roadside

Q: Local iPhone Sync Possible in 10.10 Yosemite, or iCloud Sync only?

With OS X 10.10 Yosemite and iOS 8.x, is there any way to sync contacts (and preferably calendar & notes) locally between Mac & iPhone, using my USB-to-lightning cable, NOT using iCloud? (As in olden days of 10.7?) I simply can't find a way, and none of the IT professionals at the local university know, either.

 

I upgraded from 10.7 -> 10.10, so missed the big furor when Apple omitted local sync in Mavericks 10.9. I read that Apple brought back local sync in a later version of Mavericks due to the backlash. But I can't even find a discussion about how to (or even if you can) sync locally with 10.10 Yosemite.

iPhone 5s, iOS 8.1.2, & Mac Mini with Yosemite 10.10

Posted on Mar 5, 2015 8:16 AM

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Q: Local iPhone Sync Possible in 10.10 Yosemite, or iCloud Sync only?

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  • by roadside,

    roadside roadside Mar 8, 2015 11:27 AM in response to roadside
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 8, 2015 11:27 AM in response to roadside

    Unfortunately, I can't repopulate the local (On My Mac) calendar. I just can't figure it out.

     

    Help!

     

    Here's what I've done:

     

    - - - - - - - - - - -

    On Macintosh.

    I’ve backed up Calendar while iCloud was still active (gives .icbu file).

    Currently, Sys Prefs > iCloud > only FMM (and in my case, Notes) checked.

    Now, Sys Prefs > iCloud > sign out. (Warnings appear that any iCloud data will be removed from Mac.) Proceed.

    - - - - - - - - - - -

    iPhone.

    Settings > iCloud.

    Turn off Calendar, & choose ‘Keep on My iPhone.’ Easy.

    (Somewhere in here my iPhone froze so I had to reboot it.)

    - - - - - - - - - - -

    Webpage iCloud > Calendar

    Left hand column, bottom > Edit.

    Click red minus signs to delete existing calendar groups (except one; apparently one group is necessary. Can create a new blank calendar group to erase your last existing calendar group.)

    - - - - - - - - - - -

    On Macintosh again.

    Open calendar. It’s blank.

    Calendar > Preferences > Accounts, iCloud is greyed out and NOT enabled. (Notice I can’t delete the iCloud CalDAV account, even though it’s inactive.)

    To make an “On My Mac” account appear: Calendar > File > New Calendar > On My Mac. A new untitled calendar appears in left column under On My Mac.

    Calendar > Import > Calendars and Reminders.icbu

    Warning appears: Restoring will replace current data. Restore.

    Message appears that calendar was successfully restored and will restart. OK.

    Calendar is repopulated, BUT left hand column shows all calendars are under “iCloud” (not “On My Mac”) and a warning triangle appears next to it (likely because I am signed out of iCloud).

    The “On My Mac” calendar has disappeared, and there is no “On My Mac” location in the left column anymore. I am unable to create a new “On My Mac” calendar; the only option is “iCloud” for new calendar.

    Look under  Calendar > Preferences > Accounts, iCloud account has self-enabled. (If uncheck it, the imported calendars disappear.)

     

    All the above, mind you, while I'm signed out of iCloud.

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc Mar 8, 2015 12:39 PM in response to roadside
    Level 6 (11,011 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 8, 2015 12:39 PM in response to roadside

    When you export the calendar, choose Export and not calendar archive. Highlight the calendar to export and do this. Repeat for all calendars. Once done, uncheck iCloud to remove iCloud calendars from the application.

     

    Once iCal is empty, choose Import. Select one of the calendars you exported. It should create a new calendar, or if it asks you, select create a new calendar. It should then create a local calendar from the exported one.

    Repeat for all.

  • by roadside,

    roadside roadside Mar 8, 2015 4:09 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 8, 2015 4:09 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

    Brilliant, Glenn. A piecemeal export of calendars that had not occurred to me.

     

    In the meantime, I've experienced the "Computorial Berserks," that state of temporary madness where you'll do anything to make the computer work, and came up with a cheater's solution, which was to simply grab an archive of my calendar from my laptop, which I abandoned not 2 weeks ago. Since *that* calendar archive was never tainted by iCloud, it ported calendars over into "On My Mac" easily. I realize that's not an option for most people, so it's definitely cheating.

