Apple’s MobileMe Is Far Too Flawed To Be Reliable
People who work for large corporations are used to having their email, contacts and calendar appointments synchronized instantly among their various computers and smart phones. But average consumers haven’t had an easy way to do that. They often waste a lot of time manually synchronizing calendars and contacts, or waiting for email to be fetched.
So it was a big deal when Apple (AAPL) announced a new service that, for $100 a year, would bring corporate-type synchronization of email, calendars and contacts to anyone. It was even better that Apple promised that the service, called MobileMe, would work on Windows computers as well as on the company’s own Macintosh computers, iPhones and iPod Touch hand-helds. To top it off, Apple threw in 20 gigabytes of online storage, a suite of Web-based applications, the ability to synchronize browser bookmarks and an online photo gallery.
Unfortunately, after a week of intense testing of the service, I can’t recommend it, at least not in its current state. It’s a great idea, but, as of now, MobileMe has too many flaws to keep its promises.
I am not referring to the launch glitches that plagued MobileMe earlier this month, such as servers that couldn’t keep up with the traffic and email outages that, for some users, persist as I write this. Those were bad, but they have eased considerably. Apple already has apologized for them and is giving customers an extra 30 days on their subscriptions to make up for the poor start. The problems I am citing are systemic.
Here’s how it’s supposed to work. You subscribe to MobileMe and set up a new MobileMe email account, which can also suck in email from your current address. Your MobileMe email is pushed to your Windows computer using your choice of Microsoft (MSFT) Outlook, Outlook Express or the new Windows Mail program. It’s also pushed to your Mac using the built-in Apple Mail program. And it shows up instantly on your iPhone in the phone’s built-in email program.
Similarly, if you add, delete or change a calendar entry or a contact on any of the devices, the change automatically is reflected on all the others. In Windows, the MobileMe calendar shows up in Outlook, and the contacts can be viewed in Outlook, the Windows Address Book or Windows Contacts. On the Mac, the calendar and contacts appear in the built-in iCal and Address Book programs. On the iPhone, MobileMe uses the built-in Contacts and Calendar programs.
Bookmarks can be synchronized using either the Mac or Windows versions of Apple’s Safari Web browser, or Internet Explorer 7 on Windows.
At the MobileMe Web site, using any computer, you can send and receive email via a Web-mail program, and view and edit your calendar and contacts. Changes made on the Web site instantly show up on your computers and your iPhone, and vice versa. Also at the MobileMe Web site, you can maintain a photo gallery and view your online file storage.
But in my tests, using two Macs, two Dell (DELL) computers and two iPhones, I ran into problem after problem. One big issue is that while changes made on the Web site or the iPhone are instantly pushed to the computers, changes made on computers are only synced every 15 minutes, at best. Apple has admitted that this is a problem, and says it is working on it.
But there’s more. The Web site was sluggish, and occasionally calendar entries wouldn’t load at all. Sometimes, you have to manually refresh the Web pages to see changes made on your devices. And when I tried to open my Web-based file-storage page directly from the MobileMe control panel on Windows, I got an error message on both Dells.
My MobileMe calendar, which originated on a Mac, didn’t flow into the main Outlook calendar, but appeared as a separate calendar in Outlook, which was visible only by changing settings. My address-book groups on the Mac, which are simply distribution lists, didn’t show up as distribution lists in Outlook, but as separate address books, and they also weren’t immediately visible. Apple blames Outlook quirks for these issues, but in my view, it should have overcome them.
Other problems abounded. On one occasion, my synced contacts on the iPhone appeared as names only, without any information. In general, synced contacts on the iPhone loaded slowly.
When my Apple Mail program used rules I had set up to automatically file certain emails into local folders instead of leaving them in the inbox, they simply disappeared from my MobileMe account on the iPhone and the Web site. Avoiding this requires a tedious editing of all your rules.
Twice, MobileMe was unable to sync my bookmarks at all, and when it did, their order was scrambled. When I synced contacts to my iPhone, my custom ringtones for particular contacts were lost and had to be reselected.
Apple patiently explained each of my problems, sometimes helping me with workarounds, sometimes claiming they were rare, other times saying that it was working on fixes.
If Apple does get MobileMe working smoothly, it could be a terrific service. But it’s way too ragged now.
- Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.
Comments
Walt,
I’ve made a video protesting the launch of mobileme. Thought you might enjoy it given the shoddy launch. I’ve been off webmail six days now with no end in sight…
Video is here:
joesummerhays.wordpress.com
Posted by joe Summerhays at July 24th, 2008 at 5:16 amI’m not surprised by the bugs, being that it is version 1.0.
