Changes made in Numbers not being saved on iPad.

Question

Level 1

16 points

Changes made in Numbers not being saved on iPad.

For a while, I thought I was the one with the problem. Periodically I make changes and updates to various spreadsheets in Numbers on my iPad (3) and often when I reopen a file, the changes no longer exist. In some cases entire sections that I have deleted re-appear. Other times, new data that I entered no longer appears. This has been happening not only on the current iOS7 (7.1.2) but in the two prior releases as well. Since probably 90-98% of people will make a financial decision based on their spreadsheet, whether it is for budget, savings, investments, etc, this could be very damaging. I will now have to go back to using MS Office, as Numbers, which I otherwise like, can not be trusted. Further, I do not believe I'm the only one that has this problem, and I'm also certain that Apple knows about it. I am requesting comments and feedback. For some reason (memory management) an old image is being retained and displayed, or the changed file was never stored.

Thanks

Bob in PA

iPad (3rd gen) Wi-Fi, iOS 7.1.2

Posted on Jul 28, 2014 11:45 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

jrwatkinson

Level 1

9 points

Apr 5, 2017 8:45 AM in response to PAgrampa

I started using Numbers for iPad as an easy way to collect very small reports (from bus drivers -- I work at a school) on a daily basis. I used numbers because it was so easy to create the table, and then generate a form. It worked perfectly the first year (I believe 2014/2015...) But lately I have had the same issue with data disappearing. On a given morning, for example, a staff member might collect 8 reports, and then when we go to transfer them to iTunes (we CANNOT use wireless, so there IS NO cloud-syncing issue happening here), the last two entries are simply not there. We ARE on older iPads (iPad 2, I believe), but we have the latest version of Numbers available for that iPad version. And we have tried this on two different iPads, with the same disappointing result.

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Answer 2

t quinn

Level 5

7,043 points

Jul 28, 2014 3:16 PM in response to PAgrampa

Hi Bob,

I do daily data entry on my iPod and have not had your problem. Are you using the cloud? That could be complicating things. It is possible to sync yout data thru iTunes w/o the cloud. My theory is that changes are getting made that iCloud is miss-prioritizing.

quinn

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Answer 3

Jul 29, 2014 8:31 AM in response to PAgrampa

Are you using Numbers or accessing the files on any device other than your iPad (i.e. syncing using iCloud)?

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Answer 4

PAgrampa Author

Level 1

16 points

Jul 29, 2014 8:53 AM in response to Kilgore-Trout

I am using numbers exclusively on my iPad (3rd gen). Problem is the buffer size. If I make a few changes, I'm ok. If I make a large number of changes, the system can't handle it. Went to the Apple store last night and the rep suggested Apple.com/feedback so I left a note there. Also tried to call but was disconnected several times. Nice. I'm going to use Excel on my Mac Mini or get a PC. Apple wanted $19+ for me to report the problem with THEIR software. Really? I would happily give them a programming solution, but they have too many layers and walls to the moat that they keep between them and customers.

Thanks for the reply and also T Quinn anyway.

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Answer 5

t quinn

Level 5

7,043 points

Jul 29, 2014 9:38 AM in response to PAgrampa

Hi Bob,

Sounds like you know what you want to do.

The iPod Touch 5 has limited RAM and it used to get wonky if I went a long time without pressing "Done" or, I believe, saving a copy to iTunes.

As they say- "Use the tool that suits your needs".

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Answer 6

Sep 8, 2014 9:10 AM in response to PAgrampa

I have just lost 5 solid hours of detailed spreadsheet work in Numbers for iPad (iPad 2 with IOS 7.1.2). Then I noticed that another spreadsheet that I had completed last week is no longer complete - all of my entries from my last work session on that other spreadsheet have also simply disappeared! There is 16.8GB of storage space still available on my 64GB iPad, so it isn't a capacity issue. As work is saved to local storage as it occurs, I have to assume that my locally saved work has been overwritten on both occasions by iCloud. Perhaps I have yet to discover other instances of this - I dread to think!!! I was working offline whilst updating the Numbers spreadsheets, so the overwrite must have occurred as soon as I went online and iCloud automatically kicked in. I simply can no longer trust Apple. I will have to buy a Microsoft Surface Pro immediately and get back to working with a file system that is flexible and does not rely on online-storage synchronisation programmers having the common sense to program so that locally stored copies with a later timestamp are not overwritten without offering the user a choice to have them overwritten or used as the most recent and authoritative version of a file.

