Desktop iCloud Saves Don't Show on iOS

[skiphunt]

At first I thought this was an Affinity problem, but it looks like it's an iCloud problem, because Pages is doing the same thing. 

I was trying to save a Publisher document to my iCloud and then open with Designer on the iPad to try out the new feature. But nothing I save from the desktop shows up in the iCloud folder for Publisher. 

I've tried signing out of iCloud and back in with all of my devices and spent most of a day trying to get this to work. No luck. 

If I save a document to an Affinity (or any other iCloud folder) from my iOS devices, the documents show up in my iCloud folders on my desktop. But, if I save a document to the Affinity folders (or any iCloud folder) from my desktop, they show up in the folder with a little cloud next to them, and don't show up in the iCloud folders on the iOS iCloud folders. It's like the sync only works one-way. It's SOOO freakin' aggravating. 

It's like the saved iCloud documents are just sitting there in the desktop iCloud Drive folders, but not actually uploading to the "cloud" at all. 

Again, it doesn't appear to be specifically related to Affinity, because I tried the same thing with Apple Pages and it behaves the same way.

Anyone else have this problem?

[DWright]

Can you please check your iCloud settings on your desktop to make sure that the Affinity apps are enable to documents on the iCloud drive, also can you try saving the .afpub file to the root of the iCloud location.

I have followed your work flow on my Mac and iPad anf dI am able to save to the iCloud and open the saved file on my iPad

[skiphunt]

8 minutes ago, DWright said:

Can you please check your iCloud settings on your desktop to make sure that the Affinity apps are enable to documents on the iCloud drive, also can you try saving the .afpub file to the root of the iCloud location.

I have followed your work flow on my Mac and iPad anf dI am able to save to the iCloud and open the saved file on my iPad

Yes, they're set. I've tried everything several times. I've done extensive searches on Apple forums and tried everything suggested. At this point I think I'm just not going to use iCloud until maybe a future update magically fixes it.

 

[R C-R]

On 6/21/2019 at 12:56 PM, skiphunt said:

But, if I save a document to the Affinity folders (or any iCloud folder) from my desktop, they show up in the folder with a little cloud next to them, and don't show up in the iCloud folders on the iOS iCloud folders.

The cloud symbol there indicates the file has not yet been uploaded to your iCloud Drive. If you have not already done so, check the "If your files don't update to iCloud Drive" section of https://support.apple.com/HT203052 & make sure you have tried everything suggested there.

[skiphunt]

On 6/25/2019 at 4:31 AM, R C-R said:

The cloud symbol there indicates the file has not yet been uploaded to your iCloud Drive. If you have not already done so, check the "If your files don't update to iCloud Drive" section of https://support.apple.com/HT203052 & make sure you have tried everything suggested there.

Yeah, I've already seen that one and tried everything on it. It's only going one-way that the sync doesn't work, ie. OSX to iOS. At this point I have to think it's an OSX Mojave (the latest/not beta) problem. I've basically given up trying to troubleshoot. 2 days worth already. It simply won't work anymore. Not sure when it stopped. Only noticed when I tried to save/open a publisher file. 

Again, it's not just Affinity. None of my icloud syncing works from desktop to mobile. Only works from mobile to desktop.

Dropbox works fine, so I'm going to abandon trying to get icloud to work.

[skiphunt]

Ok... just to eliminate the very real possibility that this issue I'm experiencing is user error...

It's possible that I'm not crystal clear on the differences between iCould and iCloud Drive.

This is the way I expect it to work: I create a document in Publisher. Save it to the Affinity Publisher folder in my iCloud Drive on my desktop. I confirm the new document is indeed in the Affinity Publisher iCloud Drive folder. Then I go to my iPad files app, navigate to the Affinity Publisher iCloud folder and expect my new document is there, but it's not.

What DOES work is if I then log into my iCloud account via web browser. Then I navigate to my iCloud Drive folder for Affinity Publisher. Then I hit the upload icon and navigate to my new document in my desktop iCloud Drive Affinity Publisher folder. I upload the document into the web-based iCloud interface. My new document then shows in the Affinity Publisher folder. When I go to my iPad files app, and navigate to my Affinity Publisher folder, the new document is there. 

Now, the question is... am I supposed to have to log into my iCloud account via web browser and manually upload the new document into the appropriate folder in order for it to show up on my iPad's files app/iCloud drive folders? Or, am I supposed to be able to save to an iCloud Drive folder on my desktop, and then it'll automatically be sync'd with the corresponding icloud drive folder to show up on my iOS device?

