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

For those who thinking of switch to Apple iCloud, my advise is too wait for awhile to see what is Apple respond! The reason is because once you switch to iCloud, whatever backup in your computer system will be ERASE! Just in case with some luck, Apple willing to turn-on the SyncServices again, you will have to go through the painful process of rebuilding your Contacts and Calendars! I experience that problem before, that's why I stop using iCloud for my Contacts and Calendars!

It can't be that hard to do. Apple kept local USB synching in iTunes for Windows. Being a Mac user, I am not pleased that Apple treats Windows users better than Mac users. However, it does show that it is possible.

Just ask Apple to treat you like a Windows customer...

Car manufactures are producing variations of their models for different markets. Apple should do the same and produce a version of OS X for the US market with a lot of bling bling, simplicity, lack of choices,etc... and one version for Europe/Asia which focuses on privacy and the freedom to choose which feature one wants to use.

Hi Matt,

     I have replied to you (though it's for anyone really) because we discussed this method earlier, been busy since then so it's taken a while.

Anyway, All,  here it is so far, NOT TESTED YET, I'll probably do that tomorrow, so comments please (constructive ones please!) before then if possible. I also need to learn how to make it executable.

Replace username with your own login name.

I have built in safety checks where I can. It's a long time since I did any shell programming (1995 I think) so it was a bit of a relearning situation. I'm sure I'll get loads of comments from those who program all the time.

I am still a little concerned about what happens to the iCloud copy, espescially as it appears to be hosted by Microsoft and Amazon, it would be nice to know that it does get deleted but can 'they' be believed.

Chris.

_____________________________________________________________________________

#Sync Procedure

echo “ENSURE YOU HAVE AN UP_TO_DATE BACKUP!”

echo “ “

echo “/Users/username/Library/Calendars.bak will be overwritten by this procedure, rename it if you want to keep it! (If it exists).”

echo “ “

echo “/Users/username/Library/Calendars will be copied to /Users/username/Library/Calendars.bak.”

echo “ “

echo “/Users/username/Library/Calendars will then be overwritten by your new synchronised Calendar.”

#Change to correct directory

cd /Users/username/library

if [ "$?" = "0" ]; then

          pwd

else

          echo "Cannot change directory!"

          exit 1

fi

#Copy “Calendars” directory to ../Calendars.bak

cp -Rf ../Calendars ../Calendars.bak

if [ "$?" = "0" ]; then

          echo “Calendar backup completed.

else

          echo "Cannot backup Calendar, quiting!”

          exit 1

fi

#Prompt to turn on sync on iPhone and await confirmation

echo -n “Turn on Calendar sync on your iPhone and press Y when done or any other key to quit > “

read input

case $input in

            # Check for Y

    Y ) echo "You confirmed your iPhone is ready to sync”

            ;;

            # Check for anything else

    * )         echo "You did not type a Y.”

                                 echo “Ensure you have turned OFF Calendar sync on your iPhone, (select RETAIN DATA LOCALLY).”

                                     echo  “Quiting.”

exit 1

esac

#Prompt to turn on sync on Mac and await confirmation

echo -n “Turn on Calendar sync on your Mac and press Y when done or any other key to quit > “

read input

case $input in

            # Check for Y

    Y ) echo "You confirmed your Mac is ready to sync”

            ;;

            # Check for anything else

    * )         echo "You did not type a Y.”

                                 echo “Ensure you have turned OFF Calendar sync on your Mac.”

                                     echo   “Quiting.”

exit 1

esac

#Leave time for sync to occur

echo -n “Wait for sync to complete then press Y > “

read input

#Change to correct directory

cd /Users/username/library

if [ "$?" = "0" ]; then

          pwd

else

          echo "Cannot change directory!"

          exit 1

fi

#Copy “Calendars” directory to ../Calendars.bak

cp -Rf ../Calendars ../Calendars.bak

if [ "$?" = "0" ]; then

          echo “Calendar backup completed.

else

          echo "Cannot backup Calendar, quiting!”

          exit 1

fi

#Prompt to turn off sync on Mac and await Confirmation

echo -n “Turn OFF Calendar sync on your Mac and press Y when done. > “

read input

case $input in

            # Check for Y

    Y ) echo "You confirmed your Mac sync is turned OFF”

            ;;

            # Check for anything else

    * )         echo "You did not type a Y, quiting.”

exit 1

esac

#Prompt to turn off sync on iPhone (retaining data locally) and await Confirmation

echo -n “Turn OFF Calendar sync on your iPhone, (select RETAIN DATA LOCALLY) and press Y when done.> “

read input

case $input in

            # Check for Y

    Y ) echo "You confirmed your iPhone sync is turned OFF”

            ;;

            # Check for anything else

    * )         echo "You did not type a Y, quiting.”

exit 1

esac

#Copy “Calendars.bak” directory to ../Calendars

cp -Rf ../Calendars.bak ../Calendars

if [ "$?" = "0" ]; then

          echo “Local copy of Calendar completed.

else

          echo "Cannot make local copy of Calendar, quiting!”

          exit 1

fi

#Notify Completed and await acknowledgement

echo  “Procedure Complete.”

echo  “Your iPhone and Mac Calendars should be in sync and a copy held in /Users/Libraries/Calendars.bak.”

echo  “The iCloud copy should have been removed.”

echo  “Press any key to Quit.”

read input

#Close App

exit 0

Wow, a lot of thought, work and effort went into this.

