iCloud Sync
Keep your data in sync across all Apple devices
Cakeday uses iCloud to keep your birthday data synchronized across all your Apple devices: iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
How It Works
Cakeday uses Apple’s iCloud sync service tied to your Apple ID. When you add, edit, or delete a birthday on one device, the change is made available to your other Apple devices automatically. No separate account registration is needed.
What Syncs
The following data is synced across devices:
- Birthdays: All birthday records, including names, dates, photos, notes, birth city, birth time, group assignments, per-friend reminder offsets, Birthday Alarm choices, per-friend alarm sounds, friend-timezone reminders, and calendar-sync settings
- Groups: Group names, colors, icons, and sort order
Sync Status
You can check the sync status in Settings > iCloud Sync within Cakeday. It shows “Connected” before a sync timestamp is available, “Just now” for syncs completed within the last minute, and a relative last-sync time after that. The status updates in real time.
Account Change Handling
If the iCloud account changes or becomes unavailable while sync is enabled, Cakeday pauses iCloud Sync and keeps the current birthdays on the device. The alert lets you:
- Open Settings: Review iCloud Sync before deciding what to do next.
- Remove from This Device: Delete the local synced birthdays and groups from this device.
- Keep Data: Keep the current local data and leave iCloud Sync paused.
Enabling Sync with Existing Data
When you turn on iCloud sync, what happens depends on whether iCloud already holds birthday data:
- If iCloud is empty, sync is enabled directly and your local data is uploaded — no prompt appears.
- If this device has birthdays and iCloud already contains data (for example, from another device), Cakeday shows an iCloud Already Has Data prompt so you can choose how to reconcile the two.
The prompt offers these choices:
- Merge Local and iCloud Data: Combines the birthdays on this device with the ones already in iCloud. This is the safest option.
- Replace iCloud with This Device: Deletes the birthday data currently in iCloud, then uploads the birthdays on this device. Other devices will sync to this device’s data.
- Replace This Device with iCloud: Deletes the birthday data on this device, then downloads the birthdays from iCloud. Your iCloud data is kept.
- Cancel: Leave sync off and make no changes.
Privacy
Your birthday data is stored in a private iCloud container tied to your Apple ID. This means:
- Only you can access your data. Cakeday’s developers cannot read, view, or modify it.
- No third party has access to your iCloud container.
- Apple encrypts iCloud data both in transit and at rest.
- If you enable Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, Apple applies additional protection to that data.
Requirements
- iCloud must be enabled on your device (Settings > Apple ID > iCloud)
- Cakeday must have iCloud permission (Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Apps Using iCloud)
- An active internet connection for sync to occur
Troubleshooting
Data not syncing?
Ensure iCloud is enabled and you are signed in with the same Apple ID on all devices. Check that Cakeday appears in your iCloud apps list.
Sync seems slow?
iCloud sync depends on Apple’s servers and your network conditions, so changes may take a short while to appear on other devices.
Data missing after reinstall?
After reinstalling Cakeday, open the app and enable iCloud sync. Your data will be downloaded from iCloud automatically.