I hope this is an appropriate question for here…
Yesterday, I received "Automatic" for my birthday (the gadget that connects a phone to a car). I got it all set up, then added the Automatic channel in IFTTT and started browsing recipes. I discovered an automatic to iOS Reminders recipe I liked, so I added the iOS Reminders channel as well.
The next time I opened my Reminders app, perhaps an hour later, all my reminder lists and contained reminders were gone!
I managed to confirm that my icloud account still has all the reminders. They're just not syncing with my phone anymore.
I tried removing the IFTTT Reminders channel. I tried turning reminder sync off and on multiple times. When I tried to create a new reminder and/or reminder list, nothing happens (I touch the plus in the reminders app and the app does not respond in any way). I can search reminders and view an empty "schedule" in the reminders app, so it's not frozen.
I have a 4S running iOS 7.
UPDATE:
A few other symptoms or possibly helpful details I discovered since I first posted the question:
- 2 of my icloud settings in the settings app had flipped from how I had them: the iCloud Keychain turned on and find my iphone was turned off. These were previously set the opposite ways.
- If I turn off icloud reminders sync, an orange reminders list appears in the app and I am able to create new lists. But if I turn it back on, the orange reminders list disappears and I'm unable to create new lists.
- All my calendar settings were scrambled. Many of the custom colors I'd set we're changed, as were which calendars were selected to be visible.
- I believe this is unrelated, but I figure I should mention for full disclosure that I changed my default email in the settings app from an icloud address to my me.com address.
- My default reminder list was changed from my "Reminders" list to my "Recurring" list (arbitrary names of my reminder lists)
- Proximitask lost all of its links to various reminders
I temporarily fixed the sync issue using the following method:
- Open the calendar app
- Tap "calendars" at the bottom
- Pull the calendars down to refresh. This will refresh your reminders as well.
- Open the reminders app and all your reminders should be back.
However, the issue recurred and spread to my iCloud calendars. I noticed this morning that all my iCloud calendars had vanished. I had discovered this by asking Siri to create a reminder and she responded with:
The calendar that tracks your reminders doesn't support location-based
reminders.
I tried the same method of refreshing the calendars, but it did not (at least immediately) work as had happened with the reminders before. I tried a few times, then started poking around in the settings, but I didn't change anything. I noted that nothing was mixed up with iCloud's settings. When I went back to the calendar app, all the calendars were back and I was able to create a location-based reminder.
So I guess my question has changed from how to fix this problem to how to prevent it from recurring. What is causing these new sync issues?
More details on automatic and IFTTT
I had removed the IFTTT iOS Reminders channel. Could it have something to do with the Automatic app itself?
I have 2 other channels I added on Sunday when this started: PushBullet and Launch Center. I have 3 new recipes I added for Automatic: car on notification, car off – push(bullet) me a map, and email me a diagnostic if the car has an issue.
UPDATE 2
A new detail… My reminders created on my iPhone were not syncing with my iCloud account – nor were reminders created on other devices synced to the iPhone. I tried creating new reminders, marking reminders as done, and deleting old reminder on my iPhone and they did not sync. I confirmed that my iPhone was connected to the same account as my other devices. I logged onto icloud.com and confirmed that the reminder changes are not there, and I used Find My iPhone and it confirmed where my phone was. Refreshing my calendars did not work this time, but rebooting and then refreshing my calendars on my iPhone did.
Best Answer
I fixed it! All you have to do is make sure reminder sync is on in Settings->icloud, then open your calendar app, tap calendars at the bottom, and pull the calendars down to refresh. This will refresh your reminders as well. Open the reminders app and all your reminders should be back.
Note, I had also tried all the things in the question before doing this, so I don't know if any of those actions are required beforehand.
Also note, you'll probably get an idea as to whether this will work for you or not if all your calendar settings are scrambled, as mine were. Many of the custom colors I'd set we're changed, as were which calendars were selected to be visible. Other clues are in my comments under the question, such as changes in my icloud settings and the inability to create new reminders & reminder lists.
One other thing I changed that I believe is unrelated, but I figure I should mention for full disclosure is, I changed my default email in the settings app from an icloud address to my me.com address.