Comments on: What happened to Mac-to-MobileMe push?

By: I Want MobileMe, Enterprise Edition | TheAppleBlog

I Want MobileMe, Enterprise Edition | TheAppleBlog — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:01:00 +0000

[...] is “push” and what is not. A colleague here on TAB also wrote about what we should have expected for push when MobileMe was released, as compared to what we received. There are three main [...]

By: Apple says sorry

Apple says sorry — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:44:36 +0000

[...] the bigger issue was how pushy was the MobileMe’s push feature? Apparently not much. While all email, contact or calendar changes on the iPhone and the web apps are immediately synced [...]

By: vanni

vanni — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:09:10 +0000

@jon updates will happen both up and down no matter where the cal event is added…but it takes 15mins if you have sync set to automatic.

By: jon

jon — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:57:57 +0000

quick question, when i make a change at the me.com website to my calendar or contact it doesn’t “push” the change to my mac - does the “push” only work if it’s originated on the mac not at the me.com website?

By: MobileMe: lettera da Apple - ReFactor.it

MobileMe: lettera da Apple - ReFactor.it — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 06:06:19 +0000

[...] stesse rischiando di diventare una figuraccia, sia per esecuzione che per features e, non ultimo, il modo in cui è stato presentato, ricevo da Apple un’email in cui si annuncia (dopo quasi una settimana) la disponibilità dei [...]

By: Apple says sorry

Apple says sorry — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:55:19 +0000

[...] the bigger issue was how pushyÂ was the MobileMe’s push feature? Apparently not much. bq.Â While all email, contact or calendar changes on the iPhone and the web apps are [...]

By: cmfnyc

cmfnyc — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:06:15 +0000

I share a little bit of Harvey’s patience and a little bit of Brandon’s frustration. For me, I don’t have what I think are unrealistic expectations that you can flip a switch with new software applications and have everything working fine. I’ve experienced enough woes with Creative Suite activation (a $1000 headache) and other apps to understand rollout have limitations. So I share Harvey’s let’s-give-them-a-chance-to-iron-things-out perspective. That said, I do want more documentation and dialogue from Apple. I don’t mind stopping sync services and doing a reset sync data to get things working. This information should have been circulated BEFORE MobileMe launched. I also don’t mind staggered delivery of full push services from MobileMe, just tell me. And I think it was pure hubris on Apple’s part to simultaneously launch so many new services/products at once. At first I thought it was smart to begin the .Mac transition on Wednesday, ahead of July 11 deadline, but it became clear the scope of the MobileMe transition (software updates, getting services online across multiple countries). They should have rolled out MobileMe two weeks before the iPhone launch, not the same day. That said, things seem to be working on my end, once I resynced my MobileMe account and iDisk. And I could be wrong, but I have noticed push from Mail to MobileMe seems to be speeding up. I was going back and forth between Mail and MobileMe Mail and noticed emails I deleted in Mail getting removed from MobileMe.

By: Brandon Eley

Brandon Eley — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:38:15 +0000

Harvey, not fair?

Apple released 4 new products. We’re not talking beta releases here, they should have been tested and ready before they pulled the trigger. I think it’s just the right time to comment on any flaws of Apple’s server-based services. They launched, and broke. And lots of people (including me) are having issues syncing or even accessing their content on MobileMe.

It is not unreasonable to expect a newly launched service to function properly. In this world of “Web 2.0″ and “beta” there should still be some companies that actually ship real products when they’re ready to ship.

I don’t pay $100/year to beta test software for Apple… I spent 2 hours this morning just trying to get my calendars to sync. I had to go through 3 different troubleshooting processes (via Apple’s support documentation) to finally get it working. I never changed anything on my end… just the MobileMe upgrades.

By: Harvey

Harvey — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:25:53 +0000

I think there is too much drama in this thread. I think Apple wanted to implement push from laptops and desktops and discovered it wasn’t easy to trigger it in the first go-round, especially from Windows machines. This might be Plan B to get the thing out the door. Everything is a work in progress, so it’s possible they could add this very soon. It’s not the magical experience I had imagined, but it works just fine nonetheless.

