iCloud Safari History not syncing across my devices with Yosemite and iOS 8

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Level 2

150 points

iCloud Safari History not syncing across my devices with Yosemite and iOS 8

I have a MacBook Pro with the latest update of Yosemite installed, an iPad 2 with iOS 8.1.1, an iPhone 6 with iOS 8.1.1 and other things seem to be syncing like my bookmarks, reading list, and all other iCloud data as well as iMessages and text messages. But the one thing that does not seem to be syncing is my browsing history in Safari. This is supposed to be a new feature of Yosemite and iOS 8 and it is working for a friend of mine but not me.

How can I fix this? I've tried going into iCloud settings on all three devices and turning off Safari sync and then turning it back on but no luck.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1), 15", 2.6GHz, 16GB RAM, 1TB Hard Dri

Posted on Dec 11, 2014 6:48 AM

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Answer 1

Scott Raymond Author

Level 2

150 points

Dec 12, 2014 6:09 AM in response to Scott Raymond

Just installed the Safari 8.0.2 update this morning on my MacBook Pro which states that it solves the issue of history not syncing when iCloud drive is NOT on. Well, I had it ON on all of my devices and it wasn't syncing. And now with this new update, it still is not syncing.

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Answer 2

LW3NV

Level 1

8 points

Dec 13, 2014 1:37 AM in response to Scott Raymond

I have been working with Apple Care for more than a month on this issue. After spending hours on the phone with lower-level support specialists, the problem was escalated to a senior support specialist. She was stumped and consulted with her supervisors. No one had an an answer. She then escalated the case to engineering, which had me generate a temporary support pin and enter troubleshooting mode. That was November 4th. It is now December 13th, and the issue remains. The senior support specialist has been exceedingly patient and compassionate, but I am unbelievably frustrated by this issue and disappointed with Apple's execution of iCloud and iOS 8.

If I had the option, I would revert to iOS 7. That's something I never dreamed I would say.

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Answer 3

Scott Raymond Author

Level 2

150 points

Dec 15, 2014 7:19 AM in response to LW3NV

I spoke with Apple support again this weekend. The first support specialist told me that Safari browsing history was not a feature at this time. When I sent a screenshot of the notes of what updated in Safari 8.0.2 on December 11, 2014 from the AppStore, I got transferred to a senior support specialist. They had me try things like log out of icloud and then reset my network settings on my devices. But that unfortunately did not work. My next step which I did not have time to do, is to see if it is my iCloud account by creating a new iCloud account, logging out of iCloud and then resetting my network settings and then logging into iCloud with the new iCloud account and see if Safari history syncs.

I'm not sure what they will do for me if it is my iCloud account because I have so much on that account and have email addresses that I don't want to lose. And if it isn't the iCloud account they said it is probably my devices but I am not sure what they will have me do to try to fix it if it is. Set them up as new? I don't really want to do that, it takes forever to get everything back on the device.

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Answer 4

LW3NV

Level 1

8 points

Jan 25, 2015 1:35 AM in response to Scott Raymond

Have you had any luck with this? The senior specialist I had been working with had left Apple and I've been unable to get angrier at Apple tip reap pond top my emails.

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Answer 5

Scott Raymond Author

Level 2

150 points

Mar 25, 2015 9:48 AM in response to Scott Raymond

So I finally tried what Apple support wanted me to try. I created a new Apple ID. I then signed out of iCloud on all of my devices, deleted the info on the devices when it asked because it was all in iCloud and I could redownload it when I sign back in.

Then I signed back in but this time with the brand new Apple ID I created. Then I went to a few web pages on one of my devices and checked the others and those websites were in the history! So something is wrong with my iCloud account/Apple ID.

I can't use this new one that is working because all of my info and email are on the other one so I guess the next step would be to contact Apple and see if there is some way for them to fix my current iCloud account.

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Answer 6

May 23, 2015 1:25 AM in response to Scott Raymond

Hello Scott,

Did you finally find a way to get your history syncing across your devices with your old iCloud ID?

I created a brand new iCloud Account once, it was fine from December to Yesterday... But this history sync doesn't work anymore.

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Answer 7

May 23, 2015 3:06 AM in response to Scott Raymond

Hello Scott, I've found 2 steps to do in order to get: SAFARI HISTORY SYNC WORKS 😀

I've found this solution posted by Linc Davis, I tried both solution then I was thinking it didn't work.

But after 10 min or so, the history was syncing well, from my iPhone to my Mac and vice versa.

Here is the solution, look for the 2nd message from Linc Davis.

Safari does not store history or sync my iCloud bookmarks

I really hope it will solve your issue. 😉

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Answer 8

Scott Raymond Author

Level 2

150 points

May 24, 2015 7:34 AM in response to loïcfernandezcastrillon

Thanks. I will check this out after the weekend and let you know if it works for me.

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Answer 9

Scott Raymond Author

Level 2

150 points

Jun 23, 2015 6:37 AM in response to loïcfernandezcastrillon

This has not worked for me. Anyone else had any luck or any other suggestions? I can't get history to sync no matter what I try with the exception of creating a whole new iCloud account which I do not want to do.

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Answer 10

Asi_9

Level 1

0 points

Oct 26, 2015 6:20 PM in response to Scott Raymond

I have tried numerous suggested fixes, with no result. It seems to be an issue with iCloud rather than OSX or iOS.

If everyone sends feedback to Apple, maybe they will resolve it from their end...

http://www.apple.com/feedback/

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