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Why does my iPhone take SO long to sync?
- Thread starter danedane5
- Start date
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Yes. They do. Search.
How much are you putting on it? You can't expect several gigabytes to sync instantly.
How much are you putting on it? You can't expect several gigabytes to sync instantly.
It's pretty slow to write, I guess maybe they're using slower writing flash chips.
One thing I notice is that it takes a lot of time to "backup", I don't understand why it's so slow to backup unless it's reading the entire contents of the device, which is pretty lazy programming somewhere, only changed items should need to be read.
One thing I notice is that it takes a lot of time to "backup", I don't understand why it's so slow to backup unless it's reading the entire contents of the device, which is pretty lazy programming somewhere, only changed items should need to be read.
I've read these posts in the past and there has to be something wierd going on. I have over 8GB (music, movies, a dozen free apps, etc..) on mine and the total sync process takes about 20 seconds or so.
There's definately a problem with those taking 20 mins to sync (iphone or itunes software bug, slow USB, bad USB cable ?)
There's definately a problem with those taking 20 mins to sync (iphone or itunes software bug, slow USB, bad USB cable ?)
My iPhone takes ridiculously long to sync at the moment, so long in fact that I haven't successfully synced for days. I'm absolutely livid that they should decide to release the iPhone 3G and 2.0 software with such a glaring bug as this must be, given the numbers of people experiencing it and would have expected a fix to have been released by now to be honest. I never had any problems with my original iPhone and at the moment might as well be using my old Nokia n73 
/rant
/rant
that syncing feeling
20 minutes is quick to sync. I wish my iPhone would be as quick. I have the original Iphone. I have 6.3GB of music and to sync any new info used to take a few minutes. Since I've updated to the new version 2.0 software and have purchased 677mb of apps (24) it now takes anything up to 2 hours to sync. At the moment I've taken everything off leaving just the apps and so far it's taken 17 minutes to sync 19 out of my 24 apps. This is terrible of apple. They really should have done something about it by now. iTunes does a complete backup every time I connect my phone. You can stop the backup by clicking on the x in the time box but no way to switch off backups. Come on apple, get it together
20 minutes is quick to sync. I wish my iPhone would be as quick. I have the original Iphone. I have 6.3GB of music and to sync any new info used to take a few minutes. Since I've updated to the new version 2.0 software and have purchased 677mb of apps (24) it now takes anything up to 2 hours to sync. At the moment I've taken everything off leaving just the apps and so far it's taken 17 minutes to sync 19 out of my 24 apps. This is terrible of apple. They really should have done something about it by now. iTunes does a complete backup every time I connect my phone. You can stop the backup by clicking on the x in the time box but no way to switch off backups. Come on apple, get it together
Usually my sync/backup is pretty quick. (20 seconds to 3 minutes) The only time it is longer is when I make changes on my iPhone (i.e. download/update Apps, add bookmarks, delete content) and then sync to iTunes. I'm guessing since iTunes realizes that the iPhone has newer content, it makes a backup of EVERYTHING in case this new content could be potentially hazardous.
When I add apps, bookmarks, contacts via ITUNES, and then plug in my iPhone, thats when I have quick sync times.
I've only had the phone for a day so this is just my initial observation.
When I add apps, bookmarks, contacts via ITUNES, and then plug in my iPhone, thats when I have quick sync times.
I've only had the phone for a day so this is just my initial observation.
Does anyone else have this problem? It takes like 25 minutes to sync...
Make sure all your app's on the phone are also listed in iTunes in the app's section. If not, download them from iTunes again for free and this should help a lot. sync / backup was taking me 20 min as well for about 4gb and 24 3rd party app's. Now it is down 2 min.
I'm also experiencing this problem. To those not seeing it, you're lucky. To those trying to explain it being reasonable for iTunes to take an hour to back up a couple hundred MB of apps when syncing GIGS of music never took that long, it just doesn't make sense...
Bugs bugs bugs...love the new features though. Just need Apple to get it all sorted.
Bugs bugs bugs...love the new features though. Just need Apple to get it all sorted.
I remember whenever my iPhone used to have long sync times I would go into crash reporter and delete the logs for mobile devices and that sped it up. Don't know if the reasons for long sync times are different with newer firmware.
iPhone syncing takes sometimes 15-20 mins
My iPhone 1.0 synced very quickly. However, since upgrading my handset to 2.0, it can take 2 minutes to 20 minutes. I have 1 G of free space and all of the apps on the phone are on my iTunes. The part that takes so long is the 'backing up' part. Frustrating.
My iPhone 1.0 synced very quickly. However, since upgrading my handset to 2.0, it can take 2 minutes to 20 minutes. I have 1 G of free space and all of the apps on the phone are on my iTunes. The part that takes so long is the 'backing up' part. Frustrating.
Doesn't fix it for me. I NEVER send that information to Apple, so that was never an issue for me. Anyone else?
