Freeform not syncing across ipad, iphone and Mac

Three suggestions:

1 - Make sure all 3 devices have been updated to the latest OS versions.

2 - Make sure all 3 devices are logged into the same Apple ID account.

3 - If using a VPN on any of the devices, try it with the VPN disabled on any/all of them.

I just figured out that was wrong in my case, so sharing here:

Go to System Settings > Apple ID > iCloud and look for the section named Apps Using iCloud. At the end of that section there should be a button saying Show All. Click on that and find Freeform in the list. Make sure the toggle is on, so the app can use iCloud for syncing.

(macOS Sonoma 14.0)

This is not a solution for everybody- (so keep working on a real fix, Apple.) ....but what worked for me was signing out of iCloud on my iMac (the device that wasn't sending out the updated version, my iPhone and iPad both updated instantly between each other.) Then restarting my iMac, then turning on iCloud and waiting about 15 minutes, and then the machine had time to restart and updated everything and send out whatever update signal that wasn't going out before.

I think after doing all of that, waiting the 15 minutes is a big part of it, because when you make a smiley face on your iPad you see it on your phone instantly- you sort of expect the update to be visible on the Mac after a restart, but I think the process of connecting and updating is more complicated and takes more time and processes than keeping input in sync in real time and needs time to process.

Also, to be clear- the info you have on your Mac (if that's the problem device for you like it was for me) in FreeForm does NOT save that info locally- so take a screenshot and save it on your phone as a backup, because after restarting there's a chance it won't be there if your problem device is the only place the new info is written into FreeForm. Also, I updated the IOS on my iPhone, iPad, and iMac to the very very latest version while doing all of this earlier, which I'm sure eliminated a possible issue.

Looking on line, this is an issue for A LOT of people, and just updating the IOS (which is often given as the cure-all for every issue) is NOT going to fix it for most people. Something is getting hung up and the issue needs to be looked into by Apple.

But this is what I did and it started working for me, but a real solution is only going to come from Apple looking further into this.

I was having the same issue. I created boards on an iMac then tried to share. Upon clicking the share button there was a pause then a message saying "Can't share board" "This board is still uploading to iCloud, try again in a few minutes" Whether or not this was true, it persisted for many days.

The solution:

1. Make sure iCloud syncing is toggled on for all devices you want to share with-System/user/ iCloud sync
2. fully shutdown all devices. Restart then try sharing again.

This solved my issue. Hope it helps

Thank you! I tried all of the options and checked everything in this entire post. Your suggestion was the only one that seemed to work. The issue is when creating a board on the Mac,it won't sync to iPhone. But if I created it on my iPhone, it would sync to my MAC. I marked the board as a favorite, and, voila, it synced from Mac to iPhone! Thank you!!!!

My issue was that ipad's data were not synced to icloud, despite the fact syncing was enabled and other apps worked fine. Sharing a canvas from freeform displayed a message "wait a minute to finish icloud syncing". That state persisted for weeks.

What finally helped was to mark a canvas, that does not want to get synced to icloud, as "favourite". After a while the canvas start to get synced from ipad to icloud and then to other devices. Seems like some caching issues and incorrect state of syncing on ipad, but who know really.

Have you tried turning it off and on again? :)

The issue most people are describing seems to be the exact same as mine, which is that FF board created on MAC do not sync to other devices, and cannot be shared. (Boards created on any other device sync to cloud fine).

I know it seems obv but often people just dont think to do it. I restarted my mac, and all was fine. Seems like a small bug in FF where the sync gets stuck, and a restart resolves it. Worth a try if you have forgotten to try that simple move.

In my case problem with syncing data seems to be related to different language settings on Mac and iPad, once I've switch both devices to use same language (English) freeform sync started to work.

Same here - I duplicated all of my boards (on the Mac), did nothing for a couple of minutes...and then deleted all the duplicates (also on the Mac). Suddenly Synch kicked back in and everything was up to date.

Thank's for sharing this workaround!

I seem to be able to fix a 'no sync' issue by turning it off on my iCloud account and then turning it on again (and worse, sometimes, by having to sign out completely) - both of which is an absolute pain. Perhaps even worse here is that, elements I use my iPad for (e.g. hand drawing etc... with Apple Pencil) don't always sync properly while other elements (like the insertion of photos) do. I absolutely love the concept of the App for story boarding etc.. and it has huge potential for collaboration on creative projects, but fixing the sync issues is critical for me if I'm going to rely on it.

If you go into the iCloud settings on the Mac and iPad Check to see if Freeform is turned on with the slider button. I don't recall if I had to turn that on or if it was on by default.

I had to restart ALL devices. It has worked since then.

I duplicated a Board on the device that was not syncing and suddenly it synced all the missing boards.

I had the same problem. I wasnt even able to share a document with other people.

What worked for me on Mac: Go into the iCloud settings and switch the "Freeform" off and on again.

By duplicating one, all my other boards appeared on my devices, thx!