I have an iPhone 8+ v11.4 and running iTunes v12.8 on a MacBook Pro 15" v 10.13.5 - I do NOT use iCloud.
My contacts do not sync using iTunes...New contacts in the phone do not sync to MacBook and new contacts in MacBook do not sync to iPhone...
I noticed this after the last v11.4 update...
iPhone 8 Plus, iOS 11.4.1
Hi everybody,
Summary:
after a lot of manual editing, I finally can confirm what some users already wrote, namely that removing the entries "son", "daughter", etc. ... solves the issue. Now my contacts are syncing correctly again between my MacBook and my iPhone.
Explanations:
I removed the entries "son", "daughter", etc. ... on my MacBook. Even after doing that the syncronisation still did not work properly till I realised that (!!!) the entry "mother" was set as a standard field in the template for vCards: "contacts --> settings". Removing that standard field from the template made the syncronisation possible.
Why do I write this in such a detailed way? I want to emphasise that it is not sufficient to remove all entries "son", "daughter", etc. ... from your contacts. Additionally, you need to remove those fields from standard template in the application "contacts", too. As far as I know, you can only edit this template in macOS, but not in iOS - or at least I could not find it on my iPhone ("settings --> contacts"). I do not know whether you can edit the template in iPadOS as I do not have an iPad.
Final thoughts:
Eventually, I would like to ask Apple why they do not remove those entries completely if it is obvious that these entries make the syncronisation fail? So many people here have reported it and this bug should have reached you, Apple.
Good luck to you all with editing your contacts and making the sync work again!
I give up - I've tried removing the noted fields and anything custom or special and it still will not sync. Will having the computer over-ride the iphone on next sync work? Or, will I have no contacts on my phone?
I just ran into this issue. Thank you for the guidance on resolving it! Can anyone comment on whether or not this is fixed or still an issue in Mac OS Catalina? At the moment it is still broken in the latest Mojave (10.14.6) with iTunes 12.9.5.5
Just speculation here, but my guess is it will never be fixed. Apple wants everyone to use the cloud, but it also tries to maintain an image of being privacy conscious. By keeping a local-sync feature it gets to pretend that it provides options for its privacy-conscious users. At the same time, Apple does not maintain the local-sync or provide a full-featured local sync—ever wonder why the Reminders don't sync locally—so many people are driven to use the cloud for convenience, even against their better judgment.
I don't want to be a conspiracy person here, but sounds like rampant progressivism at work - don't want to force some 'child' into the mold of "son" or "daughter" . That might mess up their 'gender identity' before they have decided what they want to be. eye roll.
Also just noticed it does not sync new contact "groups"... I thought if I tried the "add contacts created outside of groups" it may help...but it doesn't even sync the new group.
When will this bug be fixed?
I have the same problem and am wondering when this will be fixed?
HI-
I'm still struggling. I believe I fixed all my contacts on desktop - do I need to redo all the contacts on my phone to make it sync?
Thanks!
Tiffany
I've been struggling with this problem for months. I don't want to use the cloud and suspected that I was being forced into it. Thank you for this fix.
Hey Apple, fix the **** bug!!
Please
Thank you
I've deleted all custom fields and daughter and son. I kept "child". Still doesn't sync.
Yes...This is what I do on a regular basis. Contacts do not sync after the v11.4...No new contacts from phone to MacBook or no new contacts from MacBook to iPhone... I've contacted and had support on the phone several times with no assistance...
This is NOT acceptable....
From APPLE support:
However I was told that contacts cannot necessarily be synced as they were before, it is possible that we just use iTunes “Backups” to keep our contacts safe, and just backup whenever you feel the need to update your library with contacts, just incase anything happens to the iPhone.
I have the same problem. I DON'T USE ICLOUD. I sync using iTunes. I have iPhone 6S running iOS 12.1.2 and iMac running High Sierra 10.13.6. Problem started after upgrading to High Sierra. Changes made on iPhone contacts don't show up on iMac and vice versa. Totally unacceptable. Why hasn't apple fixed this problem which has been plaguing the apple community using iCloud as well?
I can absolutely confirm the observation of rldillon!
The application "Contacts" and the application "iTunes" do not seem to use the same database. Whatever you type and edit in the application "Contacts", it won't be regarded by the application "iTunes" while it syncs with the connected device (e.g. an iPhone).
Furthermore, based on my experiments, the database that is used by the application "iTunes" must be pretty old, maybe about 1 year. Maybe this was the time when the faulty update of iTunes arrived.
Sometimes a sync failure will be caused by a single corrupt record in the contacts database. Finding it can be a problem, however. In my experience it is usually the first record. As it's a Mac you can try syncing using iCloud.
Contacts will not sync in iTunes - not using iCloud