It’s also premature to comment on flaws on any of Apple’s server-based services, since they just introduced four major products at the same time. Just the sheer volume of iPhones caused server melt-downs that probably had the side-effect of disrupting MobileMe. Let’s let everything settle down for a couple of weeks and see how everything works after Apple’s technicians have had a chance to get some sleep, a shower, and a change of clothes. It’s not fair to hassle them now.

By: Apple Briefs | First Impressions

Apple Briefs | First Impressions — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:52:51 +0000

[...] push email would be compelling, but there are two problems with that. First, there is apparently no “push” from your desktop (or laptop) to MobileMe. Second, push kills my battery. I can normally surf and [...]

By: vanni

vanni — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:44:42 +0000

“I like Apple. I like their products, but for these issues to be outstanding and for there to be NO announcement/acknowledgement about the problems is not a way to run a rollout. Keep people informed even if you don’t have a solution as yet.”

I agree! Why can’t there be status messages on the MobileMe apps and services.

I continue to get frustrated and i am making no progress in trying to tame this beast.

Apple you have utterly failed in the roll-out of mobile me!

By: TW

TW — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:32:31 +0000

The push issue with MobileMe is a big one, that’s the main reason I signed up. Having said that, I am finding that slowly but surely, things are synching (especially contacts), but there are a few outstanding issues that should NOT take this long to fix:

1. In MobileMe Webmail (me.com), when you create a new email, you cannot insert contacts. You receive the message “Contacts is Temporarily Unavailable”. This is ridiculous. You end up having to open your address book and then clicking on the person you want to email. After 6 days, this should work.

2. In MobileMe Webmail (me.com), when you go to your calendar, you constantly receive the error: “Calendar Error; MobileMe Calendar could not start because it was unable to load any calendars from the server…”. You still cannot add any new entries into the calendar via me.com (although you can on your iPhone).

3. Email that is deleted on the iPhone still appears in the Inbox on MobileMe Webmail (me.com). You have to manually delete it from me.com or log off and log back in. Once again, after 6 days, this should be fixed.

I like Apple. I like their products, but for these issues to be outstanding and for there to be NO announcement/acknowledgement about the problems is not a way to run a rollout. Keep people informed even if you don’t have a solution as yet.

By: vanni

vanni — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:36:08 +0000

for those of us who had a Dot Mac account and had everything working fine, this transition to Mobile Me is a total friggin disaster. My Homepage is gone! My iDisk is all screwed up… deleting in the Finder does not update on the Cloud. Email on the cloud cannot parse html email from google ,,,, etc etc. I am totally disgusted with Apple over this fiasco! jeez could they not do things in stages. Move the old accounts over in a sequential manner with proper documentation of what we had to do to prepare for the NEW service? Brand new mobileme accounts are probably all working fine ….

By: Joshua

Joshua — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:08:36 +0000

I have a trial of MobileMe and so far it works great! I don’t know what all the complaining is about… Apple customers expect perfection from Apple and while this speaks highly of Apple’s reputation, and they deliver this 99% of the time, the public HAS to understand that things change, no one can foresee the future, no matter how much planning was done. Apple ALWAYS has made up for lost time (the $100 rebate) so don’t worry, be patient, remain loyal and Apple will make it up to you!

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:12:50 +0000

I find that after my mac syncs, I need to quit and relaunch iCal for the changes to show..what gives?

By: Brandon Eley

Brandon Eley — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:31:53 +0000

I think Apple greatly underestimated the strain on resources the switch to MobileMe and iPhone 3G would have on their infrastructure. It was pretty clear in the Keynote, and in all the docs on the website that MobileMe was PUSH technology… for email AND contacts/calendar.

I personally think Apple rolled out MobileMe and their servers crashed due to all the updates, so they had to roll-back features ala Twitter to keep the whole service from going down permanently.

I almost think they’ll roll out push updates in the near future after some tweaks or hardware upgrades. It’s such a useful feature to be able to have access to information quickly. One problem I’ve always had with the 1st gen (and now 3G) is lack of PUSH technology in IMAP (not MobileMe) email. Checking every 15 minutes is wasteful if there isn’t mail and too slow if there is.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:40:57 +0000

How is Apple going to compensate us for beta testing their half-baked mess?

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:23:50 +0000

The walkthrough did indeed show push from Mac to Mobile. They very much made it appear a nigh on instant change on all devices regardless of which one you made the change from.

