Syncing between Mac and iPhone/iPod touch (FAQ)
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How does syncing work?
You can sync between the Mac and the iPhone/iPod version of Things via Wi-Fi while both your iPhone and your Mac are connected to the same network.
To set up syncing, start Things on both your iPhone/iPod and on your Mac. On your Mac, go to Things > Preferences > iPhone and follow the on-screen instructions. The very first time you sync, it might take a while depending on the number of to-dos in your database.
Syncing via USB cable or Bluetooth is technically not possible for third party applications from the App Store. That's why Things uses Wi-Fi.
Solving problems
If you have problems setting up syncing
- Make sure that your iPhone/iPod touch is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your Mac. Look for the status icon in the upper left on your iPhone/iPod touch, there should be a Wi-Fi icon (not a 3G, EDGE or GPRS icon).
- Things needs to be running on your iPhone/iPod touch while you open the sync assistant, otherwise your Mac cannot detect it.
- Have you tried restarting Things on your Mac?
- Have you tried re-booting your iPhone/iPod touch? Hold the power button until "slide to power off" appears. Slide to power off. After it is off, press the power button to turn it back on.
- Your iPhone/iPod touch needs to have a name assigned to it. To confirm this, connect your iPhone/iPod touch to your Mac via USB cable. When your iPhone/iPod touch appears in the sidebar of iTunes, a name should be listed next its icon. If there is no name assigned, double-click the blank area to the right of the icon and enter a name.
In case you still have problems, the following article might be helpful:
Resolving network related sync issues between Mac and iPhone/iPod touch (FAQ)
If syncing was previously working
- Did you recently get a new iPhone/iPod touch to replace your existing device? You'll need to unpair and then pair your device again.
- Make sure that your iPhone/iPod touch is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your Mac. Look for the status icon in the upper left on your iPhone/iPod touch, there should be a Wi-Fi icon (not a 3G, EDGE or GPRS icon).
- Have you tried restarting Things on your Mac?
- Have you tried re-booting your iPhone/iPod touch? Hold the power button until "slide to power off" appears. Slide to power off. After it is off, press the power button to turn it back on.
If you don't have a Wi-Fi network
If you don't have a Wi-Fi capable router or if you are traveling, you can set up an ad hoc computer-to-computer network between your Mac and iPhone/iPod touch. For this workaround, your Mac has to be Wi-Fi capable (most Macs are). Learn more about this workaround here:
Setting up a computer-to-computer network (FAQ)
Alternatively, if you have iPhone Tethering you can also use this workaround:
Syncing between Mac and iPhone using USB or Bluetooth (requires tethering)
If the number of todos seems to be different on Mac and iPhone/iPod touch
It is possible that the databases on your Mac and iPhone/iPod touch appear to be out of sync. This can be a result of bugs from earlier versions. While installing new updates prevents those bugs from happening in the future, it might be necessary to reset syncing or to reinstall Things on your iPhone/iPod touch.
- At first, we recommend you reset syncing: Reset syncing between Mac and iPhone/iPod touch (FAQ)
- If this did not solve the problem for you, we suggest to reinstall Things on your iPhone/iPod touch. This will ensure that the data on your iPhone/iPod touch is exactly the same as on your Mac. Be aware that by following the steps below, you will delete your Things library on your iPhone/iPod touch and re-sync it with the library on your Mac. This will result in your iPhone/iPod touch library to be completely replaced with your Mac library: Re-installing Things on iPhone/iPod touch (FAQ)
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