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Answer 7

Oct 9, 2014 3:20 AM in response to PAgrampa

I have seen similar happenings with Numbers on iOS 8 on the iPhone 6. I'm not using iCloud , either.

This is concerning and needs to be addressed quickly.

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Answer 8

Oct 22, 2014 1:00 PM in response to ryanfromjst

I think some of the issue may be Numbers not saving the file before Numbers itself closes.

I just modified a sheet, went back to the screen that lists my spreadsheets (thinking that would initiate a "save"), then double-clicked the home button and closed Numbers. I immediately went back into the app and saw that my change had not been saved.

If we (the user) cannot force a save, then either going back to the spreadsheets page or closing the app should trigger a save for us.

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Answer 9

Dec 1, 2014 11:23 AM in response to PAgrampa

Hi,

We had the same problem already two times. Any solution suggested. Anybody who knows, when the data is flushed to "disk" ?

Kind regards

Manfred

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Answer 10

Drdpf

Level 1

0 points

Jul 31, 2015 7:43 AM in response to PAgrampa

Like others I thought it was me.

I made changes yesterday, left my ipad "on" all night to complete icloud sync and this morning the file I KNOW I changed yesterday shows the old data.

Any suggestions?

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Answer 11

Jan 11, 2016 11:14 AM in response to PAgrampa

TThis just happened to me. Hours of work lost. I didn't even close numbers or the spreadsheet. I finished the work and when I looked down at my iPad a few minutes later it was the original page as if the last three hours never happened!

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Answer 12

t quinn

Level 5

7,043 points

Jan 11, 2016 11:23 AM in response to rdyornot77

Hi rdyornot,

That is terrible. If you where connected to iCloud it is possible there is a newer version there.

Going forward, make sure you click "Done" from time to time while you work. I stopped noticing the issue once I started doing that.

quinn

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Answer 13

Celad

Level 1

5 points

Feb 29, 2016 10:28 PM in response to PAgrampa

A whole sheet in a workbook disappears from Numbers on my iPad, and it has happened more than once! Is it somehow syncing to an older copy from my iPod touch?

I never have a problem in Pages. What's up with this!?

(iPad 3, iOS 9,2.1)

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Answer 14

PAgrampa Author

Level 1

16 points

Mar 1, 2016 7:43 PM in response to Celad

LLast year I got a call from someone on the iWork team. After explaining the problem, I sent a spreadsheet for them to test. Since then there have been a couple of updates to Numbers, and I've not had a recurrence of what was a chilling experience with this Apple program. Would have been nice to have had feedback from them, if only "fix pending". There continue to be widespread and pervasive issues with the iOS 9 series, where system memory is tied up somewhere. For example, my iPad 3 is a 16-gig wifi-only model (I have NEVER used any cloud service) currently 9.2.1. System says 8.6 gigs used, and 3.7 available. However, all my apps only add up to just under 2 gigs. The Genius Bar person at my local store alluded that the "fix" was to do a restore to original settings, then reload all my files. Seriously? Shouldn't have to do that. My son has an iPad Air - same configuration, same problem. (Doesnt live with me). Hope Apple can resolve this because we can't download movies, etc. I have friends & associates with the same problem. They mostly now use Netflix. I'd love to buy the next iPad 9.7" Pro or whatever they name it, but won't as a result of this issue. Sorry you have lost whole files. Can't imagine where the problem is, but somewhere there's a memory leak or something like that.

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