Desktop sync v2 does not sync all tabs from other computers

[snowbound]

Description

When Sync is enabled in Version 1.13.66 Chromium: 84.0.4147.125 (Official Build) beta (64-bit) and prior builds and one has Open Tab sync enabled you see a maximum of 4 tabs from other devices under History flyout for that particular computer.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Enable Sync on main computer
2. Use Sync key to add other Windows10 computers to the chain
3. Ensure that Bookmarks, History and Open Tabs are being syncd across all computers in the chain
4. Ensure that the computers have more than 4 unique tabs open on each computer that are NOT open on the other computers

Actual result:

When one looks under HIstory flyout under hamburger menu you will see only 4 tabs under each of the other computers.

Expected result:

One should see under the History flyout all of the tabs that are at least unique and preferably all the tabs that are open on the other computer under each heading for the respective computer.

Reproduces how often:

Brave version (brave://version info)

Brave	1.13.66 Chromium: 84.0.4147.125 (Official Build) beta (64-bit)
Revision	d0784639447f2e10d32ebaf9861092b20cfde286-refs/branch-heads/4147@{#1059}
OS	Windows 10 OS Version 1909 (Build 18363.1016)

Version/Channel Information:

Beta is only one I have installed and is where it is occurring

• Can you reproduce this issue with the current release? No since Sync v2 is not available
• Can you reproduce this issue with the beta channel? YES
• Can you reproduce this issue with the nightly channel? Do not know

Other Additional Information:

• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Shields? No
• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Rewards? Rewards is disabled on both Brave
• Is the issue reproducible on the latest version of Chrome?

Miscellaneous Information:

[srirambv]

Same as #11196. Only typed in URL's are sync'd as of now and not tabs that have links opened via context menu or via external file link

cc: @AlexeyBarabash @darkdh

[snowbound]

The tabs from these other computers have all been opened by clicking on bookmarks on the said computer or via a session manager on startup. Some of these tabs are showing up in the sync but others are not. There are never more than 4 tabs from any of these computers showing up under the History flyout.

[bsclifton]

Is this the same issue as #10707?

[fredless]

There are never more than 4 tabs from any of these computers showing up under the History flyout

I am observing precisely the same behavior on stable v1.13.82

[rebron]

I'm observing the same behavior, looks like only 4 tabs are being synced via the History menu item.

[AdnanHodzic]

I have this same problem, where no more then 4 tabs are synced between Brave on Linux an MacOS. I also have 3 Android phones synced, and only one of devices tabs are being synced (<= 4 tabs), other 2 are not even displayed.

Needless to say, sync has been properly setup for all mentioned devices.

[snowbound]

I have removed Sync from the Brave installs here. I use a service for passwords and bookmarks so the only thing Sync in my case is Open Tabs/history. The open tabs from other devices are not implemented in Sync V2 so I currently do not see SyncV2 being of any use to me. I am on iOS for a couple of devices but those devices are stuck on iOS12 so the default browser option isn't going to work.

[64br137]

Same behavior here, i'm on Linux. 4 tabs synced between devices.

[AdnanHodzic]

It's apparent that this problem is present on every platform and it's disappointing Brave team hasn't even acknowledged existence of this issue in 71 days since it's been reported.

Due to having only 4 or less tabs synced from each device, and not being able to pick up where I left off when I switch to one of my 5 other devices. I tried sending tabs to my devices by using "Send to your devices", but this feature is slow to the point of being unusable.

If I end up leaving Brave this will be the main reason.

[bsclifton]

cc: @jsecretan

[fredless]

Brave team hasn't even acknowledged existence

to be fair, @rebron did repro & move it into low-priority backlog last month

[jsecretan]

Ok I'll see if I can move this one up.

[AlexeyBarabash]

it is similar to #12391 and will be fixed with brave/brave-core#7121

[ConercaoAlpha]

@AlexeyBarabash Any idea on a release date?

[AlexeyBarabash]

@ConercaoAlpha
There is no the exact date, now PR is under review, then it will be merged into Nightly.
Then either it will be uplifted into Stable and will be available 8th of December.
Or it will migrate to Beta and then will migrate into Stable and will be available 19th of Jan.
https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/wiki/Brave-Release-Schedule

Decision will depend on many factors.

