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How is it possible that iCloud Drive syncing is still so poor?

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Pro Apple Silicon

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Original poster
Oct 1, 2021
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This service isn't new anymore. Why does syncing suck so much? Any time a file is added or updated in my Desktop or Documents, it takes anywhere from minutes to hours to days before it actually syncs. Any time I get a new Mac, and enabled Desktop and Documents in iCloud Drive, it takes anywhere from minutes to hours to days before data from iCloud actually starts to show up.

Meanwhile I could setup One Drive or Dropbox and they would immediately show data and begin syncing.

Why is the most important (or arguably the most important) iCloud data such low priority? Why does it sync so slowly?
 
I would be curious to find out if there is a solution to this as well.
The syncing is definitely slow or delayed, not always, but it happens enough for iCloud not to be relied upon.
Is there a way to trigger an iCloud sync on a device and for iCloud to update the files?
 
DrCC said:
I would be curious to find out if there is a solution to this as well.
The syncing is definitely slow or delayed, not always, but it happens enough for iCloud not to be relied upon.
Is there a way to trigger an iCloud sync on a device and for iCloud to update the files?
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I have no idea, I had to eventually reboot the computer for it to pick up. I have a friend that was using Icloud for his business, I told him to get away from it and use Dropbox instead (even though it's another payment). I think it's worth it.
 
iCloud is possibly the worst syncing service I have tried lol. Do you want to experience the total opposite, with the fastest and most reliable syncing solution available? Try https://www.resilio.com/. The difference is unbelievable.

Resilio doesn't have a centralized cloud but syncs directly between devices using P2P, and boy it's fast. I also use a VPS anyway to have a copy on my server just in case something happens to my devices (and of course I have a good backup strategy).

Resilio really blows the competitors out of the water in speed and reliability.
 
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It is an absolute joke. 99% of the times the upload gets stuck and there is no way to stop the sync and restart it manually, if not by killing a process via terminal (killall bird). Even killing the process often doesn't allow it to sync. I got stuck several times where while I was on the go I opened a file on my iPhone and it was not up to date, I also lost data on an excel spreadsheet because my partner edited it and saved it but she edited an old version because my latest update didn't get uploaded to the cloud and when she opened the old version and saved it she basically eliminated all my updates on that file.

It is ridiculous, I reported this issue countless times, it has been going on for over a year. Latest hardware too, to add onto the joke!
 
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Just reading this now, so a year later, and I'm having the same issue after doing a clean macOS install. There are certain folders that are simply not wanting to download.

The reason for the clean install was that my computer was acting strangely (fan on full speed with no app open, finder working erratically, etc.). Went to the apple store who cleaned my fan and did some tests but that didn't fix the issue. Now that I'm having issues with iCloud Drive, I do remember that one task that often appeared top in CPU & RAM usage in activity monitor was one related to iCloud Drive so I think this might have been it. Now that I'm reading this I'm actually strongly considering moving all my files back to Dropbox. I already have some files on it and never had an issue so far even after reading a bunch of bad experiences. But honestly seems that everyone has bad experiences with cloud services.. Best is to try it out yourself and always make a backup on a external hard drive!
 
aeneasvb said:
Just reading this now, so a year later, and I'm having the same issue after doing a clean macOS install. There are certain folders that are simply not wanting to download.

The reason for the clean install was that my computer was acting strangely (fan on full speed with no app open, finder working erratically, etc.). Went to the apple store who cleaned my fan and did some tests but that didn't fix the issue. Now that I'm having issues with iCloud Drive, I do remember that one task that often appeared top in CPU & RAM usage in activity monitor was one related to iCloud Drive so I think this might have been it. Now that I'm reading this I'm actually strongly considering moving all my files back to Dropbox. I already have some files on it and never had an issue so far even after reading a bunch of bad experiences. But honestly seems that everyone has bad experiences with cloud services.. Best is to try it out yourself and always make a backup on an external hard drive!
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Just to come back and say iCloud has been okay lately. However, I only subscribed to the 2Tb storage space because it’s just easier for my family to operate with their iPhones. If and when syncing (not backup) become important enough, I will most certainly not use iCloud. Dropbox, will still be my top choice.

If you are looking for backup you shoud look for service like backblaze.
 
aajeevlin said:
Just to come back and say iCloud has been okay lately. However, I only subscribed to the 2Tb storage space because it’s just easier for my family to operate with their iPhones. If and when syncing (not backup) become important enough, I will most certainly not use iCloud. Dropbox, will still be my top choice.

If you are looking for backup you shoud look for service like backblaze.
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Thanks, good to hear. I did end up switching to dropbox in the end. I wanted to avoid having the same issue I was having in terms of CPU and RAM usage. Plus it's nice having the version feature on all my files. It's been working without issues so far but I always have a physical back-up in case of. You just never know.
 
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I used to have some problems with this in the early days, but haven't seen it happen in a long time. I think things have gotten a lot more stable.
 
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it started as syncing service and now extend to online storage like one drive and dropbox.
But it still sucks. iCloud Drive on macOS is still difficult to manage downloaded contents. Many times it downloads files itself from online to MacBook drive until drive is full and user cannot do anything.
can't believe, it's been more than 5 years and apple still does not improve it.
 
sup123a said:
it's been more than 5 years and apple still does not improve it.
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Its just not Apple, many if not most of the cloud services have yet to prefect the syncing. OneDrive mostly works but still has its quirks.
 
My biggest frustration with iCloud (mostly on iOS) is that Photos remain on the iPhone even though they are backed up to the cloud, with no way to remove them from the device. I hope they change it in iOS 17.
 
maflynn said:
Its just not Apple, many if not most of the cloud services have yet to prefect the syncing. OneDrive mostly works but still has its quirks.
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OneDrive flat out erases my work sometimes. It’s ultra frustrating. Never had iCloud do that.
 
Shame on Apple. A trillion dollar company with abject cloud service and other bugs in MacOs that are still persisting after years of complaints by users. What are they doing with their money?I think at the top they are just a bunch of greedy sobs. The problem is that the alternatives are not much better. I would say that MacOs is bad but still not as bad as the others (windows, etc.).
 
mackarone said:
Shame on Apple. A trillion dollar company with abject cloud service and other bugs in MacOs that are still persisting after years of complaints by users. What are they doing with their money?I think at the top they are just a bunch of greedy sobs. The problem is that the alternatives are not much better. I would say that MacOs is bad but still not as bad as the others (windows, etc.).
Click to expand...
They develop emoji's looks like
 
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