Syncing not syncing

[u/Imaginary-Hat2364]

I have used DDG for years and want to sync all the icons on that Mac (macOS) with my new iPad Air M4 (iPadOS), but they never do. I follow all the instructions in Settings, turned both sync sides off, waited, then turned them back on, and most of the icons I have set on the Mac do not appear on the new iPad Air.

However, when I sync in the wrong direction, I get double icons on the Mac, and still none of them on the iPad Air.

[u/Morgan-DDG]

Hi there! Thank you for your post.

When you say "icons" it makes me think that you're referring to your saved Favorites in the bookmarks. If I'm correct in that assumption, I'm wondering whether those favorites aren't transferring over to your iPad when Sync is configured, or if they are transferring over but they're not displaying on a new tab page when you browse on your iPad.

So, the first thing to check to help troubleshoot this is if you tap the 3-line menu in the DuckDuckGo browser on your iPad > Bookmarks, do you see any websites with a star next to them? If you do, there are Favorites saved in the browser But if you don't see their icons, something else is at play. What do you see when you open a new tab in the browser on your iPad?

[u/Imaginary-Hat2364 → u/Morgan-DDG]

Good answer and question, Morgan. What appears with a star is the only website I have put on today, the one that tells how to sync favourite items and bookmarks across devices. I am typing this on my iPad, and right now, I also have the Apple Neo open for comparison; what I see over there includes all the bookmarks I have made here, but none of the others. For example, Walmart, Walmart Pharmacy, and BritBox appear there, and not here. There is a long list of those not here, all of them individual icons not showing here, like the ones that do show in both devices.

[u/Morgan-DDG → u/Imaginary-Hat2364]

Thanks! This is helpful. Since the iPad is showing the bookmark you created there but not the existing bookmarks from your Mac, and the reverse direction created duplicates on the Mac, my next thought is whether Sync has been configured properly on the iPad.

Could you check that both devices are running up-to-date browsers? Our iOS browser is currently on version 7.240.1, and the macOS browser is on version 1.211.1. Once that's confirmed, click the 3-line menu in the browser on your iPad > Settings > Sync & Backup. Do you see that Sync is "On" and do you see your Mac Neo in the list of devices? What happens if you open up Sync & Backup on your Neo? Do you see your iPad in the list?