[ConercaoAlpha]

@AlexeyBarabash
Thanks for the info. This sync issue is the only thing that is stopping me using Brave

[snowbound]

I did some further testing on 2 laptops and a desktop. The desktop computer would show up on the laptops as having only a subset of the actual Open Tabs., The laptops have seen a tab in the Open Tab list for the desktop that had not been open on the desktop for days. I tried removing the desktop from the sync chain and it continued to show up in the History on the laptops. I had to remove all the computers from that sync chain and start a new one to get the Open Tabs from the desktop to show up properly on the laptop.

[lxwulf]

I can't even leave my snyc-chain on Windows... don't know what I should do can't sync any device....

[snowbound]

@lxwulf There are two ways of leaving a sync chain. At the top of the brave://settings/braveSync/setup page by clicking on the corresponding X and then scrolling all the way to the bottom of the page, there is not a Leave Sync Chain option?

[AlexeyBarabash]

This issue was marked as solved by brave/brave-core#7121 and shipped in 1.19.x.

By this reason I am closing it, but you may keep leave the comments or use another similar issue #13293. The work on fix is in progress and has been raised to the highest priority.

Upcoming fix which is intended to fix issue beyond the UI will be linked to another issue #13293.

[snowbound]

Nothing has changed with Sync and Open Tabs between devices which in my case are a series of desktops and laptops. The Open Tabs listing is unreliable. Open Tabs from devices whose Open Tabs have been disabled hours ago are still showing up on laptops showing erroneous tabs. This is on Version 1.22.45 Chromium: 89.0.4389.58 (Official Build) beta (64-bit) .

I have disabled Open Tabs from all my devices in the Sync chain as it is not reliable and these devices eventually disappeared off the History flyout

[lxwulf]

I can kinda approve this. In my case my new installed BB on Linux works together with my installed version on my phone (android) but I can't still go out of the sync chain on my Windows version. It says reload, but it doesn't do anything....

[jsecretan]

Thanks for the continued detailed feedback @snowbound and @lxwulf we are still working on getting to the bottom of everything here and will be putting in more time on it this week.

[snowbound]

I just spent a week using MS Edge Chromium on my desktop, laptop, and iOS-based phone. I saw the full complement of ALL the tabs open on the other devices when I went to its corresponding entry in History. When I reverted back to Brave Version 1.22.62 Chromium: 89.0.4389.90 (Official Build) beta (64-bit) when I go to my desktop and view the list of Open Tabs for my laptop I see 3 of the 9 tabs that are open on the laptop. The laptop CURRENTLY shows 9 of the 15 Open Tabs on my desktop.

For me, Open Tabs in SyncV2 on Brave as it stands is sorry to say is useless. I feel that I am not the only one with this point of view.

[snowbound]

@jsecretan Hello, Brave this issue is not solved why was it closed? the silence is deafening and why some Brave users become former users.

[jsecretan]

Hi @snowbound, I'd like to keep this specific issue closed for now and move discussion over to this:

#13382

For clarity, I'd like to keep this issue closed because it is easiest from a tracking standpoint to let this cover the feature work for showing More Tabs.

[urbenlegend]

As of the most recent update (1.25.68), it seems that tab sync seems to work pretty well. There is still some lag time, but its usually within 10-30 seconds between desktops. On mobile, it still takes a while to get sync updates after waking the device out of sleep because sync keeps giving
NETWORK_CONNECTION_UNAVAILABLE (ERR_CONNECTION_ABORTED)

@snowbound can you confirm on your end? Or is this just a random fluke again?

[snowbound]

I will have to re enable Sync here on all my systems and see what happens.

[snowbound]

Well, I redid sync yet again. I can see the Open Tabs from my laptop on my desktop but when it comes to mobile in particular iOS sync is hamstrung. All I can see is Bookmarks as Open tabs from either Laptop or Desktop is not showing up on iOS. Nor is any iOS Open Tabs showing up on my PCs.

[eljuno]

@snowbound iOS don't have tab sync yet. brave/brave-ios#3229

[snowbound]

Oh, must have been MS Edge that has that feature implemented. Sorry about that mixup.

