Q: How to locally sync an iPhone with OS X Mavericks? iCloud is NOT an option.

Csound1 wrote:

 

Thousands of users had constant problems with MM. That you got lucky is no recommendation, take some time and read the many that posted in this forum regarding them.

by MM do you mean MobilMe?    You did not need "MM" to local sync and so it's not relevant?

Csound1 wrote:

 

OK.

 

Sync requires 2 sources, iCloud is 1, where is the other?

iCloud is 1 source and where the data came from in the first place is another source.   If your statment(assersion) is right that the only data source is the iCloud then:  For an addressbook when the phone is not connected to the iCloud then that data must not be avable to be viewed but this is not the case, it can always be viewed/used.  So the data must be on the phone in some form (if only a cache?) as well as the iCloud.

Local sync was unreliable????????

That is rubbish, in my experience

Well, you are only ONE person. SyncServices was notorious for messing up people's data. If you were on these forums when "iSync" was the way you synced a Mac and a cellphone (over USB or Bluetooth), there was a never-ending stream of people having problems. And SyncServices was responsible for inter-app syncing (such as between Address Book/iCal and Microsoft Entourage) and that rarely worked either.

Yes, for some people (including myself) it worked fine 95% of the time. But a huge number of people had issues. I provided tech support for a company that developed iSync Plugins for many years, and it was a nightmare. Troubleshooting people's sync problems was difficult. And I'm talking about thousands of customers, not just 2 or 3.

Don't confuse your trouble-free usage, as being what everyone experienced. SyncServices was great when it worked - far better than anything else on any other platform. But unfortunately, it didn't work great for everyone.

Back then, most people only had one mobile device and one computer. In those situations SyncServices was mostly ok. As soon as you started introducing more mobile devices into the mix, (with different changes on each device) it quickly started falling over. And SyncServices could not handle syncing a single device to multiple Macs. Apple would explicitly recommend against doing that to avoid data loss.

Nowadays, it is very common to have more than one computer (desktop & laptop) and more than one mobile device (iPhone & iPad) that you want to keep all in sync.

SyncServices was never built from the outset for how (most) people want to sync stuff these days.

Don't confuse your trouble-free usage, as being what everyone experienced.

That's absurd.

Some people can't read English. I suppose Apple should drop support for the English language?

snozdop wrote:

 

Local sync was unreliable????????

That is rubbish, in my experience

 

Well, you are only ONE person.

Make that two. Local Sync worked well for me. iCloud isn't reliable, (for me). It's Ok to like something different surely.
All software/hardware has problems that's why people like choice. There are a few people who claim to have a perfectly functioning Mac but that still has errors too, they just haven't noticed them.

Some people can't read English. I suppose Apple should drop support for the English language?

Huh? I've absolutely no idea what irrelevant point you are trying, and failing, to make there. Nobody mentioned anything about dropping support for languages. You seem confused...

Local Sync worked well for me.

As I said, it did for me too - almost all of the time. But I'm not so narrow-minded to think that my good experience with local sync is representative of everyones. I speak from the experience of being tech support for people for whom it didn't. Lots of people.

". No one is forcing you to use Mavericks."

Not yet.  But isn't it just a matter of time before old OS versions will eventually no longer be compatible with new software and devices (or even new computers) ?

Huh? I've absolutely no idea what irrelevant point you are trying, and failing, to make there. Nobody mentioned anything about dropping support for languages. You seem confused...

Yep, you've seem confused for 200 pages now. No one is asking Apple to kill iCloud. We're asking why Apple killed local USB and wifi sync in OS X 10.9 for Address Book/Contacts.

You insinuate that you have some secret insider knowledge that there's a technical problem with local syncing. Yet all you can come up with is that it doesn't work for everybody.

Duh. That's why diversity of options is better than only one option, whether we're talking syncing or languages.

Geez - are you being deliberately stupid, or are you just naturally that way?

No one is asking Apple to kill iCloud.

I never mentioned iCloud, or accused anyone of asking Apple to kill it. Stop making stuff up.

We're asking why Apple killed local USB and wifi sync in OS X 10.9 for Address Book/Contacts.

And I explained some of the reasons for that. Try reading and understanding.

You insinuate that you have some secret insider knowledge that there's a technical problem with local syncing.

Nope. It's not a secret. At least not in developer circles who worked with SyncServices. True client-to-client syncing is very difficult to get right. Any knowledgable developer will tell you that. Google it if you don't believe me.

Yet all you can come up with is that it doesn't work for everybody.

That's not all I've come up with, but this is not the place to get into the technicalities of why such syncing is hard. Ask on the developer forums if you want a detailed, technical answer. I'm not going to waste my time explaining it because you've proved time and time again, you cannot read or comprehend what is written here.

That's why diversity of options is better than only one option

You have more than one option. SyncMate 5 has just arrived as yet another option. There is no law saying that Apple has to provide every possible option. That's why third-party developers exist.

". No one is forcing you to use Mavericks."

 

Not yet.  But isn't it just a matter of time before old OS versions will eventually no longer be compatible with new software and devices (or even new computers) ?

Yeah, for people unfamiliar with the issue, perhaps newer to this forum and aren't interested in reading through 200 pages, this point is really important.

First, there is already software out today that doesn't work on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leapard. That is going to accelerate over the next couple years.

Second, and more importantly, there is no going back. Apple did the no-local sync very quietly. Unlike most advancements where they have had good reason to move forward (floppy disks being the go-to punching bag here, with optical drives a more recent example), Apple didn't make a big deal about how iCloud only is superior to iCloud + local sync. Quite the opposite, they didn't publicize the change at all. Searching Apple's web site for syncing makes it seem like, even after Mavericks was released, that you can sync contacts locally. They clearly advertise this feature in their online marketing.

There were no warnings in the upgrade process, and no warnings when connecting iOS devices to Macs for syncing.

So if you did the upgrade, and then a month or two later stumbled across this issue and realized your contacts were no longer syncing in iTunes, you had two bad options. First, you could restore on old backup of Snow Leapard - losing everything you have done since upgrading to Mavericks. Or, you could keep Mavericks, losing the ability to sync locally. When calling Apple Support, their customer reps were told to tell people complaining about this that it's not even a problem!

Of course this forum can't solve that - enough of us have to contact Apple directly for action - but I think it is important to lay out the actual story of what has been happening. The problem is not that local sync doesn't work, or that 'the future' requires abandoning it.

"OK.  Sync requires 2 sources, iCloud is 1, where is the other?"

Csound1, you are a knowledgeable tech guy, but in this case you are plain wrong.

". No one is forcing you to use Mavericks."

Not yet.  But isn't it just a matter of time before old OS versions will eventually no longer be compatible with new software and devices (or even new computers) ?

Well that is just a totally misinformed and ridiculous statement. New Macs cannot run any OSX that is older than what it shipped with. Why do you think that new Macs will run old OSXs? And software? Try running PPC or Classic software on Intel Macs that are running one of the last three Operating Systems.

It's just a silly statement and of no use to anybody.

But fits in well with many other posts here.

Pete

So tell me the second data source (and it is not the cache, which is just a copy of the server)

It is a simple questiom, why not answer it?

It's hard to take advice from one who can not answer such a simple question.

Apple local sync worked perfectly for me for so many years. never had any problems.