Sync issue with recurring tasks

Support
#1

Hello,

I have been using GooTask for the past month on My Mac, iPad and iPhone - all of them are fully updated as are my devices. I also use iCloud to sync, however, one list (my work one) sits with my work's Exchange (so: 4 main lists - 3 are iCloud lists and 1 is Exchange).

My "busiest" list is the Exchange one, as I use it for all work-related tasks.

I have come across the following issue:

I have recurring tasks that repeat on the last weekday of every month (important ones, as they relate to invoicing, billing, etc.). These tasks either don't sync well (once the Mac and iOS apps showed a different due date but I resolved it by deleting and re-adding the task), or, most importantly, they lose the recurrence. At the beginning, the recurrence will decline to sync with the iOS app, although the task does, (I mostly use the Mac app to add new work tasks), but eventually the recurrence will disappear from the Mac app too.

Any ideas how to resolve this or is it a bug?

Thank you!

#2

Hi @NikosM, thanks for the feedback. There are several bugs related to Exchange connection but I’m not aware of the one you mentioned yet.

What do you see on Reminders app before/after the bug happens? Also is it always reproducible? Does it happen if you check it on Reminders app?

Thanks!

#3

Thank you for the prompt response, much appreciated.

I see the recurrence mentioned in the Reminders app as long it still appears in either the iOS or Mac GoodTask app - now for example that the recurrence has been lost from all relevant tasks, I don't see it in the Reminders app either. I don't know where it gets lost first, I don't use the Reminders app.

What I think I can do is the following tests:

  1. Create 1 recurrent task on the Mac App - Exchange list (Test Task 1)
  2. Create 1 recurrent task on the iOS App - Exchange list (Test Task 2)
  3. Create 1 recurrent task on the Mac App - iCloud list (Test Task 3)
  4. Create 1 recurrent task on the iOS App - iCloud list (Test Task 4)

And then report what happens for each so at least we track where the problem comes from and it if is applicable to the iCloud lists too.

Any other thoughts on whether there is anything else I could do in this test?

Thanks!

#4

So, coming back to this to report on the findings:

  1. Test Task 1 immediately syncs with the iOS app but the recurrence is lost in the iOS app.
  2. Test Task 2 immediately syncs with the Mac app but the recurrence is lost in the Mac app
  3. and 4. Test Tasks 3 and 4 sync and recurrence stays in both iOS and Mac apps.

Observation No 1: This is an Exchange related issue.

I also checked what happens in the Reminders app:

The Reminders app in the Mac and iOS apps show the same things that the GoodTask app shows in the respective platforms:

  1. The Test Task 1 shows the recurrence in the Mac Reminders app but not in the iOS Reminders app.
  2. The Test Task 2 shows the recurrence in the iOS Reminders app but not in the Mac Reminders app.

Observation No 2: The Reminders app seems to be similarly affected

Because of this, I created a Test Task 5 in the iOS Reminders app with the same parameters (exchange list and recurring):

In the GoodTask iOS app the task appears as it should with the recurrence.
However, in the GoodTask Mac app, the task has lost the recurrence.
The same happens in the Reminders Mac app.

Observation No 3: This is indeed an Exchange problem and seems to be affecting equally both the Reminders and the GoodTask apps. However, as the same happens when a task is created in the Reminders app and is independent of the Goodtask app, I understand this is not something you could resolve.

Now that the Mac and iOS apps have different elements across the different platforms, the recurrence at some point will be lost.

I can think of two temporary solutions:

The first one is to use iCloud lists only, however, this does not really help me as the most common workflow for me is to right-click on exchange emails and immediately turn them into a task.

The second solution would be a quick action that immediately moves anything that is added int the Exchange list into an iCloud list. Could you please advise how I could set that up in order to check if it could solve my problem? (edit: I have created a quick action that moves the task to the new "Work" list set up in iCloud - I guess I cannot automate this so that everything that is added in the old Exchange list is automatically moved to the iCloud list?)

I hope the above helps, and if anything else comes to mind as a potential solution, please let me know.

Thanks!

#5

Hi @NikosM, thanks for detail experiments. I really appreciate it.

I recommend you to report Apple on below site if possible. I’ll do it myself too.

Now the things you could do would be,

  • use quick action to change list afterwards

or

  • use quick action to make next task rather than using recurrence rules.

You can make quick action with ‘Follow up’ which completes and duplicates current task. Adding other due date related action could be a way to handle repeating tasks. You can also add prompt action to add different days each time.

Hope it helped. Thanks!

#6

Thank you very much, I went with the first action as it applies to non-recurrent tasks I add directly from my work email on outlook (create task).

I will submit the feedback to Apple too.

Once again, well done on a very well made app and a really supportive forum.

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