Scrivener iOS syncing via Dropbox continues to crash the app

Scrivener Scrivener for iOS
441

HI,

I had the non-syncing issue over Xmas and have just fixed it to my satisfaction on my setup. I have an iPad Pro 12.9" and a MacBook Pro, and an iPhone pro max.

I had about 70 scriv files in my dropbox folder. On the iPad I could see all of these in the projects view. then I closed scriv on iPad.

I went onto the MacBook, made sure scriv was closed. opened my dropbox folder and in Apps>Scrivener created a new folder where I saved every unfinished project except for about 5 - note of the 5 I kept one is quite big (for me) with hundreds of sheets in it.

So, now I have 2 folders in my Apps>Scrivener folder. I closed dropbox, went back to iPad and opened scriv, It then synced with dropbox. That took 5+ mins, then, on the iPad, I selected all the scriv files that I had earlier backed up into the second folder on dropbox and deleted them from the iPad, then closed the scriv app on iPad.

Then I made a new scrivener file on Mac, made a few test sheets, saved it. On Mac I saw it save fine to dropbox. then closed scriv on MacBook.

Opened scriv on iPad, synced, saw new file, opened it, added new sheet and some text, went back to projects view and saw it sync to dropbox.

Closed iPad scriv. on MacBook opened scriv and opened the file, the edits were in place.

Then I closed MacBook scriv and created a new file on iPad scriv, let it sync to dropbox, Then on MacBook opened scriv and opened the file. No issues.

I have no idea what it is in what I did that helped, but for my use case this works and I’m very happy with it. I hope some of you have similar results. Best regards,

442

Morning, everyone!
This bug really bothers me a lot and slows down my work quite a bit. In a new attempt to solve the problem, here’s what happened:

  • My sync folder now contains only seven projects, among them an 820.5 MB project.
  • I try to create a new sync folder and transfer these seven files to the new folder.
  • The 820.5 MB project has duplicated itself. An 820.5 Mb version has moved to the new folder and a full version, but only 479 Kb, has remained in the old folder. Maybe a recovery version? But who is not in the right place?
    Hopefully this can give some food for thought.
443

Just installed iPad OS 13.4. Sync is working again on my 11 inch iPad. :smiley:

Cautiously optimistic now. Will test with more projects tomorrow.

444

I am pleased – so pleased – to report that after updating to iOS 13.4, DropBox syncing is working as expected with no crashing. I hope everyone else has the same experience.

P.S. I was not having the problem on iPad, so that’s why I made no separate observations about iPadOS 13.4. I can confirm that synching on iPad remains just fine for me on iPadOS 13.4.

445

I have good news. With the update to iPadOs 13.4, syncing worked fine. I just started with my biggest project file (350 MByte) and it was transferred without any problems. Also my other projects (12 project files) now synchronize again without problems. I am really relieved. As before, all my projects are in one directory. So far there are no restrictions. I’m still testing, but it looks like iPadOs 13.4 solves the problem. You can open the champagne bottles.

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446

Well, that seems to suggest the issue was at the Apple end all along.

Here’s hoping the fix is in for everyone and the few who slagged L&L for not fixing it can give a collective ‘sorry Keith’ :laughing:

447

Yes, the problem seems solved !

448

This is great news! Personally, I’m doubting a bit if I should get back into working with Dropbox because I got used to the way of working with only iCloud, and it allowed me to leave Dropbox completely behind. Will think about it.

I know this is a bit off-topic, but I tested the mouse/trackpad functionality in iPadOS 13.4 and it’s been really great. For text editing it will make a lot of stuff a lot quicker and easier. Very curious what this all means for the future of Scrivener iOS and iPad apps in general.

449

Excellent news! Glad to hear everyone’s reports and confirmations that this has finally be fixed.

450

Just confirming: it works on an iPhone 8 Plus and an iPad Pro 11".

451

Without a few more changes to iPadOS I doubt it means too much as there are inherent limitations to the OS. However, it certainly does make the OS and apps such as Scrivener easier to work with.

My new iPad delivers tomorrow. I’ll just have to contain some of my excitement until the new keyboard/trackpad rolls in around May.

452

Yes!!! It’s fixed! I must admit I had switched to Ulysses meanwhile, but I’m not too happy there. Still, the manual syncing (and no TextExpander) are a downside for me on iOS. But I think I will just adjust my use and will use Scrivener for large projects only. I had used it for one-off texts as well. I guess I will do that in Ulysses or more likely in Drafts from now on, because that’s just quicker. But novels etc. will finally be in Scrivener again! Welcome back!

453

Correction, my new iPad arrived a day early. Just completing a double backup of the old one then begin the Transfer. Old one already listed on eBay :slight_smile:

454

It works on iPhone XS and iPad mini :smiley: :mrgreen:

455

New iPad Pro 12.9, synched first time! Yay!

456

I understand, but I do think that another class of apps is more viable now on iPad with proper mouse support. To give you an example, I work in an Apple Premium Reseller in Europe, and we often have people who came by and asked if they couldn’t completely transition to an iPad. In some cases they could, but they were using a lot of Microsoft Excell. I told them: the problem with selecting a lot of cells in spreadsheets, is that it’s much more cumbersome to do that without a mouse or trackpad. Those people will be hugely affected by this 13.4 update.
And I’m wondering if we will see something from Apple on this front at WWDC 2020. We still don’t have any pro app from Apple on the iPad (Xcode, Final Cut Pro, Logic). But with all the rumors of the Mac going ARM in 2021, Universal Apps now being possible already since 13.4, etc. Final Cut Pro also hasn’t had an update in a loooong time. Maybe they are all prepping for something big. We’ll see, but maybe proper mouse support on the iPad is a sign of things to come. I’m very happy with how well it works on the iPad.

457

Which is more or less what I said. ‘Makes os and apps easier to work with’. I agree completely with excel/Numbers benefitting from the change.

To address your comment about Pro Apps, LumaFusion is pretty much a mini FCP for iOS. With a few more tweaks to the OS I believe Apple could release Pro apps for iOS.

458

Bummer, not all is sweet with iOS 13.4.

I have virtual keyboard issues. Known prob for some and unrelated to Scrivener, but I’m demanding Keith fix it within a week :slight_smile:

459

Great news!

So happy that the iOS update seems to resolve the problem. I’d been incredibly lucky with my outlier solution, but kept feeling sorry for everybody else.

Cheers, and keep it up!

460

Well, it’s 2020 and I don’t see any kind of an update from the makers of Scivener resolving this issue.
iPad Pro 10.5 had zero issues with syncing with Dropbox; however, upgrading to the larger iPad 12…yeah, no.

I’ve tried all the suggested tricks and nothing works.
At the end of the day, I now have a dud program that I paid decent money for and can’t use. I mean, what’s the bloody point of having Scrivener on the Mac, but I can’t use it on the iPad/sync?

Apparently, not enough of us are in need of an update, or Literature and Latte have made their money…

Another one bites the dust.