MobileMe: Sync intervals in Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows

Products Affected

MobileMe Sync, OS X Lion

Symptoms

In the MobileMe pane of System Preferences or the MobileMe Control Panel (Microsoft Windows), you can choose how often your computer syncs your Bookmarks, Contacts, and other data with MobileMe. Changes are synced with MobileMe at certain intervals as explained below. The interval period resets once the current sync finishes.

Note: MobileMe members should use OS X Lion.

  • Mac OS X v10.5 users should update to Mac OS X v10.5.8 or upgrade to OS X Lion (recommended).
  • Mac OS X v10.6 users should update to Mac OS X v10.6.8 or upgrade to OS X Lion (recommended).
  • Windows users should run Windows XP Home or Professional SP3, Windows Vista SP1 or later, or Windows 7.

To find software updates, see this article.

Resolution

About Automatic Syncing

With "Automatically" selected in the MobileMe pane (Mac) or Control Panel (Windows), whenever a change is made to a data type a sync will begin as follows:

OS X Lion

Contacts, Bookmarks, Dashboard Widgets, Dock Items, Mail Accounts, Mail Rules, Signatures, Smart Mailboxes, and Notes Within a minute Within a minute
Keychains and other data types Every hour Within a minute
Preferences Every four hours Within a minute

Mac OS X v10.6.8

Contacts, Bookmarks, Dashboard Widgets, Dock Items, Mail Accounts, Mail Rules, Signatures, Smart Mailboxes, and Notes Within a minute Within a minute
Keychains and other data types Every hour Within a minute
Preferences Every four hours Within a minute

Mac OS X v10.5.8

Contacts and Bookmarks Within a minute Within a minute
Other data types Every hour Within a minute

Mac OS X v10.4.11

All sync data Every hour Within a minute of changes being made

MobileMe Control Panel 1.3 for Windows, or later

Contacts syncing with Microsoft Outlook Within a minute Within a minute
Contacts syncing with Windows Address Book (XP), Windows Contacts (Vista); Bookmarks Every 15 minutes Within a minute

Check your connection

If changes made on another computer, device, or on the web at www.me.com are not automatically syncing to your computer as outlined above, your network configuration may be preventing automatic syncing from occurring. When this happens, a sync with MobileMe will occur every 15 minutes (Mac OS X v10.5.8 or Windows Control Panel 1.3) or every hour (Mac OS X v10.4.11) until the issue is resolved.

To check your connection in Mac OS X v10.5.8, v10.6.x, and OS X Lion

  1. In the Finder, choose Utilities from the Go menu.
  2. Open Terminal.
  3. Type or paste the following command:
    netstat | grep "aosnotify"
     
  4. Press Return.

You should see a line that ends with:

aosnotify.me.com.5223  ESTABLISHED

This line indicates that you can receive automatic updates to changes made on another computer, device, or on www.me.com.

If you do not see this line, contact your Internet Service Provider or network administrator to resolve the issue. If you use a firewall or proxy server, you or your network administrator may need to unrestrict traffic on port 5223 to allow automatic syncing to work as expected.

To check your connection in Windows

  1. Click Start. 
  2. If you are using Windows XP, choose “Run”.
  3. If you use Vista: In the search field, enter “cmd” and press Enter .
    If you use Windows XP: In the run window, enter “cmd” and press Enter.
  4. In the Command Prompt window, paste the following line:
    netstat | find "aosnotify"
     
  5. Press Enter.

You should see a line that ends with:

aosnotify:https  ESTABLISHED

This line indicates that you can receive automatic updates to changes made on another computer, device, or on www.me.com.

If you do not see this line, contact your Internet Service Provider or network administrator to resolve the issue. If you use a firewall or proxy server, you or your network administrator may need to unrestrict traffic on port 5223 to allow automatic syncing to work as expected.

About Scheduled Syncing

When you select a timed interval (such as hourly) in the MobileMe preference pane (for Mac OS X v10.5.8, v10.6.x, and OS X Lion; .Mac pane for Mac OS X v10.4.11), iCal, or Control Panel (Windows), sync is changed as scheduled, depending on your selection.

About Manual Syncing

When you select "Manual" in the MobileMe preference pane (for Mac OS X v10.5.8, v10.6.x, and OS X Lion; .Mac pane for Mac OS X v10.4.11), iCal, or Control Panel (Windows), sync changes between your computer and MobileMe only when a sync is manually performed by clicking Sync Now in the Preference pane or Sync menu icon (Mac), or clicking Sync Now in the MobileMe Control Panel or the MobileMe taskbar icon (Windows).

If syncing is not occurring at the interval you have selected as outlined above, follow the troubleshooting steps below.

How to manually sync

In the Sync tab of the MobileMe pane or MobileMe Control Panel, click Sync Now. If the sync does not work as expected, there may be a sync issue which is not related to your sync interval. See the following articles for more information:

Additional Information

The intervals for automatic and hourly syncing in Mac OS X v10.5.8, v10.6.x, and OS X Lion and MobileMe Control Panel 1.3 or later are determined by a setting on MobileMe servers. If this interval setting is adjusted in the future, this article will be updated.

Important: Information about products not manufactured by Apple is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute Apple’s recommendation or endorsement. Please contact the vendor for additional information.
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