Scrivener iOS syncing via Dropbox continues to crash the app

[Thomas Rabenstein]

As a long time user of Scrivener, also affected by the problem with synchronizing, I am disappointed by the discussions and the reaction of the support. In some post I read: "Only a few users are affected and L&L cannot reproduce the problem."
In our Facebook group, almost a quarter of the iOs users are affected. Mostly it's users like me who are using the latest hardware. The fact is, with the last version of iOs, it worked fine, but not anymore. The sync failure makes Scrivener for iOs almost useless and manual syncing through the iCloud is a cumbersome process. This is a step backwards for me, as I built my authoring and eBook production on the interaction of both versions. I hope for an early solution and that the problem is taken seriously.

[scshrugged]

With that said, I personally think that if you're hauling 10 GB projects around you'll be a lot happier with a MacBook Pro than with any form of iPad. Mac OS remains a much more capable platform. Katherine

My novels are written in a universe. I need to have my old projects on my iPad, so that I can refer to them as I am writing my current novel. My MacBook is too big to work on the tray-table on planes, and I spend a lot of time working on planes. I have been using this workflow ever since the iOS app came out. Now with my new iPad pro, suddenly I have to change?

I'm in the same situation as Margrad and frankly find your answer, Katherine, difficult to swallow.
Scrivener is marketed as a powerhouse . We as users are willing to go through the sync hoops in exchange for the additional power the app brings, especially because it allows for complex projects (you reiterated that point again in this thread).
If you tell us we need to use Macs, then there is no need for an iOS app, is there?
If we need to use simpler projects, then Scrivener's power is wasted, is it not? All that talk about Scrivener optimising resources to avoid loading entire projects in memory makes no sense anyway then, does it not?

Please consider also that we are dedicated users that come to these forums in order to establish communication with you and get reassurance that the tool we use to make a living will continue to work reliably. The vast majority of users want things that just work and do not care for explanations like "yeah, but Scrivener is doing really nifty things in the background to avoid loading your entire project in memory". They will just go to Ulysses. (There: I spoke Voldemort's name.)

It's wonderful that it works for some people.
For many others like us, it does not. Not working reliably means not working.
It's been over two months the issue has been reported and we barely have received any news. I think we have been more than patient.

Whatever the intention, kewms'/ Katherine's post, as quoted and commented on above, has been snipped. The result is a distortion of the closing paragraph's intention––expression of a personal observation––and the entire post itself. Reading it in its entirety gives one the author's actual intent:

To be clear, we agree that there is a problem and are doing our best to fix it.

Suggestions about reducing the number or size of projects being synced are intended as (a) troubleshooting to attempt to identify the problem and (b) possible workarounds pending a permanent solution. We are not proposing that users should reconcile themselves to limiting the number or size of projects as a permanent solution.

With that said, I personally think that if you're hauling 10 GB projects around you'll be a lot happier with a Macbook Pro than with any form of iPad. Mac OS remains a much more capable platform.

Katherine

This bug(s) is frustrating for everyone affected, no doubt, especially and including L&L. Does anyone really think that everything possible, within this small company's capabilities, is not being done to resolve it?

In the meantime, there are other methods to transfer between machines (including using the *cloud*) to get work done. I understand that some find them not ideal and disruptive to their normal workflow, but they're easily learned, habituated to and effective.

[lunk]

"Only a few users are affected and L&L cannot reproduce the problem."
In our Facebook group, almost a quarter of the iOs users are affected. Mostly it's users like me who are using the latest hardware.
—-
I hope for an early solution and that the problem is taken seriously.

If there was an easy solution they would have found it. But there isn’t. Some users have problems with the latest hardware, others don’t. Some have problems with big projects, others don’t.
The only thing the problems have in common is iOS 13, so it’s basically an Apple problem, which doesn’t make it easier to solve.

[derick]

In some post I read: "Only a few users are affected and L&L cannot reproduce the problem."
In our Facebook group, almost a quarter of the iOs users are affected. Mostly it's users like me who are using the latest hardware. The fact is, with the last version of iOs, it worked fine, but not anymore.

