What does automatic Wifi sync mean exactly?

Is there a way to set wifi-sync not to backup the device?

Ideally if wifi-sync sync was running on battery I would not want it to backup.

Or set like backup once per day or once per week would be nice so the sync can go quickly if its not time to backup.

Was banging my head of wall trying to figure out what i was doing wrong when trying to auto synch to itunes. The penny dropped eventually I had removed tick from "open itunes when iphone connected". Both this option and "synch with this iphone over wi fi" need to be ticked for it to work. 54 and counting. WATP!

Here's what the help article says about Wi-Fi sycning, copied from http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1386

Whenever the computer and the iOS device are on the same network, the iOS device will appear in iTunes, and you can sync it. The iOS device will sync automatically when all of the following are true:

• The iOS device is plugged in to power
• iTunes is open on the computer
• The iOS device and the computer are on the same Wi-Fi network

While the iOS device appears in the left-hand column of iTunes, you can select the content tabs and configure sync options.

Click Apply or Sync to sync the iOS device.

And from the iphone_user_guide 5 page 148:

You can sync iPhone with iTunes on a computer that is connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

Enable iTunes Wi-Fi Sync: To set up Wi-Fi syncing for the first time, connect iPhone to the computer that you want to sync with. For instructions see “Syncing with iTunes” on page 18

After you configure Wi-Fi Sync, iPhone syncs with iTunes automatically, once a day, when it’s connect to a power source and:

iPhone and your computer are both connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

iTunes on your computer is running.

So it always has to be connected to a power source to be able to sync.

Message was edited by: Ingo2711

If the new podcasts arrive while your iPhone is plugged in for charging the battery then the podcasts would sync automatically.

Everything syncs automatically to iTunes whenever your charging battery. I don't know if it happens instantaniously or at intervals.

If you are not tether to power charging, at any time you can go to Settings>General>iTunes Wi-fi Sync and tap Sync Now to sync to itunes while on battery power. You'll see the spinning arrows circle at top of the screen. You can use your iPhone while it syncs.

So it always has to be connected to a power source to be able to sync.

You can manually sync when on battery power from Settings>General>iTunes Wi-fi Sync, Sync Now

On my phone, and in the manual, it says: You can sync your phone when your phone is connected to a power source. After that you push the button to sync.

After you configure Wi-Fi Sync, iPhone syncs with iTunes automatically, once a day, when it’s connect to a power source and:

iPhone and your computer are both connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

iTunes on your computer is running.

See the date and time of the last sync	Go to Setting> General > iTunes Wi-Fi Sync.
Immediately sync with iTunes	Go to Settings > General > iTunes Wi-Fi Sync, then tap Sync Now.

And again from page 18 in the manual:

Set up wireless iTunes syncing: Connect iPhone to your computer using the Dock Connector to USB Cable. In iTunes, turn on “Sync over Wi-Fi connection” in the device’s Summary pane.

When Wi-Fi syncing is turned on, iPhone syncs automatically every day. iPhone must be connected to a power source, both iPhone and your computer must be on the same wireless network, and iTunes must be open on your computer. For more information, see “iTunes Wi-Fi Sync” on page 149.

Message was edited by: Ingo2711

I've been trying to figure out "when" the once a day sync is. I have had no problems syncing wirelessly if I initiate the sync manually. BUT have had no luck with it "automatically" syncing. I usually dont have itunes running, so I set up a command to open itunes once a day while I'm asleep. My phone is always plugged into a wall socket at this time as well. itunes opens and my phone will show up, but no syncing will take place. Any ideas?

Does itunes have to be open BEFORE connecting the phone?

Edit: After posting I realized I should have probably posted this in a new thread so as to not have potentially hijacked this one. Any ideas would still be helpful though.

I have been trying everything from every post for the past few days but nothing had fixed the auto syncing issue over the wifi until just before. All I did was visit the iTunes store from the itunes itself ( I specifically visited the new link called Purchased) and suddenly both my iPhone and iPad have started to auto sync.

Infact they auto sync every time I unplug and plug into the power source. I have tried this 4-5 times in the last half an hour with both my devices and the auto sync started every time.

Only one issue remains - for some reason the itunes looses both the devices if I turn the Airport off and use only the Ethernet connection.

I just found this on another Forum. It worked immediately. Like it says in the link, not sure if you have to do all the steps here but I did and it worked.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread...art=0&tstart=0

For the lazy, here's the text.

Ok, i finally got automatic sync working. I had the same problems as others - could do a manual wireless sync from the iPhone Settings App, but automatic sync would not start when plugged in and charging. The iPhone showed up in the iTunes sidebar, the "Sync with this iPhone over WiFi" option in the iPhone settings in iTunes was checked, the iPhone and Mac were on the same network (over WiFi - no ethernet connection), and the "Prevent iPods, iPhones and iPads from synching automatically" option was NOT checked, and i still couldn't get automatic syncing to work.

Here's what i did

- made sure the iPhone was showing in the iTunes sidebar

- turned off WiFi on the iPhone, leaving it still showing in the iTunes sidebar

- Ctrl-clicked on the iPhone in the iTunes sidebar and selected "Sync "iPhone"" (the name may be different depending on your device and what you've called it)

- Let iTunes work trying to sync the iPhone it couldn't find until it showed an exclamation mark where the eject symbol is in the sidebar

- hot the eject/exclamation symbol and waited until the iPhone wasn't showing in the sidebar

- Connected the iPhone with a cable and let iTunes re-recognise it

- in the iPhone settings checked "open iTunes when this iPhone is connected" option and hit Apply (NOT Sync)

- Ejected the iPhone in iTunes

- turned the iPhone WiFi back on and let it connect to the WiFi network

- made sure it was showing in the iTunes sidebar

- connected it to my charger

- and wireless syncing started automatically!

Probably not all of this is necessary - I'm not sure which step fixed the problem, but my guess is the "open iTunes when this *** is connected" preference is the important one. Also i hadn't synced my iPhone in a couple of days, so that might be important. My guess is it won't start automatic sync if you've synced it relatively recently.