Voice Memos sync . . . sort of.

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114 points

Voice Memos sync . . . sort of.

Sometimes I launch Voice Memos on my Mac (Catalina) and the recordings on my iPhone are there, but many times, they are not. For example, I have six on my iPhone, and two of six are in the Mac app. Sometimes it just takes time; in other words, when I first launch the Mac app, they are not there, but after a few minutes they show up. None of my recordings are more than five seconds, so it's not like I need to wait for a huge download, and the Mac app has been up for a half-hour.

Any ideas?

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Dec 3, 2020 9:07 PM

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Answer 1

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Wilddrums

Level 5

4,274 points

Dec 3, 2020 9:15 PM in response to Tim Murray2

Do you mean Voice Memo synced through iCloud? You must at least. for a sync cycle to complete. Other factors may be involved. Bad connection, fail/retry cycles, issues with iCloud services... Sometime a logout/login from iCloud can help.

WD

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Answer 2

Tim Murray2 Author

Level 1

114 points

Dec 3, 2020 9:22 PM in response to Wilddrums

Other than they my Mac apps using iCloud, such as Mail, Photos, and sometimes Music, I rarely use a browser to log into iCloud -- I use it once in a while to send a sound to my iPhone because I can't find it. The connection is solid, meaning emails are there, no stuttering on streaming movies, etc.

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Answer 3

Wilddrums

Level 5

4,274 points

Dec 3, 2020 9:34 PM in response to Tim Murray2

I'm not sure I understand your comment. I referred to iCloud services used to sync voice memos. Nothing to do with the Web iCloud.

What I'm talking about is under System Preferences. Within Profile/Apple ID on recent macOS versions. It could be just to deactivate/activate iCloud for Voice Memos.

WD

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Answer 4

DiZoE

Level 4

3,009 points

Dec 3, 2020 10:12 PM in response to Tim Murray2

Hey Tim Murray2!

Good question! It sounds like, since the other data syncs fine, that your iCloud, and Mac storage are both sufficient.

I may try, as Wilddrums suggested. I would disable Voice Memos in System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud > iCloud Drive (Unless right under iCloud).

I would then restart your Mac, and turn that function back on again, give it a sec, and re-open Voice Memos.

Otherwise, do they sync to your other devices (If you have any) okay? Thanks!

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Answer 5

Tim Murray2 Author

Level 1

114 points

Dec 4, 2020 9:47 AM in response to DiZoE

Odd: There is no Voice Memos in the "Apps on this Mac using iCloud" nor in iCloud Drive > Options list. Voice Memos appears in my iPhone Settings, however. It syncs fine to my very old iPad.

I signed out of iCloud completely on the Mac and turned off Voice Memos on the iPhone, rebooted the Mac, then signed in again on my Mac and turned on Voice Memos on the iPhone.

Still not shown on the Mac. The next thing I will try is to delete all recordings in all devices, but I doubt VM will show up on the Mac.

I might just ignore it. As I said, I use Voice Memos for 5-second reminders to myself and I'm happy to listen to them on my iPhone or iPad. After Christmas I have three days off, so I will be formatting my Mac and moving to Big Sur from a clean slate.

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Answer 6

Tim Murray2 Author

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114 points

Dec 4, 2020 10:46 AM in response to DiZoE

It's (mostly) working! I deleted all recordings from all devices and restarted the Mac. When I launched VM, I got a message that syncing wasn't enabled. There was a button to enable syncing, and now it works, and VM is now in the iCloud list.

I said "mostly" because in order for VM to re-synced, I have to quit VM and relaunch. But that's okay for now.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

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Answer 7

DiZoE

Level 4

3,009 points

Dec 4, 2020 11:29 PM in response to Tim Murray2

Hey again! Thanks for the update!

Interesting. When you deleted all the VM content, how did you get it back? By enabling it again in iCloud Settings? Just wondering if some specific content in VM is having troubles connecting to this specific Mac, etc.

Or did you start syncing fresh content again, after removing it? If so, Could just be a new OS glitch, or server glitch related to this specific iCloud service, if not an account related issue, although your other devices seem just fine. I haven’t heard much of this problem, guess you’re the lucky one!

Well glad it’s working to some extent now, I think most likely just keeping your devices up to date, it will work itself out eventually, cheers!

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Answer 8

Tim Murray2 Author

Level 1

114 points

Dec 5, 2020 11:11 AM in response to DiZoE

Other than what I said earlier about deleting every VM in all devices, logging out of iCloud, various restarts, and the "you're not syncing" warning on the Mac, I didn't do anything else. I tested with numerous recordings and deletes on each device, and each device synced with the quirk that the Mac doesn't sync until VM is quit and relaunched. So basically, it's good enough for now.

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Voice Memos sync . . . sort of.

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