Developers express frustration over unreliable iCloud sync

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iCloud is Apple's cloud service that any Apple owner can use for storing data online and for synchronizing your personal data and app data. CloudKit allows developers to integrate iCloud's syncing capabilities into their own apps, but that's exactly what seems to be going wrong lately. iCloud server issues are causing apps to experience sync issues, according to an extensive post on Apple's Developer forum.

iCloud sync issues with third-party apps

The problems have been going on since November, according to the forum. Some developers have been reporting such issues for much longer. For example, CloudKit is used to sync data from an app between the iPhone and iPad version. The iCulture app also partly uses this. Many apps fall back on this option, because it means they don't have to use their own synchronization service. But due to the problems that have been going on for months, it is increasingly unreliable. Several developers are complaining about this, without Apple having responded publicly.

For example, users of apps that leverage CloudKit will get the error “Request failed with http status code 503”. Examples of apps that leverage CloudKit and report the issues include GoodNotes, Tweetbot, and PCalc. For example, GoodNotes has a support page for the error message and says it is also in contact with Apple's Technical Support team. GoodNotes says that not all users will experience it, but the problem persists. A developer reports a fix in the code of his app, but we don't know if this works for everyone.

Tapbots, developer of the well-known Twitter app Tweetbot, has a special iCloud system status page on added her app where you can see if you're having problems with iCloud syncing. And the maker of calculator app PCalc has disabled syncing via iCloud in the latest update by default. The option is still there, but you have to enable it yourself.

Cause unclear
Meanwhile, developers are speculating about exactly what causes this problem and when it started. But if you have an app that is having problems with iCloud syncing, then you know it's not your fault. So Apple has not yet responded publicly and a solution for users does not appear to be available either. Apple may be able to make some changes on the server side, without requiring a whole new iOS update.