Latest iOS 8 bug reportedly causes unwanted deletion of iCloud Drive documents

Posted:
in iPhone edited October 2014
Adding to Apple's iOS 8 launch troubles, a report on Monday claims the operating system's "Reset All Settings" feature for hardware wiping user preferences also deletes data stored in iCloud Drive.



As discovered by MacRumors, the issue presents itself when iPhone and iPad users attempt to reset preferences via the device's Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings option. The feature allows users to troubleshoot possible iOS issues by reverting all system settings back to factory baselines.

As OS X 10.10 Yosemite, and subsequently iCloud Drive, is not yet available for consumer download aside from Apple's public beta testing program, the effects on consumers are non-existent. However, with a large number of untrained public beta participants opting in to the service with iOS 8, the problem could become serious.

According to the report, one iPad user performed the reset and found his local iWork documents deleted, which consequently wiped those same documents from the cloud when the tablet synced to iCloud. It appears only data from first-party apps connected to iCloud Drive are affected by the bug, though not all users are seeing the issue play out as described.

In some cases, files are being delete upon syncing with iCloud, while other data remains untouched. It is suggested that users back up iCloud Drive documents to a local computer prior to performing the Reset All Settings operation.

iCloud Drive is Apple's solution to cloud storage, syncing and collaboration. The system allows seamless file transport and storage across iOS, OS X and Windows, while enabling advanced features like document editing, asset tagging and drag-and-drop data management.

Apple will activate iCloud Drive alongside the release of OS X Yosemite later this fall, bringing the company's The feature has already rolled out to beta testers, as well as the iCloud.com beta website, which now supports access and editing of stored documents.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 49
    What you wanna bet the current outage of iCloud is Apple trying to fix this issue with iCloud Drive and restore some lost data?

    Anyone else unable to get into iCloud right now?
  • Reply 2 of 49
    Keep getting server error accessing iCloud
  • Reply 3 of 49
    Just goes to further prove that Apple has never understood the cloud, Apple currently doesn't understand the cloud, and Apple will NEVER understand the cloud. This is why smart people should never trust Apple with their cloud data.
  • Reply 4 of 49
    I can't get on iCloud now either.
  • Reply 5 of 49
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,415member
    That's why I use Dropbox and Google Drive. Apple will of course learn from experience.
  • Reply 6 of 49

    LOL @ the "Apple will never understand the cloud" hate.

     

    What do you think iTunes is?

     

    And this is the same think that Google had to deal with when they were starting Good Drive.

     

    It's a SYNC issue.

     

    And it's something that is a very difficult issue.

     

    I used to support a variety of Microsoft products and I remember their synchronization solutions were a nightmare.

     

    This is definitely unfortunate.

     

    A decent solution would be to set up a cloud based preference for what the user wants to do with their cloud data at the time of hard reset. Give them a prompt, they choose preference, and book the server dictates to the device when it is synchronized.

     

    At that point it becomes user error, but again... just like those kids purposely trying to destroy iphones and blaming apple that a phone can be destroyed with enough effort, Apple will again be blamed that people can still be of the "PEBCAK" variety. LOL

  • Reply 7 of 49
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by scotty321 View Post



    Just goes to further prove that Apple has never understood the cloud, Apple currently doesn't understand the cloud, and Apple will NEVER understand the cloud. This is why smart people should never trust Apple with their cloud data.

     

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by scotty321 View Post



    Just goes to further prove that Apple has never understood the cloud, Apple currently doesn't understand the cloud, and Apple will NEVER understand the cloud. This is why smart people should never trust Apple with their cloud data.



    This post just goes to show if you venture into a forum, you will find people completely full of shit.

  • Reply 8 of 49

    Even though iCloud Drive was one of the touted features of iOS 8 and Yosemite, Apple should have never activated this feature with the initial iOS 8 release. Without Yosemite, it's useless to a lot of users, yet it permanently converts existing files synced to iCloud.

     

    Given that I use iTunes to update iOS and will perform a restoration from backup at regular intervals, I've been asked multiple times already whether I want to convert my files to iCloud Drive. This should not be an option presented at setup as some kind of upgrade, because it poses a whole range of consequences that the user is likely unaware of, and the touted benefits are not yet available to begin with.

     

    Like most of these so-called Apple scandals, bendgate is bunch of bullcrap. But, stuff like the botched iOS 8.0.1 update and now deleting iCloud Drive contents with no option for recovery points to real problems going on with Apple's QA process. With so many suggested bug fixes for iOS 8 directing users to reset their device settings, it's unconscionable that iCloud Drive can be setup with no safety net against accidental deletion after it permanently converts your cloud-based files.

  • Reply 9 of 49
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    From another Apple fan site.