I enrolled anyway. The synching, although buggy, has already enhanced my productivity. I expect it will only get better.
Posted by Jose Hales-Garcia at July 24th, 2008 at 7:29 amone thing that I didn’t see mentioned here that disappoints me.. since MobMe is all about syncing, why wouldn’t they think to sync ‘My Pictures’ from the desktop and the iphone
Posted by rick ellis` at July 24th, 2008 at 9:28 amWalt, you say that Aple has admitted that the 15+ minute delay is a problem and is working on fixing it. Can you elaborate on that? Because wat I’ve seen does not indicate they’re fixing anyhing. Here’s a snippet from an Information Week article:
———-
“Some users have been upset that the service doesn’t offer true push capabilities, as changes made from Macs and PCs sync once every 15 minutes, not in real time.
The company acknowledged this in the e-mail and said it would drop the word “push” from MobileMe’s description until “it is near-instant on PCs and Macs too.” Apple did say that changes made from the iPhone and Web apps are immediately synced to and from the MobileMe “cloud.”
———-
Now to me that doesn’t sound like a fix it all, it sounds like they’re saying “Yeah, it doesn’t work the way we told you it would, or you thought it would. We may change that sometime in the future. Or not.”
On the Mobile Me home page, they used to have a graphic saying your data is “Always up to date”, with a picture showing several Macs, a PC, and an iPhone all connected to the cloud. Clearly, under the way it currently works, all these devices are NOT “always up to date”. Now they’ve changed that to read “Email. Contacts. Calendars. In sync wherever you go.” Which isn’t really true either but notice the subtle change in wording.
Posted by Nigel Tufnel at July 24th, 2008 at 9:36 amMy larger concern is that this is only the latest in a string of products launched well before they are ready. Time Capsule, iPhone 3G, and MobileMe. All flawed and at best in a Beta state on launch. Where has the Quality Assurance gone? If we assume for the moment that the iPhone’s problems are software driven (yet to be proven, but let’s hope so), I think we’ve got some clear indications that this company currently has software engineering problems. Let’s hope the iPhone+MobileMe debacle generates renewed discipline and more realistic launch schedules.
Posted by Jason Simmons at July 24th, 2008 at 10:18 amEight years after Apple released the Cube, after product launches like the iPod, MacBook, iPhone and a stock price that is many times what it was back in 2000, journalists still like to mention how Apple isn’t perfect, and bring up the Cube. MobileMe is 2008’s Cube. It will be mentioned for the next decade as an example of how Apple isn’t perfect, and can misfire on occasion.
Posted by Bill Calamita at July 24th, 2008 at 10:26 amWhat to me is troubling is that this type of issue seems systemic to Apple these days. I’m a fan of Apple, but I think too high a percent of their software isn’t working. How many QuickTime/ITunes releases are there (monthly?). They now have to pre-announced products (IPhone) as opposed to announce/ship, which is another sign that aspirations are greater than software testers.
Posted by Bruce Jacobsen at July 24th, 2008 at 11:12 amFirst, I think it’s too bad if the Apple reputation starts to trend toward MSFT’s (wait till version 3/Vista). Second, I do wonder if this is why Snow Leopard is about. It seems that Apple may be focusing on quality/reliability/performance, instead of consumer glitz. As a user and fan, I sure hope they spend a year to get things working. It’s too bad MobileMe has these issues; I would have liked to use it. I now feel with Apple, waiting (hmm, 3G reception on IPhone, MobileMe) for at least version 2 now makes sense. Sigh.
Look, I love Apple for what they’ve done to the mobile industry by lobbing a big grenade called the iPhone directly into the fray. So I’m likely to try any of their new technology. I had high hopes for MobileMe, but I have to wait for a future version. I synced my home, work, iPhone and iPod touch together - and with every sync, all of my contacts would duplicate. I had to turn the whole thing off after I had 9 versions of every contact in Entourage, Address Book and MobileMe. What a mess. I know no way of straightening out Entourage, except manually - Address Book, at least, has a find dupe function. So very frustrating.
Posted by Stephen Chappell at July 24th, 2008 at 11:20 amI’ve notice a few posts that refer to MobileMe as v.1. It is I guess, but it’s heavily based on dotmac. I used dotmac as well, and my hope was the syncing would have gotten better. It didn’t. It’s still flakey.
