Skip to Content

MobileMe not so pushy

Many commenters and bloggers hither and yon have noticed that MobileMe lacks "true push" capabilities, even though Apple uses the "push" buzzword extensively to describe MobileMe services.

A commenter in a MacRumors thread about the subject took screenshots from Apple's site, showing they had removed the phrase "Push happens automatically, instantly, and continuously." In its place, Apple clarifies that changes from the iPhone and web apps are updated instantly on connected computers, but not vice versa.

Apple also notes in a Knowledge Base article that changes "made on your computer will be synced to the MobileMe 'cloud' once every 15 minutes (or every hour in Mac OS X 10.4.11)."

That, to me, doesn't sound like "push," it sounds like "sync." The term "push" still applies, however, to me.com email, as that shows up immediately (in my experience, at least.) Calendars and contacts, though, not so much, apparently.

[Via BetaNews.]



Many commenters and bloggers hither and yon have noticed that MobileMe lacks "true push" capabilities, even though Apple uses the "push"...
 

Add a Comment

*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

81 Comments

Filter by:
Keith Ozar

This is the email from apple: We have recently completed the transition from .Mac to MobileMe. Unfortunately, it was a lot rockier than we had hoped.
Although core services such as Mail, iDisk, Sync, Back to My Mac, and Gallery went relatively smoothly, the new MobileMe web applications had lots of problems initially. Fortunately we have worked through those problems and the web apps are now up and running.
Another snag we have run into is our use of the word "push" in describing everything under the MobileMe umbrella. While all email, contact or calendar changes on the iPhone and the web apps are immediately synced to and from the MobileMe "cloud," changes made on a PC or Mac take up to 15 minutes to sync with the cloud and your other devices. So even though things are indeed instantly pushed to and from your iPhone and the web apps today, we are going to stop using the word "push" until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too.
We want to apologize to our loyal customers and express our appreciation for their patience by giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge. Your extension will be reflected in your account settings within the next few weeks.
We hope you enjoy your new suite of web applications at me.com, in addition to keeping your iPhone and iPod touch wirelessly in sync with these new web applications and your Mac or PC.
Thank you,
The MobileMe Team

July 16 2008 at 1:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Keith Ozar's comment
Nick

"[C]hanges made on a PC or Mac take up to 15 minutes [*oops, that's really 60 minutes*] to sync with the cloud and your other devices. So even though things are indeed instantly pushed to and from your iPhone and the web apps today, we are going to stop using the word "push" until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too."

So... they're going to stop using the word "push."

Even though they used it... gee, I dunno... 2,546 times in the promo video.

Heckuva job, Brownie.

July 16 2008 at 4:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Keith Ozar

Just got this email from apple. They should use more trendy words. Seems like a nice gesture 30 days for free. Cool! Reasd on...

July 16 2008 at 1:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Andre

Details on the 30 day extension here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2408

July 16 2008 at 10:05 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Andre

Just got the following email from pple about MobileMe:
---

We have recently completed the transition from .Mac to MobileMe. Unfortunately, it was a lot rockier than we had hoped.
Although core services such as Mail, iDisk, Sync, Back to My Mac, and Gallery went relatively smoothly, the new MobileMe web applications had lots of problems initially. Fortunately we have worked through those problems and the web apps are now up and running.
Another snag we have run into is our use of the word "push" in describing everything under the MobileMe umbrella. While all email, contact or calendar changes on the iPhone and the web apps are immediately synced to and from the MobileMe "cloud," changes made on a PC or Mac take up to 15 minutes to sync with the cloud and your other devices. So even though things are indeed instantly pushed to and from your iPhone and the web apps today, we are going to stop using the word "push" until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too.
We want to apologize to our loyal customers and express our appreciation for their patience by giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge. Your extension will be reflected in your account settings within the next few weeks.
We hope you enjoy your new suite of web applications at me.com, in addition to keeping your iPhone and iPod touch wirelessly in sync with these new web applications and your Mac or PC.
Thank you,
The MobileMe Team

July 16 2008 at 10:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
burtthaman

I think the most annoying thing for me is that when I delete mail from my @me.com address on my iPhone it stays in the inbox on mobileme web. This means that it is pushing the wrong inbox info to my PC also. Because of this, when I delete a message on my iPhone it pops up again like I just received it and I have to delete it again. Then I have to go into mobileme web and delete them from my inbox online. SO DUMB. My mail boxes for web, cpu, and iphone are not at all the same and that makes no sense considering mail is a huge part of the Push paradigm.

July 16 2008 at 9:55 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chuck Yoder

Just got an email about the outage and the not-as-pushy-as-described situation. Looks like they are giving all subscribers a free month. Thank you Apple for making this right when legally you didn't have to.

July 16 2008 at 9:37 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Marc Jones

Made a change on my iPhone (2.0 but not 3g - I wonder if this matters?) to a calendar event (deleted one) - despite syncing - no change to me.com or synced macs (2 of them).

Made a change on my mac (amended a name in address book) no change on iPhone.

What gives?

July 16 2008 at 4:20 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Marc Jones's comment
Marc Jones

Solved.

Colour me idiot.

I hadn't set up my "mobileme" account on the iPhone. I know, dumb. But it was the only thing needed that didn't happen for me when installing 2.0.

July 16 2008 at 3:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ron Hebshie

Some of you have nothing better to do than whine and complain about every little annoying detail. If an automatic "push" every 15 minutes isn't enough for you then stop bellyaching and sync your phones manually.

July 15 2008 at 11:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Ron Hebshie's comment
Nick

The question is simply this: Does MobileMe do everything that Apple claimed it did in that flashy promotional video?

The answer is no, not right now, and maybe not ever. That's what the complaints are about. For god's sake, I haven't even been able to get a response from Apple tech support about why it's not working on my computer. But yeah, I'm just whining.

July 16 2008 at 1:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ep2002

Funny,

I just read all the comments. I'm running 10.5.4 on the iMac, Macbook, and I have MobileMe and the iPhone 3G. So here is the scoop...

Everything runs perfectly. Seriously, no joke. Yes there can be a time lag between the devices, I'm not sure how long, because I truly have not too much attention to it. I do get some things happening immediately and some do take several minutes.

But folks, this is awesome. Personally I think some are just a little too picky.

That being said. I do have one MAJOR gripe. Subscriptions from iCal won't show up on MobileMe (except if you choose Birthday in preferences), but nothing else and it won't "push" to the iPhone. That truly SUCKS!

My experience.

July 15 2008 at 11:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to ep2002's comment
Leon Jacobs

I agree with this.
I had an issue at the beginning that push worked fine between a MBP and a Powerbook, but MobileMe would not push to my iPod touch. Yesterday I did a complete restore on the iPod and it is now pushing almost instantly both ways on all devices, including the online service.

July 15 2008 at 11:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Daryl Gregg

Guys,

Im not sure about mobile me, But for the Exchange Push to work correct I beleive you have to have an Enterprise data plan or it will only function like imap.

See Details - Click Rate Plans

http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/iPhone3G/index.jsp

July 15 2008 at 10:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Hot Apps on TUAW

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.