[alphadog]

Hi everyone, I am trying to sync Omnifocus between my iphone and the desktop version and I get the following error message on my iPhone:


Replace your database and start syncing?

The database on your iPhone is incompatible with the sync database. Which would you like to keep?

The options that it gives me is to:

Keep device database or
Keep Sync database

I am using Omnifocus for Mac 1.10.4 and Omnifocus for iPhone 1.15.1
I am using the free Omni server sync service
I entered my account and password in the desktop version first and then did the same for my iPhone.

Any ideas on what could be going wrong?

thank you

[Dale]

Originally Posted by alphadog

Hi everyone, I am trying to sync Omnifocus between my iphone and the desktop version and I get the following error message on my iPhone:


Replace your database and start syncing?

The database on your iPhone is incompatible with the sync database. Which would you like to keep?

The options that it gives me is to:

Keep device database or
Keep Sync database

I am using Omnifocus for Mac 1.10.4 and Omnifocus for iPhone 1.15.1
I am using the free Omni server sync service
I entered my account and password in the desktop version first and then did the same for my iPhone.

Any ideas on what could be going wrong?

thank you

My quick answer to your question is nothing is specifically wrong. The two options being presented are requesting for you to identify the database you wish to keep; the one on the sync server (Omni Sync Server) or the one on your device (iPhone).

• Is the database on your Mac the one you wish to keep?
• Is the database on your iPhone the one you wish to keep?
• Are both databases necessary and you wish to merge them?

The last item in the list above would require you to make a backup of the database on the Mac, sync the iPhone and choose to keep the device database, and then on the Mac sync the database and manually move items from the backed up database. Lots of work, hope you just need to choose to keep one database or the other.

[alphadog]

Thanks for the answer. My intention is to be able to make changes on both databases and have them constantly sync with each other - just like when you send an email from your desktop mail client, if you look in your iPhone, the email will appear in your sent folder (as if you had sent the e-mail from the iPhone). I am willing to do the manual work you described if it is only required for the first time. Otherwise, it would not be worth it... Is it only required the first time I sync?

[Dale]

Originally Posted by alphadog

Thanks for the answer. My intention is to be able to make changes on both databases and have them constantly sync with each other - just like when you send an email from your desktop mail client, if you look in your iPhone, the email will appear in your sent folder (as if you had sent the e-mail from the iPhone). I am willing to do the manual work you described if it is only required for the first time. Otherwise, it would not be worth it... Is it only required the first time I sync?

Yes, once you choose a database to sync they will stay in synchronization (unless you delete the database on the Mac or on a device).

The following is taken from the Omni Group website in the "Syncing OmniFocus" section - http://www.omnigroup.com/products/om...phone/support/

Can I merge the data on my phone and Desktop later?

If you have two separate databases that started out on different devices, they can’t be automatically merged together. So if you already have an OmniFocus database on your Mac, and you start using OmniFocus for iPhone (or vice versa), you should set up synchronization right away.

If you already have two separate databases, you can copy and paste from one to the other to manually merge them.

1. Back up your database in OmniFocus for Mac.
2. Set up syncing for OmniFocus for iPhone if you haven’t already.
3. Sync OmniFocus for iPhone, choosing to keep the local database.
4. Set up syncing for OmniFocus for Mac if you haven’t already.
5. Sync OmniFocus for Mac, choosing to keep the server database. Your two devices should now be in sync, now you just need to copy your tasks across.
6. In the Finder, double-click on the backup you made earlier to open it. Now you should have both OmniFocus databases side-by-side.
7. Drag or copy and paste anything you want to keep from your backup document.

[GeoffAirey]

Originally Posted by alphadog

Is it only required the first time I sync?

Yes Alphadog, just the first time.

[alphadog]

Very cool - thank you for your help!

Problem Solved