Someone mentioned syncing the ‘pictures’ folder. I’ll see that and raise you ‘documents’. The first company that can keep all your info reliably in a cloud is going to have some happy shareholders. For years I’ve been trying to work on just one computer, but I keep going back to desktop + laptop + iPhone. I used to think that laptops would be the wave of the future, lately I’ve wondered if making data more portable (vs computers) might be the way it goes.
Thanks for writing about this. You’ve been a strong supporter for Apple and maybe they’ll take this review to heart and put some love into MobileMe.
Posted by Perry Kibler at July 24th, 2008 at 12:48 pmI’m waiting patiently for my new IPhone to be shipped to my local ATT store. Your article about syncing issues concerns me. Are there any IPhone 3rd party synchronization programs out there that work?
Posted by Tony Jones at July 24th, 2008 at 1:17 pmThe quality control of Apple products is directly proportional to Jobs’ health. It’s only going to get worse.
I wanted to try mobileme but they now require a credit card for a 2 month trial, which will get charged if you don’t cancel within 60 days. Bummer.
Posted by charlie kaz at July 24th, 2008 at 1:23 pmI have noticed the slowness of synched contacts. I also had the duplicating contacts initially but finally solved that by reseting synch data on all the machines except one that fed MobileMe. Now we’re all good except that (a) I have noticed a few contacts I created on my iPhone disappeared and (b) I keep losing my ringtone settings (ringtones are still there, but the ones I have set for my wife, my coworkers, etc, keep getting set to default).
Perry: Try SugarSync… I have that software syncing our family iMac, my wife’s iBook, my inlaws’ iMac, my MacBook Pro, and my ThinkPad. I had to create separate accounts for my wife, myself, and my inlaws, but now we can access all our files on all our computers (the ThinkPad only holds my data). Between SugarSync and MobileMe I have been synched very well with those few glitches I mentioned above.
Posted by Steve Sabol at July 24th, 2008 at 2:35 pmI won’t bore anyone with the details but I had serious iCal problems as well.
Bottom line is that QC has gone to hell and the “highly selective” so-called Beta Testing was woefully inadequate. Most of these problems would have shown up the FIRST DAY of Beta Testing.
Peacock-strutting Apple is too occupied with “making the numbers” and God-Forbid they had to delay the iPhone a few weeks because MobileMe wasn’t ready yet.
They are definitely sippin’ too much of the own bourbon and have lost touch with their roots.
They should PUBLICLY “loose some heads”.
Posted by Skyler King at July 24th, 2008 at 6:21 pmThe thing that fries me about it is the lack of interoperability.
For instance:
* It’ll sync IE and Safari bookmarks, but not Firefox?
* It won’t simply retrieve mail from other services like Gmail, and instead you have to mess around with POP settings and a me.com address
* It won’t sync with existing web app calendars like Google Calendar.
What I really want from this service is invisibility. I want it to handle keeping my existing web apps and my existing desktop apps in sync with my phone. I don’t want to move over to another web service when I already have a lot of services set up as I like them.
The biggest mistake that Apple have made with MobileMe is trying to push people toward their web apps rather than working with the existing apps (like gmail and gcal) which are far superior in every respect and work with many external services already.
As a pre-existing .mac subscriber, I am minded to not bother renewing my subscription once my existing contract expires unless Apple promise to sort out the interoperability issues properly.
Posted by Tadhg Kelly at July 25th, 2008 at 4:00 amMy initial experience with MobileMe was a bit frustrating as well: often I would add a new contact on my G5 and have it not sync to the iPhone. Through trial and error, I’ve found that if I put this new user in a group (mine’s called Sync!) it will sync appropriately. MobileMe’s not quite the sync solution I was hoping for, but it’s more reliable so far than Plaxo or others.
Posted by Tony Ballinger at July 25th, 2008 at 7:58 amThank you for the article on MobileMe in The Wall Street Journal. Since I am one of the “1% of MobileMe users” who hasn’t had access to email since last Friday, I am forced to email from my gmail account. I suspect the number of users without email is far greater than 1%, based on the chatter on Apple and other discussion boards. But, that’s not even why I’m writing.
I would like to comment on your statement: “At the MobileMe Web site, using any computer, you can send and receive email via a Web-mail program, and view and edit your calendar and contacts. ” This is unfortunately not true; you cannot access MobileMe from “any computer.” You cannot access MobileMe email from a computer at your employer, library, internet cafe or hotel if it has Internet Explorer 6.0 or other unsupported browsers. That pretty much takes the “Mobile” out of “MobileMe” since I cannot change my employer’s internet browser. Hence, my new gmail account.
I appreciate that Apple is trying to enhance its technology and not pander to the lowest common denominator (or browser). However, the reality is that many of us work and travel, and we need to access email away from home. We could do that through .mac, but not through MobileMe at $99 annually.
