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iOS 5: Wireless sync only when connected to power source?

C64

C64

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 3, 2008
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I'm reading here:
iOS 5 devices will be able to sync with iTunes either wirelessly (when connected to a power source) or through the usual USB cable
Click to expand...
Could someone check this out? It would be nice to sync it without having to connect it at all, i.e. completely wireless.

On Apple.com it says:
Wirelessly sync your iOS device to your Mac or PC over a shared Wi-Fi connection. Every time you connect your iOS device to a power source (say, overnight for charging), it automatically syncs and backs up any new content to iTunes. So you always have your movies, TV shows, home videos, and photo albums everywhere you want them.
Click to expand...
The way I read it, it simply automatically starts the sync as soon as you connect it to a power source (which is logical), but it doesn't say that you need to have it connected.
 
It only needs to be connected to a power source to automatically sync overnight. You can still manually sync whenever you want through settings.
 
dalvin200 said:
this feature is not yet enabled on beta 1 by the way
Click to expand...

That is, manual wireless sync'ing is not working on beta 1. Automatic sync seems to be working just fine. My iPhone 4 apparently sync'd with my Mac last night while I was sleeping.
 
infinivert said:
That is, manual wireless sync'ing is not working on beta 1. Automatic sync seems to be working just fine. My iPhone 4 apparently sync'd with my Mac last night while I was sleeping.
Click to expand...

There is a strong suggestion that wifi iTunes syncing is disabled in this first beta release of iOS 5. Your iDevice is almost certainly telling you when it last synced by cable to iTunes which is probably the end of the iOS 5 install process when you updated by wire very recently. Keep a look out at the data and time of last sync and see if it ever changes, providing you don't reconnect by wire again.
 
In beta 1 if my device is plugged into the computer, I can initiate a manual sync from the iphone settings. However, it has to be plugged into the computer.
 
ffcphone said:
On my 4 devices the manual sync option is greyed out and can't be selected.
Click to expand...

just because it is not available in the beta. i believe this is noted in the release documentation

from release notes:
"The syncing infrastructure in iOS 5 is all new and now supports efficient wireless syncing in addition to USB syncing. In iOS 5 Beta 1, wireless syncing is disabled. To sync, or to restore from an iTunes backup, connect your device to your computer with the USB cable, and launch iTunes 10.5 Beta.
"
 
OneMike said:
In beta 1 if my device is plugged into the computer, I can initiate a manual sync from the iphone settings. However, it has to be plugged into the computer.
Click to expand...

OneMike, what are you pressing to manual sync while connected to computer?
 
Some clarification pls

Bit confused here. Can someone please clarify a couple of things for me. Firstly, for wireless syncing (whether the phone itself is plugged into the power or not), does my macbook have to be on and powered up for it to sync to itunes? This may sound dumb, but I only usually charge my iphone at night when I go to bed, and my MB is usually powered down at this point. So would I have to boot up, put my iphone on charge, allow the sync, then shut down? Kinda defeats the point in my case...

Which brings me onto my second query; what is the point of wireless syncing if icloud auto-magically syncs and backs up everything on your iphone, to your MB/iMac etc? Or am I missing something :confused:
 
ehpedro said:
Bit confused here. Can someone please clarify a couple of things for me. Firstly, for wireless syncing (whether the phone itself is plugged into the power or not), does my macbook have to be on and powered up for it to sync to itunes? This may sound dumb, but I only usually charge my iphone at night when I go to bed, and my MB is usually powered down at this point. So would I have to boot up, put my iphone on charge, allow the sync, then shut down? Kinda defeats the point in my case...

Which brings me onto my second query; what is the point of wireless syncing if icloud auto-magically syncs and backs up everything on your iphone, to your MB/iMac etc? Or am I missing something :confused:
Click to expand...

wifi syncing requires your computer to be on with iTunes running, where it be manual or automatic over night.

you can only backup to the cloud or backup to your computer, you cannot do both, it doesn't sync to the cloud, just backup
 
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ehpedro said:
Bit confused here. Can someone please clarify a couple of things for me. Firstly, for wireless syncing (whether the phone itself is plugged into the power or not), does my macbook have to be on and powered up for it to sync to itunes? This may sound dumb, but I only usually charge my iphone at night when I go to bed, and my MB is usually powered down at this point. So would I have to boot up, put my iphone on charge, allow the sync, then shut down? Kinda defeats the point in my case...

