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Smarter auto-sync

jansona says:
Is there any way to make the iPhone app sync as I make changes? A common usage scenario is I pop into the app, mark two tasks as completed, then close the app. I forget about it until I login to the website, and then I'm baffled to see those tasks still there, until I remember I forgot to hit the "sync" button. (I could swear that this has happened even when I've hit sync, but I can't prove it yet.)

I never leave the app open for more than a couple minutes at a time, so auto sync doesn't cut it.
Posted at 7:50pm on February 16, 2010
Launched
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Available as of version 1.3.0. :)
Posted 13 years ago
lemayp says:
I would like to second that suggestion, as I don't think there is currently anyway to have the synchronization performed after each changes. Actually I mentioned this as a comment when I filled up the survey of RTM. I realized that when I click the sync button, it would take less than a second to proceed, so it would make sense to do so automatically when a change took places. At least, this could be a configuration option...
Posted 14 years ago
halloleo says:
yes, it's a real problem: quite often my iphone changes don't get synced back to the web, because i leave the app before syncing... :-(
Posted 14 years ago
whizzard says:
I've mostly got used to this now... but I still sometimes fail to sync. And that's after about a year of regular use.

I understand the constraints iPhone apps are under (can't have "sync and quit" button), bt there's no escaping that this is a problem.
Posted 13 years ago
andrewski (Remember The Milk) says:
Unfortunately third-party apps currently cannot run in the background on the iPhone or iPod touch, so the app cannot sync once it's closed. To ensure that your tasks are always up-to-date when you're using the app, by default the app is set to 'auto' sync. This means that the app will automatically sync with RTM when it launches or becomes active (for instance, after the device has been in sleep mode), and periodically sync around every 5 minutes while the app is open. This sends any changes you've made back to RTM, and checks for any changes from RTM too. If you don't want to wait for the auto sync, you can manually sync by tapping the refresh icon at any time (e.g. before exiting).
Posted 13 years ago
(closed account) says:
Would it be possible to have the app sync immediately after making a change? Or maybe, after making a change and being idle for a few seconds? A progress bar (or "working..." status / spinning wheel) would be really helpful, too.

An always-visible 'Sync' button that lights up when you've made changes would be an interesting workaround, too.

It took me a while to figure out this is why the app wasn't synching with RTM, and put me off from the RTM iPhone app for about a month or two (I assumed it was unreliable, or my phone losing its connection was causing me to lose RTM tasks). My goal for using the iPhone app was to quickly jot things down while on the train or at work - the web interface is better for adding items in bulk, so I do that at home.

If I have RTM open on my iPhone for 5 minutes, it's likely because I've put the phone down and gotten involved in something else. :)
Posted 13 years ago
lemayp says:
This has been requested several time... and I will second that again...

Open the Ipod. Update the status of a task. Close the Ipod...

Later, from the PC, I realize that (again) the sync didn't took place and I need to get the ipod back to sync RTM.

Time for an update to the Iphone/Ipod application?

Posted 13 years ago
andrewski (Remember The Milk) says:
flammableanimals,
There is both an always-visible Sync button (a round arrow) and a spinner in the lower left of the screen; the Sync button becomes the spinner while synchronizing.
Posted 13 years ago
(closed account) says:
Cool, thanks andrewski - missed that.

If it's not too much of a burden on RTM's server's, immediate sync would be really nice.

Otherwise, more frequent synching could work, as long as it's made clear the data hasn't been synched yet - sort of like how Mac applications will show a dot in the red "close" button if you haven't saved a document yet.

I guess my issue is that it's not intuitive that the app hasn't synched back to the server after you've made changes.

Thanks for all of the awesome work you've done so far - strong iPhone support is a big reason I'm using RTM! Your strong Android support convinced a friend of mine to join, too. :)
Posted 13 years ago
cherylhiggins says:
I second that!
Posted 13 years ago
mike.norton says:
I agree re: immediate sync - it's really jarring to realize you're missing tasks when you look at the webapp and realize it's because you didn't hit sync.

I assume there is no way to force a sync as part of the application close event?
Posted 13 years ago
andrewski (Remember The Milk) says:
Mike,
That's correct; once an app is closed, it exits immediately.
Posted 13 years ago
(closed account) says:
Thank you so much for improving the auto-sync!
Posted 13 years ago
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
As flammableanimals has noticed, we now have smarter auto-syncing available in 1.3.0 (see the blog post) for details.

Glad you like it, flammableanimals!
Posted 13 years ago
williamsdb says:
humm - "Smarter sync"? More like "No sync" for me.

Since the update the badge and task list for today shows 34 tasks. The website list shows 19. No amount of pressing the refresh button will update the list. I have even tried restarting my iphone.

Right now RTM on the iPhone is useless for me - please help!

N
Posted 13 years ago
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
williamsdb, that definitely doesn't sound right! Thanks for letting us know; we're looking into this and I'll let you know as soon as I have an update.

Thanks!
Posted 13 years ago
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
williamsdb, I've just posted an update and steps to fix over in this topic. Hope this helps!
Posted 13 years ago
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