How many members of your group have taken the further step of isolating the project that causes the crash and submitting a copy to support? It sounds like your group could provide a great for diagnostics. Or they could just sit in the sidelines and complain.

[Thomas Rabenstein]

How many members of your group have taken the further step of isolating the project that causes the crash and submitting a copy to support? It sounds like your group could provide a great for diagnostics. Or they could just sit in the sidelines and complain.

I tried and failed. Small projects worked, but my main project did not. Other users got along because they only manage small projects. But none of that matters. Before, it worked perfectly, with all projects and all sizes. So the question is, what happened with the move to iOs 13? Is it a problem of iOs or Scrivener and how do you get it back to working the way it was before?

[kewms]

From what we have been able to determine, iOS is shutting the synchronization process down because of memory issues. The problem probably lies in either Dropbox or iOS, since those are the two entities responsible for synchronization.

As noted, though, we have not yet been able to find a reproduction case, which makes troubleshooting very difficult.

Katherine

[kcward]

"From what we have been able to determine, iOS is shutting the synchronization process down because of memory issues. The problem probably lies in either Dropbox or iOS, since those are the two entities responsible for synchronization.

As noted, though, we have not yet been able to find a reproduction case, which makes troubleshooting very difficult. "

Or, perhaps, Scrivener could be more efficient in its syncing? With 20 pages of folks reporting issues, you can't find a reproduction case? Sorry, neither of these excuses holds water.

[KillerWhale]

If Scrivener has to use complex workarounds to have sync work on iOS, to the point where it cannot work reliably for everyone, then it is certainly time to change the sync model. This faithful users can certainly understand and wait.

If all we hear is "we can't reproduce the issue, so meh", we will answer in kind: "app doesn't sync, so meh to it".

[kewms]

No, we don't have a reproduction case. If you think you have one, you're welcome to send the problem project to our support address:
mac.support@literatureandlatte.com

Scrivener's approach to synchronization is a direct result of the project structure, which in turn is a consequence of Scrivener's ability to incorporate a wide variety of research materials. Even if rewriting the project structure -- and thus the entire program -- were desirable, doing so would certainly not provide a near term solution.

Katherine

[derick]

With 20 pages of folks reporting issues, you can't find a reproduction case? Sorry, neither of these excuses holds water.

Have you isolated and submitted the project that is crashing for you? 20 pages of people complaining are no help if they don’t try to solve the problem.

[drmajorbob]

No, we don't have a reproduction case. If you think you have one, you're welcome to send the problem project to our support address:
mac.support@literatureandlatte.com

Katherine

I thought you'd already established that a project can exhibit the problem on one device but sync as normal on another device ... even if they're the same iPhone model and iOS version.

[lunk]

No, we don't have a reproduction case. If you think you have one, you're welcome to send the problem project to our support address:
mac.support@literatureandlatte.com

Katherine

I thought you'd already established that a project can exhibit the problem on one device but sync as normal on another device ... even if they're the same iPhone model and iOS version.

If that’s the case, how do you establish what’s causing the problem? If it’s not related to project or device?

[kewms]

I thought you'd already established that a project can exhibit the problem on one device but sync as normal on another device ... even if they're the same iPhone model and iOS version.

Yes. That's exactly the issue, and why it's so hard to fix.

In the ideal world, troubleshooting would work something like this:

* Identify a project and device combination that always fails AND is controlled by an L&L employee.

* Wipe the device to factory settings. Reinstall Scrivener and Dropbox and nothing else. Does it still fail?

* If so, celebrate. If not, add applications back until it does.

So far, we still haven't managed step one.

Katherine

[drmajorbob]

No, we don't have a reproduction case. If you think you have one, you're welcome to send the problem project to our support address:
mac.support@literatureandlatte.com

Katherine

I thought you'd already established that a project can exhibit the problem on one device but sync as normal on another device ... even if they're the same iPhone model and iOS version.

If that’s the case, how do you establish what’s causing the problem? If it’s not related to project or device?

That's EXACTLY the point, lunk.

[lunk]

That's EXACTLY the point, lunk.

And that suggests that it is an iOS problem and, if it is a question of memory handling, that it is possibly affected by the new multi-tasking part and how iOS handles other apps, which means that it is completely out of reach for L&L to handle.