     

    Having (1) iCloud signed out at Sys Prefs; (2) no iCloud appearing under Preferences > Accounts for either Contacts or Calendars; (3) empty calendars and contacts in iCloud by way of webpage; and (4) my data for calendars and contacts resurrected on both Mac and iPhone, I connected the iPhone via USB cable and launched iTunes. And lo and behold, after clicking on the iPhone icon at the top, the Info row in the left-hand column now displays as Mudge said it would in an earlier response: At the top, a Sync Contacts control, and at the bottom, a Sync Calendars control. A sight for these sore eyes!

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc Mar 8, 2015 4:30 PM in response to roadside
    Level 6 (11,011 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 8, 2015 4:30 PM in response to roadside

    Good to see you making progress for the way you want it. Yosemite is making it harder than ever to not be a part of iCloud. I assume future updates may be even worse in this matter. Maybe those not wanting to be part of that should have not gone beyond Mavericks.

     

    Anyway, hope it works out for you.

  • by roadside,

    roadside roadside Mar 8, 2015 4:54 PM in response to roadside
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 8, 2015 4:54 PM in response to roadside

    After all this work, here's how the Info tab in iTunes changed (compare to previous posting):

     

    Screen Shot 2015-03-08 at 4.13.24 PM.png

     

    And there was this unexpected dialog box (I chose Merge):

    Screen Shot 2015-03-08 at 4.15.20 PM.png

     

    And then this, which I "Reviewed Now" and found was easily resolved with a couple of clicks:

     

    Screen Shot 2015-03-08 at 4.16.04 PM.png

    Contacts look good on both iPhone and Mac. There were some duplicates in Calendars.

     

    BOTTOM LINE: Yes, you can sync contacts and calendars locally in Yosemite using iTunes. BUT you have to restore local versions of contacts and calendars first. And iCloud does not give them up easily.

     

    One additional warning: I started to engage a few iCloud tools I wanted. First was Notes, with no drama. But when I tried to switch on Reminders, iCloud got independently active and once again stripped the entries from Contacts on my Mac. Apparently Reminders wants an iCloud version of Calendars. So beware Reminders if you're trying to De-iCloud your Calendars. For myself, Reminders will remain turned off, on iCloud.

  • by roadside,

    roadside roadside Mar 8, 2015 5:17 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 8, 2015 5:17 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

    Glenn, thanks so much for your help, truly appreciated. You note: "Yosemite is making it harder than ever to not be a part of iCloud. I assume future updates may be even worse in this matter. Maybe those not wanting to be part of that should have not gone beyond Mavericks."

     

    Joining iCloud across the board, and then changing your mind (as I did), is indeed difficult. I realize the cloud is Apple's vision of the future. But there are also certain hard realities: the infamous "iCloud hack" of celebrity nudes, the fraud associated with ApplePay, the likelihood that Apple participates in the NSA's Prism program and is able to hand over your cloud data if requested to do so by authorities (https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/22/apple-data/). You can argue that none of these things are Apple's fault, and I'd nod in agreement. But I hope they make Apple realize that the cloud is not the solution to everything, there's still room for private data on individually owned storage. (I think Hillary Clinton would agree.)

     

    Not upgrading is not a viable option, it's just a temporary forestallment. Eventually an old computer/OS/software will be deprecated to a point where it's no longer useable. And I do want to be part of iCloud, but on my own terms, which means: no contacts & no calendars on the cloud. Local sync handles that perfectly well; I pray it continues to do so. Apple and the government don't need to know, remotely, who & what is in my contacts list, or how I plan my day.

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc Mar 8, 2015 7:41 PM in response to roadside
    Level 6 (11,011 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 8, 2015 7:41 PM in response to roadside

    Well not to get into what is right or wrong or what the future will bring, but Apple is not the only one on the cloud path. Everyone is headed that way. How much control we will have with how we want it to be is yet to be seen.

     

    But I agree. It's nice for people to have the choice on how to handle their data.

  • by roadside,

    roadside roadside Mar 8, 2015 9:11 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 8, 2015 9:11 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

    Apple allows de-clouding the right way on the iPhone. If you want to de-cloud there, you just turn iCloud off and choose "save local." But to do the same on the Mac side, you have to basically trick iCloud into giving your data back. So the Mac side has some work to do. We're still in the Wild West of cloud computing. If I were hopping from computer to computer all day long, it would be ideal. But with a desktop and an iPhone that perform 99% of my computing? Of minor benefit outweighed by risk for sensitive data. I'm just thankful that Apple "groks" privacy and makes an effort.

