Upon installing High Sierra, WD Sync stopped functioning. No more green checkmarks on the right of file names (not able to activate option any longer), and no syncing on files with My Cloud. I spoke to tech support and was given the most incredible responses: High Sierra won’t be released until 2018 (it was released today!), WD has not had time to test its software (apparently everyone else has for months), WD Sync is not the “central part” of the device and it is not really necessary . . . .
It is unbelievable that WD has not foreseen this issue and still has no guidance on its site about this incompatibility (if there is on), let alone have a new version of its software. High Sierra was announced months ago and all developers hav e been testing the various beta versions for months . . . .
Additionally, as WD is continuing to sell My Cloud, are they telling their new/potential customers of this issuer? If so, where is this warning?
Have you tried the usual troubleshooting step of uninstalling WD Sync and reinstalling it?
If you don’t need remote syncing one could always use a third party sync program, like Free File Sync (https://www.freefilesync.org/) rather than the WD Sync program.
I’m hesitant to uninstall and reinstall in case I make things worse. I have never used a third party software - I guess I can try it. However, I find it simply unacceptable for WD to be completely “unaware” of this issue. They have an obligation to their customers to provide a resolution to this! Every other reputable software company and developer has made sure to update their software in time for High Sierra’s release. What is WD doing?
Its easy to blame WD. But I would also blame Apple. What is Apple changing within their OS that is causing WD Sync to stop working and why? This isn’t the first time an OS manufacturer changed/updated their OS causing existing programs/software/apps to break or stop working properly.
Did you check to see if sync would work with High Sierra before installing it? Use this link and look at Software for Mac>WD Sync for Mac>Supported Operating Systems.
I sense a theme here . . . Apple is to blame and WD is simply an innocent third party trying to make a living. In fact, MS and Apple have for decades updated their OS with the expectation that third parties ensure they continue to provide paying customers updates to software. That is the whole point of MS and Apple releasing beta versions to developers for months so that this important compatibility can be accomplished. Further, it is by now widely accepted and expected that third party developers and software companies update their software rather than MS and Apple ensuring that all the thousands and thousands of products are compatible with the newest versions of the OS.
Bottom line, High Sierra was announced months ago and a company with WD’s resources should have foreseen this issue with one of its heavily promoted products. As for asking WD, I have and you can see their responses in my initial message.
As for who is to blame, I would tend to think that apart from the way the industry has developed with MS and Apple driving the development of OS, the blame has to be placed on the company which I have paid when purchasing their product just a few months ago. In fact, as this product has a one-year warranty, WD must ensure it is providing the proper updates so that its products work with the two leading OS.
Finally, as for checking compatibility, the link sent above has not been updated since June 2016!
I assume I am not the only Mac user with this compatibility issue. We shall see . . . .
We’re not WD fanboys. Bennor and I are among the most critical of WD on this forum. I’m not saying WD are entirely innocent. But I’m not putting all the blame on WD; I’m putting a large chunk of the blame at Apple’s door. You talk of resources; Apple aren’t short of a bob or two. $250Bn cash reserves, I think is the figure I saw the other day. Maybe they could spend a few of those dollars on representative ancillary devices (such as MyCloud), and have them as a reversionary test suite.
What “theme”? Who here has specifically absolved WD? No one. Instead both myself and cpt_paranoia have pointed out that Apple changed their OS and potentially broke the WD Software. Yes companies get betas and RTM copies of OS’s to update their software but that does not absolve Apple and Microsoft from changing their OS to unintentially (or intentially) break existing apps and software.
More than once an OS manufacturer has introduced a change that impacted access to the My Cloud independant of the WD software.
There are great many issues with the WD My Cloud Desktop and WD software/apps that I’ve complained about over the years. But I am also aware that Apple and Microsoft also bear some of the blame forcing down stream software vendors to spend more money modifying thier software to work with the uber latest OS updates.
If there is an issue WD will either work with Apple to fix the issue on the OS side or update the WD software/app to deal with the OS change. It just may take a little while for WD to do so as they sometimes move at a glacial pace in addressing certain issues.
Apple’s fortune is beyond my interest. Bottom line: it’s been long established that MS and Apple update their OS and developers ensure that their products continue being operational with every new OS update. This is a fact, and expecting/demanding otherwise is simply unrealistic.
Apple and MS provide their OS for free and developers are in business to a certain extent because of these two companies. As consumers, it is reasonable that we demand from companies to ensure compatibility of their products we pay for.
I am confused why this very basic expectation is generating such a ideological and convoluted response.
Simply put: WD needs to (1) update its customers on the compatibility of its products with the OS it piggybacks on (if Lacie can do it, so can WD http://knowledge.lacie.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/007772en?language=en_US&key=ka03A000000tzzEQAQ&kb=n&wwwlocale=en-gb ) and (2) it needs to update its products promptly and with the release of new versions. As we speak, virtually every software company whose products I have installed on my Mac has done just that - big and small: Microsoft, Adobe, Quicken, Parallels, Google Chrome, Firefox, VLC, Intuit, etc, etc, etc).
Well restarting WD Sync manually may fix the file syncing function, however the scanning line under the icon in the top dock does not work correctly, AND the green checks in Finder for the sync’d folders no longer appear. SO WD, I think you need to update/fix this app.
Apple will not provide tech support for third party. The lack of compatibility of WD Sync is completely WD’s responsibility. WD continues to be completely silent on the fact that it’s product (which it still sells today) is incompatible with a major release that was in beta for months.
My inquiries with WD have only resulted to a complete lack of knowledge about the issue … Truly puzzling.
As for the suggestions of relaunching and/or reinstalling WD, they simply do not work.
Why do Apple’s customers let Apple get away with that attitude? Apple change their OS that stops their customers’ systems working. So whose fault is it?
If Apple won’t work with other companies, it makes corrective action much harder. Debugging is easier if you have source code and diagnostics at both ends; white box testing. Trying to debug with one end as a black box makes things much, much harder, as you cannot understand the logic of the black box, and can only determine its behaviour through observed responses.
Do you know if any companies that provide tech support for others’ products? I’ve never heard of one.
I really don’t know why you insist that this is Apple’s issue. I certainly have no need to protect Apple’s reputation. However, living in the real world, I understand that this is how things work. MS and Apple provide the OS (for free at this point) and all third party companies develop products on those systems and make money off them. This is the reality. I’m confused as to why you don’t understand this.
At this point WD is STILL silent on this issue a week after a major release. If you look at the other software/hardware companies you do business with you will probably see that the majority of them have addresses this issue as they do every year.
Not acknowledging the problem won’t make it go away. WD has an obligation to resolve this immediately - at the very least acknowledge the existence of this incompatibility.