I'm doing it manually right now and it seems to be working. If we can shake a test machine free, we'll give this a go.

I've also read that AppleScripts and similar code are wonky in 10.9. Not sure how this might affect things...

Thanks!

DiederikStaay wrote:

 

Thank you Drew Reece for a comprehensive and actually helpful comment. I understand Apple's line of thought now, but I am thoroughly disappointed by it anyway.

 

So it boils down to a need for Apple to keep things simple for themselves and their developers. And there I was thinking they operated from the users viewpoint. That era is over then?

The 'truth' being stored on Apple's iCloud servers is exactly what I fear. No matter how convincing they might like to sound; other people's computers, in this case Apple's iCloud servers, are outside of my control. Therefor, not trustworthy. Let alone the often cryptic messages that you get when you want to clear something "everything on this Mac will be deleted!" No, I want to clear up some of my data, not al.... How idiotic a whish is that? The explanantion on how iCloud works lacks severely in clarity to me.

 

 

Personally I think Contacts & Calenders are not what really concerns me. I'd prefer local control of my data if at all possible and can't see the point of my data going on a 6000 mile roundtrip to sync between devices in the same room but keychain syncing is the real worry.

Imagine all of your password data mushed into damaged records by a sync that has 'become out of sync'. The most critical part of those records (passwords) is 'essentially invisible' until you unlock each item with a password.

Fixing that would be beyond impossible with Apple's current tools. I think you would have to export to plain text to make any sense of duplicates & out of date entries.

We had keychain syncing with .Mac and MobileMe, it allowed us to backup before a sync & resolve conflicts, now Apple places a little too much faith in the cloud for my taste.

I'm glad you liked the post, I was hoping it would quieten the senior members that are simply jumping on all the new users here, the new users may be making incorrect assumptions, but it is clear they are upset & need some help.

> Fine... And how do I make a backup of that definitive version?

Easily, I've been doing it the way Apple recommends for over a decade, long before iCloud existed:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4910

Wow! I went out of town Saturday, I ignored this thread from Saturday (11/2) until today and this thread went from 32 pages to 42 pages and we are no further with a reasonable solution than we were a couple of days after Mavericks was released.

I was going to replace my iMac, 2 iPhones and 2 iPads this year, but I just can't see doing that until there is a solution to the iCloud/local sync problem that I find acceptable.

Someone else said that Apple went from "It just works" to this.  Apple went from "our local computer is the hub of our digital lifestyle to iCloud being that hub".  I want control of my hub back localally.

I have not seen any evidence that Apple even acknowledges that the loss of local sync is a problem for even some users. I guess they just don't know that it is a problem... So much for all that fedback some (me too) have sent to Apple.

I am still hopeful that this will generate a hole for a 3rd party solution to fill.

Andy

snozdop wrote:

 

> Fine... And how do I make a backup of that definitive version?

 

Easily, I've been doing it the way Apple recommends for over a decade, long before iCloud existed:

 

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4910

Great. Yeah easypeasy. Done I a jiffy. Pfff. That's a huge pile of work to do for my 13 ever changing  calendars. Aarrgh! And knowing I have to do this on a very regular basis. What worthless solution. Any other, useful, solutions?

I submitted my feedback to Apple at http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html . I hope everyone else does the same.

snozdop wrote:

 

> Fine... And how do I make a backup of that definitive version?

 

Easily, I've been doing it the way Apple recommends for over a decade, long before iCloud existed:

 

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4910

LOL, just perform these simple 27+ steps to back up your data, simple.

Those are all local copies, not the definitive store, only Apple has access to that on iCloud, when your syncing is broken you only get the old data.

Also add ~/Library/Keychains to the list of things to keep if you use Keychain syncing.

You can't even automate this backup process, you just have to hope Time Machine will restore the files that are actually responsible for storing the data, they are all inside the hidden ~/Library…

~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/

~/Library/Calendars/

~/Library/Safari/

~/Library/Mail/

~/Library/Mail Downloads/

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iCal.plist

…

and so it goes

Just two buttons it the iCloud prefs could make this backup system usable…

[Download backup…]   [Restore backup…]

Some of the news sites have woken up to this issue and macworld.co.uk even has an article on setting up server on a single mac to do the syncing. Haven't tried it yet:

http://mobile.macworld.co.uk/macsoftware/news/?newsid=3481057

As a business customer of Apple UK, spoke to them today about some new Macs we are thinking of buying and brought up this issue in conversation. It wasn't even on their radar. Also emailed Mike Bombich, the king of sync and suggested he write something to complement his excellent CCC but not sure if iOS stuff is his thing. Meanwhile, I'll try the idiot's guide from MacWorld UK and see if that works.

I just got back from the Apple store with this exact issue. I am a licensed psychologist, and iCloud is not an option since they do not comply with security rules for medical records. They had no solution for me, and they said I was the first one to raise the issue. My PC still syncs fine. Brendan

DiederikStaay wrote:

 

snozdop wrote:

 

> Fine... And how do I make a backup of that definitive version?

 

Easily, I've been doing it the way Apple recommends for over a decade, long before iCloud existed:

 

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4910

Great. Yeah easypeasy. Done I a jiffy. Pfff. That's a huge pile of work to do for my 13 ever changing  calendars. Aarrgh! And knowing I have to do this on a very regular basis. What worthless solution. Any other, useful, solutions?

Sarcasm: the lowest form of wit.

Find your own solution if what volunteers here provide are too "worthless" for you. We're not your personal slaves. Instead of whinging do something yourself.