Apple notes slow or not syncing

Hello Russellleak,

We understand that your notes are not syncing as expected with your iPhone and iMac. To clarify, does the note appear on the iCloud website, in Notes? This may help us to determine if the issue occurs with your iPhone or your iMac. Here's how to check:

"Use Notes on iCloud.com

You can access your iCloud notes in a web browser on a phone, tablet, or computer.

• Go to icloud.com/notes and sign in with your Apple ID.

For more information on how to use Notes on iCloud.com, see any of the following:

• On a phone: Use Notes on iCloud.com
• On a tablet: Use Notes on iCloud.com
• On a computer: Use Notes on iCloud.com"

Click here for more details. This resource can also assist you with verifying that everything is set up properly:

Set up iCloud for Notes on all your devices

After you have verified if the note appears on the iCloud website, the following steps may be able to help resolve this issue:

• Restart your devices. This may seem like a simple steps to take but it refreshes the device and the software.

1. Restart your iPhone

2. Restart your Mac. On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > Restart.

• Close and reopen the Notes app. This is a great steps to take when an app is not working as expected.

1. Quit and reopen an app on iPhone

2. How to force an app to quit on your Mac

Thanks for connecting with Apple Support Communities.

We look forward to your reply.

Apple Notes with iCloud sync has been an abject failure for decades. Don't expect Apple to fix these syncing problems, it's never going to happen. I'm now using Upnote (available for both MacOS and iOS) which is FANTASTIC and syncs fast & reliably every time. This is the notes app Apple SHOULD have developed for it's users. Upnote is extremely affordable and cross-platform, too!

iMac Venture 13.3.1

iPhone 16.4.1

iCloud synch on for Notes

Over the last week, I have been running Google Keep (which I've been using for years) in parallel with Apple Notes with the intention of transitioning to the latter. Today I decided to stick with Keep.

Stand out difference is the synch time across devices. Otherwise, they are pretty much like-for-like products. With Google Keep, synch is virtually instantaneous. In fact, as you type on one device, you can see the changes taking place on another device right before your eyes.

With Apple Notes, synchronisation is almost random and can take seconds, minutes or even hours. Bizarre, totally impractical and unacceptable in this day and age for anyone who relies on a notes app for managing lists, tasks and recording information on the fly across desktop and mobile devices.

Once again, I choose Google. Their applications are consistently super fast, highly functional and extremely reliable. I may own an iPhone, but I rely on Google for pretty much everything (eg: Gmail, G Drive, Google Calendar, Google Keep, Google Maps and, would you believe, Google Home - so glad I avoided the Apple Home fiasco a few months ago).