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, skiphunt said:

It's possible that I'm not crystal clear on the differences between iCould and iCloud Drive.

Basically, 'iCloud" is Apple's umbrella name for all the services it provides through its cloud based servers, one of which is the remote file storage service dubbed iCould Drive. On Macs, despite the name, Finder's "Get Info" says iCloud Drive is a folder, even though it acts like an alias to a remote drive.

1 hour ago, skiphunt said:

This is the way I expect it to work: I create a document in Publisher. Save it to the Affinity Publisher folder in my iCloud Drive on my desktop.

I am not completely clear on what you mean by this folder. Is it one you created manually, specifically for Publisher documents, or something else? Is it named "Publisher" or something else? What does Finder's "Get Info" say for its location in the "Where:" section?

I have never tried dragging an iCloud Drive folder out onto the desktop or tried to create one there. I always access them through the Finder or Open or Save sidebar. When I save something to one of them, a small open circle appears in the Finder list view that fills in as the file is uploaded to iCloud Drive. Do you see anything like that on your Mac?

[skiphunt]

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

Basically, 'iCloud" is Apple's umbrella name for all the services it provides through its cloud based servers, one of which is the remote file storage service dubbed iCould Drive. On Macs, despite the name, Finder's "Get Info" says iCloud Drive is a folder, even though it acts like an alias to a remote drive.

I am not completely clear on what you mean by this folder. Is it one you created manually, specifically for Publisher documents, or something else? Is it named "Publisher" or something else? What does Finder's "Get Info" say for its location in the "Where:" section?

I have never tried dragging an iCloud Drive folder out onto the desktop or tried to create one there. I always access them through the Finder or Open or Save sidebar. When I save something to one of them, a small open circle appears in the Finder list view that fills in as the file is uploaded to iCloud Drive. Do you see anything like that on your Mac?

I also access my iCloud Drive folders/files via the finder.

The Affinity Publisher folder created in the iCloud Drive folder on the desktop and also shows up the same in the files app via iOS is created automatically by Publisher on install. Not by me.

[R C-R]

39 minutes ago, skiphunt said:

The Affinity Publisher folder created in the iCloud Drive folder on the desktop and also shows up the same in the files app via iOS is created automatically by Publisher on install. Not by me.

No Affinity Publisher iCloud Drive folder is created on install of Publisher on a Mac. Any idea how one got installed on your iCloud Drive?

[Old Bruce]

10 hours ago, R C-R said:

No Affinity Publisher iCloud Drive folder is created on install of Publisher on a Mac. Any idea how one got installed on your iCloud Drive?

He may be talking about this in the Save dialog, it is potentially there.

Myself I just do not trust these cloud drives. Simply because I have no influence over the corporations which maintain them for me.

[skiphunt]

11 hours ago, R C-R said:

No Affinity Publisher iCloud Drive folder is created on install of Publisher on a Mac. Any idea how one got installed on your iCloud Drive?

Well, I know I didn't create the Affinity folders what show up in the iCloud Drive folder. An Affinity folder was created automatically on install for Affinity Photo, Designer AND Publisher. 

These same automatically created on install Affinity iCloud Drive folders also show up via the Files app on iOS when navigating to the iCloud Drive

Now, I'm wondering if we're even talking about the same thing? 

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, skiphunt said:

Now, I'm wondering if we're even talking about the same thing? 

I guess I am too. It may be somewhat different because I am running High Sierra & maybe you are running Mojave or another OS version. For me, there is no "iCloud" category in the sidebar with an "Affinity Publisher" item in it with a generic application icon or any way I can find to create or reveal that category.

I too have System Preferences > iCloud > iCloud Drive options set to enable Affinity apps to save documents to iCloud Drive:

In the Favorites sidebar category, as in the Files app on my iPad, I have 'badged' Affinity Designer & Affinity Photo folders but no folder named or badged for Affinity Publisher:

All of the first row folders were created by the app; those in the second row are ones I created.

[Cecil]

Could it be a connection allowing you to edit macOS Photos in Affinity Photo now?

[skiphunt]

I've been battling this icloud syncing problem for over a couple weeks now. I've tried everything from every Apple blog post and other's that have to do with icloud not syncing. 

I've deleted all sorts of icloud related plist files and have spent countless hours trying to trouble shoot this. 

I just looked through some files on icloud to determine the last time anything sync'd properly in icloud, and it's June 20th. The day freakin' Publisher launched and I bought it. I had the beta installed so I deleted the beta, but noticed that icloud still showed Affinity Publisher (Beta) - iCloud.

I THOUGHT I had it fixed out of merely logging out of icloud and back in. The "beta" part of icloud went away and now the folder says "Affinity Publisher - icloud.