Again, thank you for your insightful article and for revealing some of the many flaws of MobileMe.
Posted by Susan Davis at July 25th, 2008 at 8:14 amI am using MobileMe and not experiencing problems. i have a mac. I have been a syncing contacts and calender with no problem and I am able to log in to the me.com and make changes to calender and contacts up there and changes appear on all devices.
My one issue with the service is that it does not support subscribed calenders. I had been using that feature a lot - so I really hope it is added soon - or at least after all the people for who the service is not working are made whole.
Posted by David Rosnow at July 25th, 2008 at 1:29 pmI’m glad I don’t rely on .Mac/MobileMe as my primary e-mail service. Two weeks now after the launch I am one of the 20,000 or so users for whom MobileMe e-mail still doesn’t work. Which is why I have not gotten either the Apple apology nor a subscription extension.
This is without doubt the worst product launch Apple has ever made. Add this to the premature release of OS X 10.5 Leopard six months ago and I see an unfortunate trend developing. Apple is apparently letting marketing considerations override sound product development schedules and quality control.
It’s hard to see how Apple could have simplified the launch: the 3G iPhone needs the 2.0 software, MobileMe, Microsoft Exchange and the App Store to work as advertised. But Apple could have taken more time to troubleshoot and debug the system before launching it on an overly enthusiastic and unsuspecting public.
The situation is more than regrettable; it is potentially disastrous. Apple is undermining its own brand equity. With a number of product releases expected in the next fiscal quarter, one wonders whether to look ahead with anticipation or dread. Will Apple continue to bungle its way forward or will they learn from their mistakes and fix the problems before they become a public disgrace? Good ideas aren’t worth didly if they are implemented badly.
Posted by B. Jefferson Le Blanc at July 25th, 2008 at 2:21 pmMobileme’s Webmail deficiency practically cripples my ability to function in today’s environment. Webmail access is not available from my Linux or Win 2000 machines at work (the latter running IE7), nor is it available from the browser on my PDA. Sure I can get email on my Macbook but I need the ability to get my email anywhere, anytime from any machine running any operating system. It’s real cute to know that I can sync my bookmarks, but this is 2008. We are well into the internet age and I need that most fundamental of modern internet services — email — which by the way, I used to have with .mac. So far I am having a real tough time convincing IT operations at work, Internet cafes, friends, airport hotspots and libraries to change over to Apple branded hardware and Apple supported software.
Posted by Jim Kearns at July 25th, 2008 at 5:19 pmI have to say that I have not had any issues with MobileMe, I can sync my mail, contact etc. with no problems, I don’t fault Apple for the flaws it is in fact the first launch of MobileMe, sometime things don’t work out like you expect them to, Apple will work it out and when they do it will kick ass, like all Apple innovations, I am a hugh fan of Apple, so Mr. Steve the man can’t do wrong in my eyes
Keep it rockin Steve!!!
Posted by Marcel Crooner at July 27th, 2008 at 9:13 pmApple seems to still think all users are gamers; they don’t really use their computers and iPhones for serious productivity and time management.
Wrong. I gave my business life over to the first iPhone. It worked very well and I was able to keep ical and contacts synced on four computers and my iPhone. Mobileme.com worked for about one minute and since has been spotty. I can’t sync any contact entered on a desktop to the iPhone.
What trouble me is there is not help for these problems. The Geniuses at the Apple store apparently don’t use the iPhone, so they have no clue how to help except to “reboot.” The usually helpful phone support is automated and not helpful at all.
I hope someone at Apple is paying attention to the growing number of complaints by serious users who would love to embrace this new technology. But Apple keeps pushing (intended pun) us away.
Posted by Peter MOLLER at July 28th, 2008 at 3:07 pmIf you’re a business owner, I’d stay far, far away from MobileMe. Although you can add an additional email address to the me.com account, you cannot actually reply with the email you just “added”.
IE: I reply to an email sent to joeblow@mybusiness.com and it uses the account@me.com address as the replying email. Not good for business!
Also, beware of even trialing MobileMe with an iPhone. Let’s say you spent an entire evening entering contacts into your iPhone. If you setup a trial in MobileMe, sync your iPhone to it, and then decide to cancel the MobileMe service (like me), say goodbye to all of your contacts! Since iPhone tries to sync with something that doesn’t exist anymore, contacts are lost. This will also occur with calendar items.
MobileMe’s interface was slower than molasses in Siberia. I’m used to Gmail and a speedy interface is a must - especially for business.
