Sync issues when using VPN

jefe

@ctietze, I have been having sync issues for at least two months and was finally able to isolate the problem to TA.

Here's my setup:

• MBP (10.13.6)
• iPhone 6s (12.4)
• iPad Air (12.4)
• Mac Mini (10.12)
• TA on MBP/Mac Mini
• 1Writer is my primary writing App on iOS
• NordVPN on all devices
• iCloud for sync services

Issue:

• Unable to sync TA/1Writer across devices when NordVPN is active. No problem syncing when NordVPN is deactivated.

Submitted a ticket to NordVPN but decided to do further testing and discovered that I am able to sync to the TA iCloud folder when using any other writing App such as iA Writer. I have tested this on all devices and syncing works as expected with no issues.

I am unfortunately not certain when this problem began because my syncing has been a bit funky for awhile but I ignored it thinking that it was not major. It's really become a MAJOR problem over the past couple moths and is affecting my workflow.

Greatly appreciate any insights...

ctietze

Wow, that's a weird problem

First: What exactly do you see? Outdated notes in The Archive? Sync conflicts? Duplicate files?

So 1Writer receives updates on iOS just fine. I haven't used NordVPN -- is your iOS device connecting via VPN as well, or just the Mac, and the iOS stuff is on cellular?

I wonder what happens when you look at the iCloud folder in Finder. The Archive doesn't do anything fancy, it just reacts to changes to the local directory:

• When you create a note in 1Writer, does the note show up in the directory when you look at it with Finder? Does it take super long?
• And when you delete a note? (Creating and deleting are easier to observe because the file just pops in and out.)
• When you edit a note in 1Writer, how long until the file contents change? (Observe via Quicklook or TextEdit)

If the low-level iCloud file syncing works reliably and as you expect, I can investigate what The Archive is doing.