 

HOWEVER, the act of installing the public Publisher and deleting the beta Publisher and the issue with the Publisher icloud folder incorrectly reading "beta" even after the public version was installed, coincides with the end of my icloud syncing and the beginning of the last 2 week nightmare. 

Is there anything else that was associated with the beta install of Publisher that could be causing all of this icloud conflict syncing problems? It seems awfully suspicious that the last document I have that actually synced via icloud (an iAwrite document) was the same day I upgraded to the paid version of Publisher from the Beta version.

[Cecil]

shipment I have Affinity Photo, macOS Mojave and as R C-R above, my Finder does not have Affinity folder associated with iCloud Drive. I found Apple customer telephone service to be very helpful.  If you click on the folder, does it list all your files?  I save all my files in a folder I created separate from Affinity.  Good luck.

[Cecil]

https://www.appleworld.today/blog/2018/12/19/how-to-save-your-desktop-and-documents-folder-to-icloud-drive-in-macos-mojave

You may have read above instructions which states you can add your Desktop to iCloud Drive, Mojave.  I read this as, if you save all your documents to your Desktop and move your Desktop folder inside the iCloud Drive folder, everything should sync. As a separate folder, above iCloud Drive folder, I don't know how it would sync.  Sorry if this is not assisting you.

  

[skiphunt]

20 hours ago, Cecil said:

https://www.appleworld.today/blog/2018/12/19/how-to-save-your-desktop-and-documents-folder-to-icloud-drive-in-macos-mojave

You may have read above instructions which states you can add your Desktop to iCloud Drive, Mojave.  I read this as, if you save all your documents to your Desktop and move your Desktop folder inside the iCloud Drive folder, everything should sync. As a separate folder, above iCloud Drive folder, I don't know how it would sync.  Sorry if this is not assisting you.

  

At this point I'm grasping at straws and am at the point where I'm simply not going to use iCloud for the foreseeable future. I have no idea what's going on with it. When I try to access my icloud via browser now, it's says icloud drive and click on any folder it says "icloud drive has stopped responding"

I've rebooted in safe mode, run disk repair, signed in/out of all icloud enabled devices, deleted any plist files related to icloud. I found several Affinity Publisher Beta files still in the library and such and deleted them... etc. 

Nothing works. Nothing syncs between my desktop icloud drive and my ios icloud drive. The ios devices sync between each other though. 

I created another user and logged back in. When I try to access icloud via web, it seems to work fine. It also works fine with another browser like Brave. 

The problems are that whatever I put into icloud drive on the desktop does not show up in icloud drive folders on iOS. AND, when I try to access the icloud via browser, it says "icloud drive stopped responding" but only when using Safari. Other browses access it fine. 

The only reason I'm bringing it up here again on the Affinity forum is because I tracked when the last time anything sync'd properly. I keep a daily journal and use the iAwrite app for it. It has OSX and IOS versions and uses icloud drive to synce. The last time icloud sync worked was the morning journal entry in iAwrite on June 20th, ie. the same day I installed the public version of Publisher and noticed the icloud folder issues related to the Publisher beta install. That's the point where it stopped working and has been a nightmare since. It appears that something related to the Affinity Publisher beta, and installing the public Publisher after launch... must have nearly catastrophically corrupted my icloud drive. And, at this point I've run out of things to try other than abandoning icloud drive altogether now.

[Cecil]

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208682  Bottom of page, Apple Support for iCloud.  Apple has never refused me support via telephone, with or without warranty.  Your location may determine if that remains true.  If you have license (s) Affinity Programs and backup of your Affinity files, I would delete and reinstall Affinity in macOS Mojave Application folder, not iCloud Drive. Unless you have a large iCloud storage plan, I would not have my Desktop default to iCloud Drive.  Personally I do not store files in Desktop.  I may occasionally put a file, photo for quick access, but move to a folder or delete when no longer required.  First I would discuss sync issues with Apple Support.  Ask them to advise you on proper steps to remove your Desktop out of iCloud Drive, unless that is your choice.  Best of luck.  I do hope your issues are solved.

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, skiphunt said:

I found several Affinity Publisher Beta files still in the library and such and deleted them...

What specifically do you mean by "in the library"? Which folder & what items?

2 hours ago, skiphunt said:

Nothing works. Nothing syncs between my desktop icloud drive and my ios icloud drive. The ios devices sync between each other though. 

There is only one iCloud Drive, not separate or independent ones for Mac OS & iOS devices. It isn't really a "drive," just a remote storage location hosted by Apple that your Apple devices can access over the Internet. If your iOS devices & another user account on your Mac can access its contents, then it is not corrupted.

