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Apple today seeded a new version of 10.9.3 to employees, reports 9to5Mac, but more importantly, the company also launched a new iTunes 11.1.6 beta, which includes an important syncing feature that has been missing since the launch of Mavericks.
According to the release notes, iTunes 11.1.6 "restores the ability to sync contacts and calendar information to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from your Mac running OS X 10.9.3."
When iOS 7 and Mavericks were introduced back in September, Apple removed local syncing in favor of cloud syncing, allowing users to sync calendars, contacts, bookmarks, and notes only via iCloud. Many users were unhappy with the feature removal and their inability to sync information to their iOS devices using their Macs.
Apple's Support Communities has a 212 page thread on the issue, and MacRumors has received multiple complaints about the removal of local sync since Mavericks was released. It appears that the next version of Mavericks and iTunes 11.1.6 will restore the feature, once again allowing users to sync locally.
At the current point in time, iTunes 11.16 and the newest version of OS X 10.9.3 are only available to Apple employees, but the betas should be seeded to developers in the near future.
Top Rated Comments
Seriously who is still using iTunes to sync Contacts and Calendars in this day and age? :eek: iCloud does everything you need and is the most reliable cloud syncing service on earth.
There can be valid reasons for doing it locally. Imagine for example a one-person business that wants to sync their customers' phone numbers from their computer to their phone. It's a violation of privacy law to give those details to a third-party so it therefore must happen locally.Edit: I've had a few responses to this. It's based on my own understanding of the NZ Privacy Act which I was led to believe forbade the disclosure of personal information to third-parties without express permission. I could be wrong; I'm certainly not a lawyer, but that's my understanding of the local law. This document (http://www.privacy.org.nz/the-privacy-act-and-codes/privacy-principles/limits-on-disclosure-of-personal-information-principle-eleven/) appears to back this up, as this disclosure doesn't appear to meet any of those criteria.
Seriously who is still using iTunes to sync Contacts and Calendars in this day and age? :eek: iCloud does everything you need and is the most reliable cloud syncing service on earth.
People who have confidential contacts or appointments that are not suitable for the cloud (where the information is potentially accessible by hackers, government agencies, and Apple). Think lawyers, investigative journalists, business people without a corporate exchange server etc.I kid. kind of.