, it was not downloaded, and that was a surprise that wasted my time and I have wasted enough time on this. 

Anytime I post about problems I have with Evernote, hoping to be helpful, someone tells me that it is my own stupid fault.

I guess I'm just not smart enough to use Evernote.  Thanks for pointing that out.

I'm done here.

 

[BlueSky83 6]

Original poster here.

I'd like to see Evernote improve its synchronization technology. I just did a test with Google Docs, and when I type on my desktop, the letters appear on my laptop within about .5 seconds. 

Frankly, I don't need a .5 second response time like Google Docs has. But I do need a 5 second response time.

Fixing synchronization so that it is within spitting distance of gDocs would take a big engineering effort. You'd need "always on" connections to allow "push" messaging, and the messaging protocol would have to be redesigned around the idea of sending single actions or keystrokes at a time. With that said, it could be done. Etherpad-lite was, if I recall correctly, written basically by a single developer: https://etherpad.org/

I don't mind paying for Evernote, but whenever I worry about whether changes have already synced, I wish that the document were in gDocs instead of Evernote.

With that said, I'm quite impressed by the new management and the development pace since I made my original post, above. This is a gorgeous new forum redesign, by the way!

[allendick 98]

Regarding sync lag, I should explain that I run two machines side by side and sometimes three, each with a second monitor controlled by a single mouse and keyword using  Mouse Without Borders. 

And that -- for my purposes -- in the past ,sync has been plenty fast enough for my purposes and I was never conscious of a significant  lag as I avoided having the same note open on more than one monitor.  Interesting thought.

I guess that is why I was gobsmacked by finding my content inexplicitly missing. 

[bilzer 2]

Where do I find options>synchronization >synchronize?

[PinkElephant 8,181]

You are posting in an old thread.

If you are on EN v10, you will not find these options. The current release doesn’t have settings yet.

[David Bella 0]

Guys, I am a loyal evernote premium user for like at least 5 years, I never installed a new version, but now I downloaded without thinking twice the new update :  

10.10.5-win-ddl-public (2487)
Editor: v120.1.15587
Service: v1.31.4

It's a joke your new update. I have very big note where I put new data every day, and now when I type on it it's very very slow. The note is probably 20mb and because it's always automatically syncing it takes age between every word I type. 

Moreover, it look like in this version there is no Options > Syncronization. You guys removed the Options menu? You though you were apple removing holes from the iphone? You guys are software developper doing software, it used to be great and I never complained for 5 years, but this new version is like just horrible, everything is so so slow! And I have 32Go RAM

Make no sense - I really need a solution and I am already thinking about moving somewhere else, I can't stand that anymore

Thanks