Wow, all of yall are the lucky ones. Just syncing my iphone takes about 20 minutes, while backing it up takes 7-10 hours (no I'm not joking, I have to leave it backing up over night). Before the 2.0 update, it would probably max at 2 minutes. When is Apple expecting to fix this problem?
These issues were fixed with the 2.1 firmware update for most people experiencing long sync times. Have you updated your firmware?
I was on the phone with Tech Support about this very issue yesterday. There reasoning for slow backups is that the backup saves every little bit of downloaded info. For example if you use the NYTimes App all the stories that are downloaded to the iPhone are backuped to the computer. Also having more than 10-12 apps will cause the backup to act slow once again due to excessive data backup. Once again this was their reasoning while waiting for my hourlong backup to complete.
Facebook Installed?
Do you have the Facebook app installed? I was experiencing the same backup slowness. Did some searching on the Apple support forums and found a thread related to it. There is an apparent bug with the Facebook app and the 2.2 software. The Facebook app is caching all those pics and other items you view in the app and eventually you can end up with hundreds of megabytes of data that gets backed up during the sync process. The fix is to remove the Facebook app, sync, remove the sync cable and then hook it back up, sync again (this sync should go much faster), then reinstall the Facebook app. You'll be fine for a while until the cache builds up again, then you'll have to go through this process another time.
Do you have the Facebook app installed? I was experiencing the same backup slowness. Did some searching on the Apple support forums and found a thread related to it. There is an apparent bug with the Facebook app and the 2.2 software. The Facebook app is caching all those pics and other items you view in the app and eventually you can end up with hundreds of megabytes of data that gets backed up during the sync process. The fix is to remove the Facebook app, sync, remove the sync cable and then hook it back up, sync again (this sync should go much faster), then reinstall the Facebook app. You'll be fine for a while until the cache builds up again, then you'll have to go through this process another time.
I don't buy this reasoning. An hour is far too long with firmware 2.1 or later. I've got the max number of apps on my iPhone, with several of them pulling data from the Internet and storing it on the device, so I know that if anyone should have long backups for the reason Apple is giving you, it should be me. IF I don't sync for three or four days, the backup portion of my sync might take, at most, 8-10 minutes. If I sync every day, the backup portion of the sync takes about 2 minutes or less.
I was one of the people who had 2-hour backups prior to firmware 2.1. These problems were fixed in firmware 2.1, so my suggestion would be a restore from a backup (first) to see if that corrects things. You won't lose any data this way (your app icons, however, will be put back onto your iPhone in alphabetical order, so you'll have to rearrange them again). If that doesn't work, you could try wiping the device and starting over with a fresh 2.1 firmware install and a complete reinstall of all your apps. This, however, will cause you to lose all the data stored by those apps.
It's a reasonable explanation for the problem, in every case just download and make sure you have the latest 2.1 firmware and then try that again
I disagree.
It's not a reasonable explanation for the problem. It's Apple tech support not knowing or understanding what the issue is, or being lazy, and offering a reason that doesn't fit with the experiences of others who own an iPhone. Before firmware 2.1, these long backup issues were due to bugs. Apple specifically corrected the bugs in 2.1 and noted it in the release notes for the firmware version. There were widespread reports stating that it had fixed the issues people were seeing. I saw this myself. I was one of the people suffering through 2+ hour backups.
I don't care how full the iPhone is with apps, files, etc....two hours is too long to back it up, something is wrong, and tech support should have tried to offer him real solutions (even if their only solution was to tell him to wipe the device and reinstall the firmware/apps), not explanations that *seem* like they fit, but in reality do not.
As a photographer, I have over 150 GB of pictures on my desktop. When I set my iPhone to sync with one subfolder in My Documents/My Pictures folder, iTunes still found it necessary to index all of my photographs even though the majority of them were in unchecked folders. This was taking over 24 hours to complete a sync (obviously too long for anyone). I moved the folder for the photos on my iPhone out of My Pictures and into a completely seperate folder. My next sync only took a few minutes.
There is a better explanation here: http://algorizms.blogspot.com/2007/09/fix-for-iphone-sync-times-in-vista.html
There is a better explanation here: http://algorizms.blogspot.com/2007/09/fix-for-iphone-sync-times-in-vista.html
Maybe there's a ******** of stuff inside the device.
What I suggest you should do is this.
1) Restore to new f/w.
2) Re-sync everything & set is up as new phone. Though it may clean away game saves, sms-es, but I'm sure there's a way to retrieve all of this.
What I suggest you should do is this.
1) Restore to new f/w.
2) Re-sync everything & set is up as new phone. Though it may clean away game saves, sms-es, but I'm sure there's a way to retrieve all of this.
Dear "thespeak" photographer,
I know this is an old thread, but wanted to say big THANK YOU for your suggestion - after I did what you did, the iPhone sync took 1 minute instead of forever!
Regards