By: Gary

Gary — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:51:53 +0000

I watched the MobileMe walkthrough on the Apple website and I’m pretty sure it promised push from the Mac to the cloud.

I’m not a big user of iCal, but from memory it has always published changes pretty well straight after they have been made on the Mac, what’s this about a 15 minute delay now? I made some changes to the online AddressBook on friday, and my Macs didn’t update those changes till last night (Monday)!

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:50:07 +0000

I personally think that Apple was caught trying to perform one of its greatest feats (releasing iPhone 3G, MobileMe and AppStore) without the proper resources available. Arguably, each of them are a big task in itself, but released together, it just would have been mindblowing to see them all in action together.
I think that Apple should have released the iPhone 3G first, then the AppStore, then MobileMe. Users could at least continue to use .Mac as it already existed and get those two new products working well.
I seriously hope that Apple starts to carefully plan its growth, rather than be lured into massive expansion beyond its capabilities. It looks like its already bursting at the seams….

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:32:27 +0000

It’s funny how things are being airbrushed out of the picture. Share file was part of the MobileMe intro video, but was deleted after one day. The website mentions this feature repeatedly, but again, it is nowhere to be seen. This product was not fully baked and should never have been released in this state. Very much a black mark on Apple’s record. Bait and switch anyone?

By: cmfnyc

cmfnyc — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:39:43 +0000

I am really enjoying the new .mac (MobileMe). A software update and sync data reset and I’ve got all systems going. I am satisfied with my new personal communication center and less worried about push. What I greedily want is for Apple to fill in all that icon space at the top of MobileMe with some iWork and maybe even third party goodness.

By: Tony

Tony — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:10:50 +0000

Actually it’s really easy to push you Mac’s iCal and Address Book to the cloud… You need to make a simple change in System Preferences. Try this: http://appleslut.com/software/how-to-sync-mobileme-address-book-ical

By: Eduardo Marques

Eduardo Marques — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:04:32 +0000

It seems Apple changes iDisk funcionality too like share archives specifying duration or time.

By: najt

najt — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:54:32 +0000

Brendan, I’ve been using Time Machine with my Airport Extreme (with a USB disk attached) for a few months now. There was a update for the AE that enabled this.

By: ben

ben — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:42:47 +0000

Marketing text is one thing, the keynote is another. I understand some marketing dude getting mixed up, but the keynote features Mr. Jobs and Mr. Schiller touting push all over the place. Phil goes on and on about how you change it here, it pops up there, and vice versa, over and over again.

Then there’s the whole “exchange for the rest of us” slogan. If this current functionality is what exchange is like, then my company must be running a cool super-secret version of exchange that’s able to keep my information updated in real time.

By: Brendan West

Brendan West — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:56:24 +0000

Hey I’m still waiting to be able to use my Airport Extreme with Time Machine, I don’t think we should start ANOTHER argument over Apple’s quiet change of policy… (yes, I think they dropped the ball)

By: John V

John V — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:03:49 +0000

Push Question - I have an ipod touch and my wife has a iPhone. I have an individual mobileme account under my name and have push set up to push my email, contacts and calendar to my ipod touch. If I want to also sync the calendar and contacts with my wife’s iPhone, do I need a Family Pack mobileme membership so that she has a me.com address too? It seems the push is tied to the me.com email address, but I can’t seem to find an answer on this anywhere.

By: Camillo Miller

Camillo Miller — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:00:39 +0000

I think they realized how much it would have charged the connection using a feature like that…

By: najt

najt — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:51:50 +0000

Con of the year. Good thing is paid for mobileme before they changed the feature set…

Now everytime is close the lid of my laptop I have to worry if the changes I just made to my calendar were synced.

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:13:42 +0000

Apple’s definition of ‘push’ does seem rather fluid, but you can get pretty close to proper push from the computer by changing the value of the AutoSyncInterval key in ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.DotMacSync.your_MAC_address.plist, as per this post on MacOSXHints:

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080713174705717

By: Thijs

Thijs — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:01:59 +0000

Seems to me, iPhone is a preview of things to come. If one (OS X Touch) can do push, why would the other (OS X) be unable? I think we’ll need to wait a bit to see things appear on both systems, like Exchange support coming to the desktop. Right now; the largest part of the MobileMe revolution is between the web apps and the iPhone/iPod Touch.