Wanna subscribe to calendars via iCal in MobileMe? Forget about it unless you actually use a Mac. MobileMe is about as useful in this area as handlebars on a surfboard.
Ok so MobileMe can’t be THAT bad. Maybe I can use it to sync up with my iPhone calendar? Ooops, no event reminders! How can you not have event reminders in a calendar app?!
If you’re not a fan of productivity and you’re into squandering hard-earned dollars on applications that make your business life more difficult than it was before you bought them, try MobileMe. Otherwise, save your money on something that works.
Posted by Hy Nuk at August 5th, 2008 at 4:35 pmI have high hopes for MobileMe. Walt’s column doomed MobileMe for a reliable means to keep things in sync. I have the iPhone 3G. I have MobileMe. It does the same good job .mac always did to keep my Macs (and now Safari on Windows at work) in sync. But the contacts and calendaring is not up to par. I’m sticking with a cable sync with calendar at work, with OS X Address Book at home, and media at home. Hate having to plug it in in two places, but that’s okay. I’m going to give it time and take another look by the end of the year, when perhaps 2.0 will be out.
Posted by Brian Hippel at August 11th, 2008 at 1:24 pm“If you setup a trial in MobileMe, sync your iPhone to it, and then decide to cancel the MobileMe service (like me), say goodbye to all of your contacts! Since iPhone tries to sync with something that doesn’t exist anymore, contacts are lost.” This just happened to my friend. Contacts built up over years, many of them vital to his business, now lost from both his iPhone and his Mac. This should be actionable. Is there really no possibility of data recovery?
Posted by Ed Fredenburgh at August 14th, 2008 at 1:41 amTo make matters worse, check out this thread on an Apple Support forum entitled: MOBILE ME WILL CORRUPT OUTLOOK CONTACTS
http://discussions.apple.com/t.....=0#7900584
I was planning on getting an iphone tomorrow but not now given these problems. I’ll stick with my BB 8820 for now.
Posted by Reid Hester at August 20th, 2008 at 4:35 pmWell, I wish I had a chance to read these reviews on Amazon before I bought it. I have had a macbook pro since 2006. It worked so well, i decided to go for a iMac and mobile me. The downdraft of Vista and the problems with that system motivated me to try something different from the Microsoft monopoly.
Let me preface this by saying the staff were patient and courteous. Truly, their patience and courtesy set a bar. The same way one can be against a war and support the troops, one can be less than thrilled with a product and still support and appreciate the staff. Availability of staff with whom one can actually communicate also functions as a significant advantage to Windows. Try to find someone from Microsoft who will even talk to you and you know what I mean. Monopoly power gives them a lot of leverage. Buy their products and you become a “Microserf.” You spend so much time into its maintenance they draft you into the company. That way you support their profits.
I cannot sync mobile me. I don’t know why. I am a meat and potatoes user. I do little extravagant or experimental on this computer. Syncing is the heart of mobile me. If you can’t sync files and settings, it falls far short of it’s promise. After six hours of very patiently working with customer support, they tell me the only chance of getting the product to work is to totally reboot the iMac system. That means archiving all the data, reinstalling all the software, then hoping it actually works because you don’t repeat a mistake already made. They did find out I am missing a file on my hard drive. Somehow mobile me keeps erasing it. To keep life interesting, the application iSync won’t work either. The missing com.apple.iSync file does count.
Bear in mind that in my personal experience, I have already had to do two reboots which save the applications and data that require an hour each. This is just since I purchased the computer in July, 2008. Today was the third.
It’s like having a high maintenance significant other.
If you want a unified platform that’s easy to use and links your PDA, your desktop, and your laptop, if you want something that works well, and if you are crunched for time and don’t have the energy for all this, I suggest you wait a few years until they get this past the testing stage and have an easier to use product. Once you commit, they will not refund your money. You are trapped. They did give 60 days “free” to all Mobile Me users because of all the bugs in August 2008, but at that price, you’re underpaid. How much is your time worth? Do you want to change from a microserf to a bit(e) out of the apple?
By the way, the iMac, except for Mobile Me, can be a honey. And it does boot up quicker than Windows computing, but Apple’s success at cloud computing is nebulous at best.
I have not tried it personally, but I have heard about SugarSync across Windows and Mac platforms. That may be the product to try, particulary if it’s month by month and does not lock you into a two year contract.
I am not sure ATD will allow this to post, but goodness only knows, there are a lot of negative reviews out there across multiple boards. Take heed.
Posted by Fernando Ordaz at September 7th, 2008 at 1:08 pm