iCloud Safari tabs not syncing

[agregson]

I have a persistent issue that comes and goes - iCloud tabs do not sync to macOS. Seems to be more reliable between iOS devices.

After updates to iOS 15 and recent macOS/Safari updates it seems much improved but has now returned.

Odd behaviour. If macOS goes to sleep when wakes it no longer works. If I close safari and reopen it works again - at least until the next time.

Very strange and frustrating. I have opened support calls numerous times over past 2+ years and it has never been 100% resolved. It gets investigates, logs captured, "escalated", call backs promised and eventually goes dead. What makes it very frustrating is it does not seem to affect Firefox or even (shudder) Edge (I prefer not to use Chrome or any/most Google products). Not yet tested in Brave.

I prefer to use Safari. I like it and like the iCloud features and all of the OS integrations. I just wish this would work as I use it a lot to move between iPhone, iPad and macOS.

Is anyone else seeing this or aware of an issue or fix?

 

[Morac]

Safari 15 on the Mac is buggy with respect to iCloud Tab syncing. Other devices will see the tabs open on the Mac in near real time without a problem, but a short while after rebooting, Safari on the Mac won't see changes on other devices until Safari is quit and restarted. That will persist until the Mac is rebooted again.

I'm hoping the 15.1 release today fixes that.

FYI you might want to check out https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/icloud-tabs-not-syncing.2266397
Even though the original issue reported there is fixed, that seems to be the de facto place to complain about things like this.

 

[agregson]

You described the symptom I am experiencing. I suspected it would be a case of upgrade macOS when new version became available. I am not one to shy away from updates so will move to latest soon - probably let the dust settle overnight!

My older Mac minis are doubtless left behind. They are secondary machines and in use on other desks. So reliable and useful I am reluctant to change them. One is late 2012 and one is late 2014. I have upgraded each to SSD and late 2012 to 16GB and 2014 has 8GB. Super usable machines and such a shame to part with. I had looked at M1 mini but it suffered terribly with wake from sleep and display issues on exactly same desk and peripherals as current minis.

I will check out other thread and add my complaint to the list. Fingers crossed for latest OS ....

 

[Morac]

This seems to be working properly after upgrading to Monterey. I still need to give it more time to see if it’s really fixed.

 

[agregson]

So far ... fingers crossed. Seems to be working here. I hope it stays that way as it is a super useful feature when have iPad, iPhone, iMac and MacMini ...

 

[Morac]

I upgraded to iOS 15.2.1 and ended up with a stuck iCloud tab on my iPhone. I haven't had that happen since upgrading to iOS 15.

 

[freediverx]

The problem with Apple’s iCloud services is that not only do they randomly stop working for no apparent reason, but that there’s no straightforward way to check whether data is in sync and, even worse, no way to troubleshoot when it’s not.

This has been a huge problem since day one, and years later the problem remains. It’s not a technical issue but rather one of hubris. Apple refuses to give users basic functions for troubleshooting and syncing in order to maintain an illusion of simplicity and a false sense of a platform that “just works”.

 

[agregson]

It continues to irritate me. iCloud tab sync is a lot better that it was though for odd reasons it just stops working - most often from iPad to Mac. iPhone will show tabs on iPad more often than not but macOS suddenly shows outdated. Sometimes a force close and reopen on iPad solves it. Sometimes safari on macOS needs same. Occasionally it does not work and left alone it can come back in hours or days.

It is very irritating and has always been an issue. Apple continue to deny it on support (I have AC+ on all devices) and start suggesting restart, sign out of iCloud (really - and add all Apple Pay again oh yes I have time for all of that). It spoils an otherwise excellent experience as everything else seems to sync well, at least for me.

What makes it even more irritating is Firefox always works on sync and Brave as often as not just works. Why can Apple with all their Apple native engineers and years of iCloud experience not solve this one?

 

[Niccolò Mineo]

I share the frustration about this topic with you, guys. After a long time and much research, I think it's pretty safe to say that fiddling with (read: deleting) the content of `~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Preferences/ByHost/`on MacOS, can fix most of the issues one might have on iOS with tabs coming from MacOS Safari. It is of course unacceptable as an UX flow, but at least it does the job.

I should add that lately I have been experiencing the reciprocal: old iOS Safari tabs showing up on MacOS Safari that cannot be closed. I haven't found a way out yet...