Which brings me onto my second query; what is the point of wireless syncing if icloud auto-magically syncs and backs up everything on your iphone, to your MB/iMac etc? Or am I missing something :confused:
Click to expand...


yes your mac book would have to be on or able to wake from net work access..

and icloud only syncs and backs up mail. contacts calendar and your settings, it does not sync your itunes
 
Thanks for the clarification. This will be less confusing, as to what the cloud can and can't do, when we actually get to see it in action.
Krandor said:
You misunderstood. You can backup to the cloud, but syncing is over wifi to itunes not to the cloud.
Click to expand...
 
jas1973 said:
and icloud only syncs and backs up mail. contacts calendar and your settings, it does not sync your itunes
Click to expand...
But Apple also has that service where it syncs all your music with the cloud (the music available in iTunes) and copies all your music that it doesn't have (what's the limit for this?). So that's kinda like syncing your iTunes, although it sounds like you have to manually manage what songs you want when you want them. That's actually a damn nice features and something I'm really looking forward to. (My most wanted feature and I didn't even want it before Apple told me about it! :D )

And are you sure it's only mail, contacts, calendar, and settings? I thought it also backed up your iPhone applications if the developers used the right hooks. Is that not correct? I know that it does keep your photos, videos (that you recorded), and your documents. So there's a few synchronized things you didn't mention. Did you not know or simply forget?

Sorry about this post, I feel it's a little poorly written. I'm on a little more adderall that I should be...


Have a good day and god bless.
 
TuffLuffJimmy said:
But Apple also has that service where it syncs all your music with the cloud (the music available in iTunes) and copies all your music that it doesn't have (what's the limit for this?). So that's kinda like syncing your iTunes, although it sounds like you have to manually manage what songs you want when you want them. That's actually a damn nice features and something I'm really looking forward to. (My most wanted feature and I didn't even want it before Apple told me about it! :D )
Click to expand...

iTunes Match does not work in that way. What it does is scan your music library, and if you have non-purchased music that happens to coexist in the iTunes Store then it lets you download that music to your device. It does not backup or upload the music off your harddrive. Ie, if you have some obscure local band that no one else has ever heard of, that music will never be available via iCloud. You'll have to manually sync that music to you iDevice (in exactly the same manner you do currently.)

TuffLuffJimmy said:
And are you sure it's only mail, contacts, calendar, and settings? I thought it also backed up your iPhone applications if the developers used the right hooks. Is that not correct? I know that it does keep your photos, videos (that you recorded), and your documents. So there's a few synchronized things you didn't mention. Did you not know or simply forget?

Sorry about this post, I feel it's a little poorly written. I'm on a little more adderall that I should be...


Have a good day and god bless.
Click to expand...

iCloud backs up your application DATA. Not the applications themselves. iCloud does not need to backup your applications themselves because a copy of those applications already exists in the AppStore, and it can always redownload them from there. Yes, developers can write very simple code to store your data in the cloud directly.
 
radiogoober said:
iTunes Match does not work in that way. What it does is scan your music library, and if you have non-purchased music that happens to coexist in the iTunes Store then it lets you download that music to your device. It does not backup or upload the music off your harddrive. Ie, if you have some obscure local band that no one else has ever heard of, that music will never be available via iCloud. You'll have to manually sync that music to you iDevice (in exactly the same manner you do currently.)

Wrong. Absolutely wrong. If you have music that can't be found in the iTunes Music Store, then it will be uploaded to the iCloud. If you have music that is found in the iTunes Music Store, then you don't have to upload it and iCloud will automatically pull the file from iTunes Music Store. It will be as if you bought it directly from iTunes Music Store and in 256kbps AAC quality.

iCloud backs up your application DATA. Not the applications themselves. iCloud does not need to backup your applications themselves because a copy of those applications already exists in the AppStore, and it can always redownload them from there. Yes, developers can write very simple code to store your data in the cloud directly.

This part is spot on. Any data and settings will be backed up. And any app you have bought (even the ones that have been removed from the App Store) will be available for re-download.
Click to expand...

Reply in red.
 
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Thank you for correcting me on iTunes Match. I absolutely did not know that you would be able to upload non-matched music. I just went to Apple's site and re-read about it and see that you are correct.

I still have a question on that: will we be able to update the lower quality music on our computers with the higher quality matched music? Or will the higher quality music only be available to our iDevices or other computers that are on the account?
 
radiogoober said:
Thank you for correcting me on iTunes Match. I absolutely did not know that you would be able to upload non-matched music. I just went to Apple's site and re-read about it and see that you are correct.

I still have a question on that: will we be able to update the lower quality music on our computers with the higher quality matched music? Or will the higher quality music only be available to our iDevices or other computers that are on the account?
Click to expand...

we don't know until it's launched unless a document gets leaked via the dev center
 
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