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc Mar 9, 2015 6:15 AM in response to roadside
    Level 6 (11,011 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 9, 2015 6:15 AM in response to roadside

    Signing out of iCloud ("de-clouding") on the computer gives you the same options as the phone does. I don't know why you did not see that. As I told you earlier, you needed to have them enabled first in the checkbox and active, then you should have gotten that. You should not have had to do anything but sign out of iCloud and choose to keep the data on the mac.  

  • by roadside,

    roadside roadside Mar 9, 2015 8:36 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 9, 2015 8:36 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc

    Glenn, I'm very grateful for your help and don't want to sound like I'm arguing with the guy who (1) generously spent his expertise and time on my problem and (2) obviously knows much more about the Mac than I do. The simple option you describe for de-clouding the Mac was what I was expecting, and looking for, throughout multiple attempts. What I got was rather the opposite: warnings (either (1) upon unchecking individual iCloud services in Sys Prefs or (2) signing out of iCloud on the Mac altogether) that my data would be deleted from the Mac (and it was!). I'm not going to recreate it on my machine now that it's working, but my wife is using iCloud under 10.8.5 and if we attempt to (1) uncheck any of her iCloud services individually, or (2) sign out of iCloud entirely, she gets data deletion warnings similar to what I got under 10.10. The graphics are slightly different, but as you can see, iCloud is not releasing data back to the Mac, nor does it give any option to do so. And the warnings are to be taken seriously—the data really is removed from the Mac.

     

    First image, a general sign-out attempt (if memory serves, multiple warnings flash up):

     

    ss1.png

     

    Following images, "a la carte" attempts to decloud by unchecking individual services:

     

    ss2.png

     

    ss3.png

     

    ss4.png

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc Mar 9, 2015 8:58 AM in response to roadside
    Level 6 (11,011 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 9, 2015 8:58 AM in response to roadside

    I signed out of iCloud several weeks back (maybe longer ago than I thought) and got different results. Most warnings for me allowed me to keep on the Mac.

     

    I decided to retest that this morning and you are right. The only warning I got that allowed me to keep local was Contacts and Safari Passwords.Screen Shot 2015-03-09 at 10.38.37 AM.pngScreen Shot 2015-03-09 at 10.39.56 AM.png

    Not sure if I'm going crazy or this is something new in the latest update. But it was not like this last time I signed out of iCloud.

    This may be just another Yosemite glitch.

  • by roadside,

    roadside roadside Mar 9, 2015 9:45 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 9, 2015 9:45 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc

    Wow, would you look at that!! The Holy Grail of dialog boxes--with an option to keep on the Mac! I swear solemnly upon my hard drive, I've never seen a dialog box like that on my Mac, or my wife's. Well, this is a relief in a way...neither of us is going insane. We're simply seeing different dialog boxes. Our "you have no options" dialog boxes are appearing on both the wife's 10.8.5 and on my 10.10.2 machines. Glenn, your profile says you're running 10.9, are you still?

     

    Thanks for demonstrating that multiple dialogs are possible.

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc Mar 9, 2015 9:54 AM in response to roadside
    Level 6 (11,011 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 9, 2015 9:54 AM in response to roadside

    Thanks for pointing that out. I'm am running 10.10.2. I just changed my profile.

     

    Like I said, last time I got the options to keep data for just about all the apps, including Calendar. I'm pretty sure I wasn't dreaming. This time, I got only those 2 with the option to keep data. I have no idea what happened or changed.

    Is it a glitch? I don't know. Maybe future updates will fix it.

    It should give you the option to keep everything local when you sign out.

     

    Send apple feedback on this issue.

    https://www.apple.com/feedback/icloud.html

  • by roadside,

    roadside roadside Mar 11, 2015 8:30 AM in response to roadside
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 11, 2015 8:30 AM in response to roadside

    Alternate method: Here's a link to a video explaining how to set up a personal server that can sync Calendars in Yosemite.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sbM0yKXK00

     

    And another server tutorial, albeit for Mavericks, during the time when no local sync via iTunes was possible:

     

    http://www.macworld.com/article/2061183/itunes-ios-syncing-gone-solve-it-with-se rver-.html

     

    While I'm at it, I need to make a correction to a statement I made above:

     

    "...when I tried to switch on Reminders, iCloud got independently active and once again stripped the entries from Contacts on my Mac."

     

    I meant: "...it stripped the entries from CALENDAR..." Contacts were unharmed.

  • by roadside,

    roadside roadside Mar 24, 2015 11:11 AM in response to roadside
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 24, 2015 11:11 AM in response to roadside

    For anyone searching on how to de-cloud your sync, there's also a discussion here:

     

    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1693410

     

     

     

    .

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