    [IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/49871/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

    Seems to be more Apple issues than would be expected.
  • Reply 10 of 49
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Adrayven View Post



    What you wanna bet the current outage of iCloud is Apple trying to fix this issue with iCloud Drive and restore some lost data?



    Anyone else unable to get into iCloud right now?

    I would HOPE that's why iCloud is down.

     

    iCloud Drive should never have been released without Yosemite, nor should it have been offered as an option during the iOS 8 installation process. iCloud Drive does not sync with Mavericks or any earlier versions of OS X, and this needs to be spelled out very clearly, since Apple does not offer any way of unconverting iCloud Drive once it's done.

  • Reply 11 of 49
    aplnubaplnub Posts: 2,605member
    IDisk user checking in. Apple will have to earn me back into their cloud. I simply use the device backups for added safety even though I backup to my computer every other week.

    I haven't turned on iCloud Drive and won't before the Yosemite release. Not sure wtf they were thinking activating that so early. Makes no sense for Mac users.

    Dropbox isn't perfect but it's further along at this point and is reliable.
  • Reply 12 of 49
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post

    From another Apple fan site.



    Leave it to Disney to continue to ruin everything.

  • Reply 13 of 49
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Maybe Apple needs to partner with Microsoft on cloud services. Or Tim Cook needs to hire someone with extensive experience in cloud services. Stuff like this happening right before the rollout of Apple pay is not great.
  • Reply 14 of 49
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pmz View Post

     
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by scotty321 View Post



    Just goes to further prove that Apple has never understood the cloud, Apple currently doesn't understand the cloud, and Apple will NEVER understand the cloud. This is why smart people should never trust Apple with their cloud data.



    This post just goes to show if you venture into a forum, you will find people completely full of shit.


     

    If you look at its entire history of online user services there are at least as many stumbles as smooth times.  Even iTools .Mac and MobileMe, which made money for Apple, were somewhere between promising and half-baked until halfway through MobileMe.  Some of the most popular and functional parts (like iDisk) were puzzlingly abandoned in favor of replacements that were more needlessly confusing and buggier than what 3rd parties were by then offering.  There was a big gap before iCloud got its legs where you couldn't understand why you'd want to be involved with it.  

     

    I wouldn't say it's a matter of being worse to trust Apple over anyone else with your data.  But to say that they've not had a great bunch of online/cloud services since eWorld would not be a wrong statement.

  • Reply 15 of 49
    Interesting that we don't usually hear about the weekly outages of Google services although the weekly outages certainly exist.
  • Reply 16 of 49
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Shitty, but people should chill. Obviously with iOS8 and iCloud Drive there's some massive under the hood changes happening, and iCloud is a beast that is responsible for so many things. I'm confident at the end of the day things will get smoothed out.

    Whats amazing to me is that people who aren't even currently accessing iCloud will read these headlines, then go try and access something for no reason, just to bitch that its down. A bit hilarious. The great thing about iCloud is that all devices keep a local copy, so even if its down for a bit, its usually not the end of the world.

    ..and, its up again.
  • Reply 17 of 49
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by MacBook Pro View Post



    Interesting that we don't usually hear about the weekly outages of Google services although the weekly outages certainly exist.

    Nope.

     

    http://www.google.com/appsstatus#hl=en&v=status&ts=1407815999000

  • Reply 18 of 49
    adrayven wrote: »
    What you wanna bet the current outage of iCloud is Apple trying to fix this issue with iCloud Drive and restore some lost data?

    Anyone else unable to get into iCloud right now?

    For whatever reason I picked the wrong time to upgrade my wife's iPhone. "Why does it keep asking for my Apple ID?"
  • Reply 19 of 49
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    Interesting that we don't usually hear about the weekly outages of Google services although the weekly outages certainly exist.

    http://www.google.com/appsstatus#hl=en&v=status&ts=1407470399000
    Google doesn't hide 'em. You can go back a couple of months to determine how well they maintain services. Amazon and Microsoft also allow you to research their up times going back a few weeks, That's of course helpful for potential enterprise clients interested in moving data into cloud storage. Apple is the odd one out really, deleting any status history beyond three days, making it near impossible to compare their reliability with other cloud providers.
  • Reply 20 of 49
    djsherlydjsherly Posts: 1,031member

    Heh - never had a problem with DropBox, sample size of one.

     

    I've been reticent to knowingly use iCloud - after reading about issues such as these, a crappy iCloud API (which may have been fixed - http://www.zdnet.com/developers-give-apple-an-icloud-ultimatum-fix-it-by-june-7000013495/) and I must admit I am little confused/haven't really explored the extent of the offering. 

     

    I'm a reasonably technical guy, but I'm not particularly interested in learning more because I have other solutions that work. I'm fully capable of understanding it, but I don't need to at this point.

     

    It's been a relatively poopy news week for Apple.

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