[GabeVilela]

Open tabs sync seems to be working as intended now.
Tested with Stable 1.24.86 on Android 10 and Stable 1.25.68 on Windows 10

[AlexeyBarabash]

25th of May we have updated the server with the fix of error in protocol, brave/go-sync#68. We used incremental integers as a version code and occasionally happened that for existing opened tabs after re-opening was used lower version code than the previous stored; in such cases client ignored the update and tab was not synced. Now version code is a server-side time code of operation, it is always greater than previous version code for the same object.

Thank you for the feedback.

[arthurjosse]

After receiving a notification for the last comments on this issue I've tested for the umpteenth time to sync my opened tabs. v.1.25.68 on Windows 10 and 1.24.86 on Android 7. As always, it's a fail as nothing happens.

[snowbound]

So Android is suppose to sync Open Tabs? It is not possible at least now on iOS

…

On Sat, May 29, 2021 at 4:48 PM Arthur Josse ***@***.***> wrote: After receiving a notification for the last comments on this issue I've tested for the umpteenth time to sync my opened tabs. v.1.25.68 on Windows 10 and 1.24.86 on Android 7. As always, it's fail as nothing happens. — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#11183 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAERRM4KQ4VTDRYFWKL4YCLTQFOLJANCNFSM4P34ZJCA> .

[lxwulf]

Update on my situation: I saw no other possibility to save my bookmarks and install brave browser stable. I successfully added my desktop Windows 10 machine to my already existing chain and everything synced properly.

So for me, it's not solved directly, but I found a not pretty workaround with a new installation of another version.

PS: something new maybe for an issue or feature requests itself: can we add feature which remove duplicates in bookmarks? Let me know I would make a new issue/feature request.

Greetings LxWulf

[calebjacksonhoward]

I've been jumping around the links amongst three of four different discussions of this issue (with many of the same participants).

I've just discovered this issue (Sync not syncing open tabs). I'm using: Brave Version 1.28.106 Chromium: 92.0.4515.159 (Official Build) (64-bit) on Windows 10. I'm trying to sync to my laptop. I have a couple-hundred tabs open - sorted into a dozen tab groups. It's impossible to work on two machines if I can't carry my working context with me.

I saw someone say #wontfix on one of these threads, and I've seen people claim to have something working. I've also seen suggestions about starting a new sync group, and that maybe it has to do with sleep mode breaking some state.

It seems like Windows is a popular OS, and I'm working in a heterogeneous environment between two of the machines I'm trying to make this work on. I was hoping someone had a suggestion, workaround, or whole 'nother solution (like an extension that managed grouped tabs?)

I need some kind of a solution, but the Brave feature working would be ideal.

Is this ever going to happen?

[snowbound]

@calebjacksonhoward I thought Brave had pushed out a fix for this issue a month or two ago. I batted my head against the wall re Brave Open Tab sync for almost a year. When I was having this issue I had nowhere near 100 tabs open. Times changed here and I am not using my laptop as much. What was so frustrating over this year-long period was that I saw MS Edge having no issue syncing open tabs almost instantly between 2 Windows10 devices.

@urbenlegend and I had similar issues and both of us had our laptops going to sleep mode and wondered if that had some bearing on the syncing of open tabs not working. Is your laptop going into sleep mode at all?

I can do some testing here over a couple of days and see what is happening here. I am using Version 1.29.64 Chromium: 92.0.4515.159 (Official Build) beta (64-bit) but the Offical Build would have had any fix for this issue pushed out.

That "wont fix" perhaps was the history syncing aspect, where the only syncing of History Brave will do, is of those URLs which yu manually entered in Brave. Links clicked on via Bookmarks etc are not synced. Sorry just going by memory here and I could be wrong.

Update: On two Win10 21H1 machines a desktop and laptop here both on version 1.29.64 Chromium: 92.0.4515.159 (Official Build) beta (64-bit). If I opened up a tab on the laptop it showed up on the desktop and vice versa. If I closed the tab it disappeared from the other machine under HIstory.

Are you seeing at least a "MORE.." line on the History flyout for the machine which has the 100+ tabs open on it?

[jsecretan]

Thanks @snowbound for your help in debugging and feedback. @calebjacksonhoward as far as I can tell tab sync should be working, but if there's a bug that has crept in, or if it's not scaling to your number of tabs, I'd like to get to the bottom of it. If you have some time, I'd love to have the sync team do a screen share with you. Mind emailing me at [email protected] and we can coordinate?