iCloud folder synchronization icon is "stuck"

Keep in mind the typical free iCloud account only has 5 GB of space.

If you aren't careful in your iCloud settings with what folders or groups of files you choose to sync, you may bite off ore than you can chew, and it can be slower than you intended. Knowing the internet speed of your connected service, and devices connecting to its service are critical to knowing why you may be slowing down.

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A visual cue of what you are trying to do would really help, and what is and isn't happening?

Clearly I'm not understanding the entire nature of your problem.

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It appears you need to contact Apple directly where they have the diagnostic tools to remotely review the behavior and have the software needed to navigate/decode the many log files created for iCloud syncing if requested by an Engineer.

Contact Apple Support - Apple Support

Reading over your post again, it sounds like the interface of the synchronization is not what you expect. I've used both OneDrive and iCloud to some exent.

The reason I suggest it is being stuck in one phase versus another is primarily due to potential lags in the connection. Synchronization depends on multiple tasks not interfering with each other while communicating over the Net. I agree though controlling that synchronization so that it is seamless and fast can be hit and miss.

It may be better to buy service on an internet server that offers FTP. FileZilla offers much faster refreshes, and easier to control I feel than iCloud.

OneDrive offers a lot of feedback via its toolbar icon that iCloud I wish would have showing you the individual files as they are being copied, so you have some idea what is or isn't changing and when.

Without live feedback I agree, it can seem stuck.

In case you wondered, no a chatbot was not used. I just never saw this issue happen exactly as you state.

I have to wonder though if the amount of data matters. How big is the folder not updating?

Does this issue reproduce itself no matter what the content of the folder size you are dealing with?

Does this issue reproduce itself if you set a smaller folder to sync and nothing else does?

ice_64 wrote: … All things considered my recommendation is to duplicate such folder (it clears the icon in duplicate) and delete the original. I understand it forces the resync of new folder which could be an issue if it is the large one, but so far I have not found a better solution.

This is all fascinating! Do you need to duplicate the contents of the folder, or can you make a new folder and move the contents. It seems that would avoid having to re-synch the contents, maybe.

Being a developer yourself, it should be apparent that it is a "state" problem and happens frequently when using SwiftUI when the variable that manages the state of the icon has been released. In no way does it require redesigning the entire iCloud architecture and can be resolved by Apple very simply with a single line of code. If you prefer to send Feedback to Apple, you can do that here:

Feedback - iCloud - Apple

Unfortunately, I do not have the workaround you are asking for and it will need to be resolved by Apple. Using the Feedback will make them aware of the issue in case it has not been brought to their attention yet. Be specific with your feedback in a way where it is reproducible for them in a bare bones example if you can to highlight the circumstances where the icon is not updating.

SwiftUI is used extensively by Apple and is great for programming UI where the views are updated by State Variables, but can be a bit tricky managing the "Source of Truth" for those variables. In this case, Apple got it wrong even though they have several WWDC videos on the best practices of managing the @State of these variables in a View to prevent the exact problem you are seeing.

ice_64 wrote:

My question was if anyone had a better way of clearing it than deleting and recreating the folder.

It appears no.