iCloud won’t work. What’s wrong?

Several users reported severe issues syncing documents with iCloud across different devices. Problems include single documents not syncing, being unable to open documents in iCloud (the “Ooops! Document couldn’t be opened” error), devices becoming out of sync, etc. We suggest trying the following:

1. Check iCloud is working on Apple’s System Status page.
   
2. Make sure to update the operating system and Writer on all your devices.
   
3. Make sure to set the time automatically all your devices:
   
   • Mac OS X: System Preferences > Date & Time > Set date and time automatically
   • iOS: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically
4. In Writer for iPhone and iPad, check that the “Use iCloud” setting is ON in Settings > iA Writer (the Documents storage will have a small cloud icon when you use iCloud). If the setting is ON:
   
   • Turn the “Use iCloud” setting to OFF
   • Launch Writer and tap “Stop iCloud”
   • Return to Settings > iA Writer and turn the “Use iCloud” setting to ON again
   • Return to Writer and tap “Use iCloud”
5. In Writer for Mac try moving the document out of iCloud, then moving it back into iCloud.
   
6. For devices that are having problems, try turning “Documents & Data” in iCloud settings off, restarting, then turning it on for iOS devices, or unchecking “Documents & Data” in the iCloud preferences, restarting, then rechecking it for Macs. Restart an iOS device by holding down the power button for several seconds.
   
7. Make sure to remove any old MobileMe account from you iOS settings that was left over when migrating to iCloud. 
   
8. If you haven’t already done so, try following the steps in our knowledge base article “Troubleshooting problems in Writer”.
   
9. If you’ve tried all of the above suggestions but are still having problems, please back up your iOS device(s) using iTunes (using “Encrypt local backup”) or to iCloud, then prompt iCloud to refresh its Documents and Data metadata. To do this:
   
   • Reset all settings ¹ on your problematic iOS device(s) — note that this only resets system settings, not the device :
     1. Open “Settings”
     2. Tap “General”
     3. Tap “Reset”
     4. Tap “Reset All Settings”
     5. Confirm all warnings about loosing settings
     6. Let the device restart
   • Reset the Ubiquity folder on your problematic Mac(s):
     1. Quit open applications
     2. Go to Finder
     3. Choose “Go to Folder…” from the “Go” menu
     4. Enter ~/Library/Application Support
     5. Look for a folder named “Ubiquity”
     6. Move this folder to the Trash
     7. Restart your Mac
10. Please confirm you have full internet access — corporate firewalls and privacy programs such as TCPBlock can block traffic to iCloud’s servers.
    
11. Finally, some users reported that backing up your iPad, restoring it, then reapplying the backup might finally get iCloud running. If backing up using iTunes, make sure to use “Encrypt local backup” to save your passwords.

We use Apple’s APIs on both platforms to sync through iCloud, so all iCloud syncing and versioning is handled by Apple. Sadly that means there’s very little we can do about sync problems for now. Apple is fixing bugs in iCloud, we’ve seen a steady decline in iCloud issues, and more issues will be fixed with upcoming OS updates.

If you’re still having problems or need any other assistance, please start a support discussion and we’ll do our best to help.

¹ Please note resetting all settings is not the same as resetting your device. Only basic system settings that you set in Settings.app are reset when doing this, like Wifi passwords, sound settings, wallpapers etc. All app- and service-specific settings (like mail, calendar, and Twitter accounts) remain untouched. You won’t lose any data, although we recommend backing up your device first (using the “Encrypt local backup” setting) to be safe. Encrypting the backup saves all your stored passwords.