It is a little hard to follow everything you have said but it seems to boil down to your Mac not being able to connect to iCloud, but only when you are using your normal user account. Is that right?

If so, to help isolate the source of the problem it might be worth opening System Preferences > iCloud. Make sure it shows the correct account info (name & Apple ID) & click on the Account Details button. Enter your password & make sure it can still connect using that ID & password.

[skiphunt]

32 minutes ago, Cecil said:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208682  Bottom of page, Apple Support for iCloud.  Apple has never refused me support via telephone, with or without warranty.  Your location may determine if that remains true.  If you have license (s) Affinity Programs and backup of your Affinity files, I would delete and reinstall Affinity in macOS Mojave Application folder, not iCloud Drive. Unless you have a large iCloud storage plan, I would not have my Desktop default to iCloud Drive.  Personally I do not store files in Desktop.  I may occasionally put a file, photo for quick access, but move to a folder or delete when no longer required.  First I would discuss sync issues with Apple Support.  Ask them to advise you on proper steps to remove your Desktop out of iCloud Drive, unless that is your choice.  Best of luck.  I do hope your issues are solved.

I've already reinstalled Publisher twice. 

At this point I've basically given up. For the apps I actually use icloud for... I've disabled it and created folders for each in my dropbox account. All of the issues seem to be due to some icloud drive issue that appeared when I installed Affinity Publisher while the Publisher beta was still installed. Could just be a coincidence though. I've wasted far too many hours on this and dropbox works fine for my needs. 

I may contact Apple too... but I'm spent now and don't want to waste one more second on this icloud issue... especially when I got by fine before icloud drive existed.

[skiphunt]

2 minutes ago, R C-R said:

What specifically do you mean by "in the library"? Which folder & what items?

There is only one iCloud Drive, not separate or independent ones for Mac OS & iOS devices. It isn't really a "drive," just a remote storage location hosted by Apple that your Apple devices can access over the Internet. If your iOS devices & another user account on your Mac can access its contents, then it is not corrupted.

It is a little hard to follow everything you have said but it seems to boil down to your Mac not being able to connect to iCloud, but only when you are using your normal user account. Is that right?

If so, to help isolate the source of the problem it might be worth opening System Preferences > iCloud. Make sure it shows the correct account info (name & Apple ID) & click on the Account Details button. Enter your password & make sure it can still connect using that ID & password.

I appreciated it chief, but I've already done all of that countless times. I'm not new to the Apple OS. I've been using it for more than 25 years. I've troubleshooted my Macs and am called to troubleshoot other's machines too. Yes, I KNOW it's not a "drive". But icloud drive accessed via iOS is not consistent with the way my OSX machine is accessing. It's like they aren't connected. And YES, I only have one ID and password. I've also got an iTunes connect account for publishing... so this isn't my first rodeo. Though thanks for the info anyway.

[R C-R]

1 minute ago, skiphunt said:

But icloud drive accessed via iOS is not consistent with the way my OSX machine is accessing. It's like they aren't connected.

But only when you are logged into your normal user account, right?

[skiphunt]

9 minutes ago, R C-R said:

But only when you are logged into your normal user account, right?

Yes. I created a Test user account with admin permissions. I accessed it via Safari while logged into the Test user account and I didn't get the icloud drive error message. 

It's behaving as if it thinks I have more than one user ID, even though I only have the one. I've already tried changing my password twice. 

[skiphunt]

@R C-R  I did another test... 

Logged into the Test User account. Accessed my icloud drive via Safari. Opened a Pages document and made a test edit. Then, opened the edited Pages document via iCloud from my iPad. The edit showed up. Made another edit to the document via Pages on the iPad and quit out. I then logged out of the Test User desktop account and back into my normal user account. I opened the Pages document stored in the Pages icloud drive folder and both edits were there. I then made another edit to the Pages document via my normal account and saved. That edit didn't show up in the pages document, ie. it only doesn't work/sync when logged into my regular user account. When logged into the Test User account, it appears to work as expected, including full syncing both directions between IOS and OSX. 

[R C-R]

9 minutes ago, skiphunt said:

It's behaving as if it thinks I have more than one user ID, even though I only have the one.

It sounds as though it is behaving as one would expect if there is something amiss somewhere in your normal user account domain, but there are too many possibilities to say what that might be. It could be a corrupted file somewhere in ~/Library/Preferences that is seemingly unrelated to iCloud or Affinity, an obscure multi-way conflict with third party add-ons, or who knows what else.