Errands iCloud Sync FAQ

Errands includes iCloud syncing to enable multiple iOS devices (iPhone, iPod touch and iPad) to stay in sync with each other. This works with any iOS device using the same iCloud account.

iCloud sync normally works very well and is quite awesome. However, if something goes wrong, don't panic! Your data is backed up (just don't delete the app!). Read on for further details.

Things to Verify to Ensure Proper Syncing

Errands supports Background App Refresh to allow updating of iCloud data in the background. For this to work, the app must be set to ON in the iOS Settings app under General > Background App Refresh (and Background App Refresh must be enabled at the top of this settings page). Also, ensure that you do not "force quit" the app (manually remove it from running via swiping up on its card in the list of apps when you double-tap the home button). This will disable Background App Refresh for the app until it is opened again.

How to Setup Errands iCloud Sync

  1. Start with the device that has your most up-to-date Errands data. I will refer to this as your "primary" device below and "secondary" devices are all your other iOS devices. Note that this distinction is only relevant when initializing iCloud, after which all devices are peers.
  2. Ensure that you have an active internet connection on all devices that you wish to enable for iCloud syncing.
  3. Turn iCloud Sync ON in Errands (Settings > General).
  4. If your device has local data, you will be asked if you want to Merge with iCloud or Delete Local Data. Choose Merge if the device contains data you want to share among your other iOS devices. This is the proper choice when syncing your primary device to iCloud. Choose Delete to replace your local data with that already in iCloud . This is the proper choice if you have already synced your primary device and your other devices contain redundant data (perhaps a copy of your data transferred by Errand's database restore facility).
  5. If your device does not have any local data, it will simply connect to iCloud and download any data already existing in the cloud.
  6. Next, WAIT A COUPLE OF MINUTES for the iCloud servers to sync with each device. The first sync on each device may take a couple of minutes, but usually less.
  7. If all goes well, you are done. If it doesn't seem to work, review the troubleshooting information below.

General Advice & Comments

  • Errands includes support for Background App Refresh on iOS 7. This will periodically run Errands in the background on your iOS devices and allow it to sync. Note that the timing of the App Refresh is subject to many factors and not under app control. This feature will greatly improve your overall experience with using iCloud.
  • Nag-Me alerts (repeating every minute or hour) might be overly annoying on secondary devices (you wouldn't want to have an alert going off all day on your iPad while you are at work). Thus, Nag-Me is automatically disabled for secondary devices when you start using iCloud. To change this, go to Settings > General > Alerts & Sounds.
  • The speed at which devices sync varies based on many factors (network connection, iCloud server load, internal iOS scheduling). Usually it is very quick, though sometimes it can take a minute or two to catch up to all devices.
  • Note that iCloud syncing only works between devices using the same iCloud account. There is not currently a way to share iCloud data between different users.
  • Only enable iCloud Sync if you actually have multiple iOS devices running Errands. It is not meant for backup. Instead, Errands has its own built-in backup - Settings > General > Database Backup / Restore. For more info, refer to the main FAQ.
  • Please visit the support pages at yoctoville.com for any updated information on iCloud Sync.

How to Reset iCloud's Data

This will fully reset the Errands iCloud data stored on the device. Use this option if you are having troubles with iCloud Sync. Note that this will not delete the locally stored data, just the info in iCloud.

  1. Disable iCloud Sync for Errands on all devices.
  2. Tap on Settings > General > Reset iCloud Sync (in Errands) on all devices. This option will only show up when iCloud Sync is turned OFF (step #1 above).
  3. Wait 5 minutes
  4. Re-setup iCloud Sync in Errands, starting with the device that has your most current data.

Troubleshooting

  • Open the iOS Settings app, tap on your account info at the top, then toggle iCloud > iCloud Drive OFF and back ON. Do this procedure on all your iOS devices.
  • Errands takes several steps to safeguard your data. First, a backup of the Errands database is made locally on your device each time you exit the app. It is recommended that you email a copy of the backup on occasion for safekeeping. To do so, navigate to Settings > General > Database Backup & Restore, tap on a listed backup and select Mail Database. Second, when you enable iCloud sync, the local database is also copied to a saved location in the Errands documents folder. You can access this backup from iTunes File Sharing on your desktop.

  • Rebooting your device can help resolve various iCloud problems. To do so, hold down on the power button at the top of the device until you get a red "Slide to Power Off" message. Slide it and wait for the screen to go black. Then, press and hold the power button for a couple of seconds until you see the Apple logo.

  • If you need to restore from an Errands database backup, you must first disable Errands iCloud sync before the restore will proceed. If you want to replace all the data in iCloud with the data from the restore, you will need to disable Errands iCloud Sync on all devices and perform an iCloud Reset as outlined above.