Hands-On Tech 262 Transcript
Please be advised that this transcript is AI-generated and may not be word-for-word. Time codes refer to the approximate times in the ad-free version of the show.
Mikah Sargent [00:00:00]:
Coming up on Hands-On Tech, let's take a look at syncing bookmarks between our Windows machine and our Apple devices. Stay tuned. Hello and welcome to Hands-On Tech. I am Mikah Sargent and this is the show where I take your tech questions and do my diddly doggone best to answer them. Today's tech question comes in from Eric. Eric writes in with a following For a long time I've had a home Windows PC running a few always on services on my home network. One task this PC did was run Apple iCloud for Windows to sync bookmarks from Google Chrome, which I use on my home Windows PC work Windows Laptop and my personal Mac with Safari, which I use on my iPhone and iPad.
Mikah Sargent [00:00:50]:
I prefer Safari on Mobile due to the native iOS integration. Recently my home Windows PC failed and I've decided not to replace it. I've lost the sync between Chrome and Safari. I've temporarily installed Chrome on iOS but I don't care for it and I want to move back to Safari. Without the home Windows PC, I have nowhere to run iCloud for Windows to sync Chrome with Safari and I can't find a suitable replacement. I'd love to move this sync to my Synology NAS. Is there any Docker image or built in Synology app to handle the sync? If not, what other options can you suggest short of continuing to use Chrome on iOS? Well, I've got some good, good news for you Eric. You really don't need to spin up a Docker container or go find some Synology package for this because turns out there's a very simple solution you can use.
Mikah Sargent [00:01:42]:
It is actually made by Apple and when I came across this I said because I'm looking it up and someone says use this tool and I said that's gotta be made by a third party. I've never heard of this. No, this tool is made by Apple. Apple offers an iCloud bookmarks extension for Chrome that does exactly what iCloud for Windows did for bookmark sync, but without having to use that full Windows installation. So what you do is you go to the Chrome store and you look for the iCloud bookmarks extension, the one from Apple, and then you install it on your work Windows Laptop and of course any other Chrome instance that you want to keep in sync from There again with your this is an this is an extension made by Apple. From there you sign in with your Apple account and then what happens is the magic you're looking for. The extension will sync your Chrome bookmarks With your iCloud. With iCloud.
Mikah Sargent [00:02:38]:
And then it will sync with Safari on your iPhone, your iPad and your Mac. So it's exactly what you want. It is blessed by the first party and it doesn't require a Docker image or network attached storage playing some role or middleman PC. It runs right inside Chrome on whatever machine you're already using. And then that way you get that same two way sync that you had before. Bookmarks that you add or change in Chrome show up in Safari and vice versa. Now, there are a couple things that you need to sort of pay attention to with this. You can ditch Chrome on iOS, you don't need to worry about that.
Mikah Sargent [00:03:12]:
Once the extension is running on your Windows machines, Safari on your iPhone and iPad will stay in sync through iCloud. So you don't need to have Chrome on iOS to make this happen. It works per machine. So you will want to install the extension on each Chrome instance that you use. So you know if you are, if you've got a work machine and then maybe you have two different work machines that you use or you end up getting a personal machine, you will need to make sure that this extension is installed on each of those devices so that the Windows laptop and any other Chrome browsers are included in the sync. And keep in mind that this is just bookmarks. The extension handles bookmarks. It does not sync open tabs, it does not sync history, it does not sync passwords between Chrome and Safari.
Mikah Sargent [00:03:58]:
If you need that level of syncing across the platforms, that is a separate conversation. But for bookmarks, this is all you need. Now you did mention the Synology, the NAS idea, you know, a Docker image. There's no reliable, from what I've been able to find, maintained Docker image or built in Synology package that has a perfect sort of foolproof way of bridging Chrome and Safari bookmarks in the same way that this first party extension does. ICloud's bookmark sync relies on Apple's API. And so third party tools that are trying to sort of play into that, it doesn't work very well because it's a proprietary API, it's a private system, and therefore if Apple changes things up, then whatever solution the third party came to no longer works. So given that it's Apple's own supported solution, of course that browser extension is going to be the most reliable path forward. We we're answering a question there from Eric who was asking about syncing bookmarks between Chrome and Safari using some very complicated solutions.
Mikah Sargent [00:05:12]:
We came up with a solution that was much easier. There's a simple extension that Apple makes for this. You install the iCloud bookmarks extension in Chrome on your Windows machines or anywhere that you have Chrome running. Sign in with your Apple account, you're back in business. You can uninstall Chrome from your iPhone and go back to Safari without missing a beat. Before we move on or before we say goodbye, I wanted to remind everyone about some basic troubleshooting that is always worth doing when it comes to your, your devices. And you know, it's, it's one of those situations where recently I have been asked, you know, for help on this problem or that problem and it ended up being a form of turn it off and back on again. Right? And it could be very annoying.
Mikah Sargent [00:06:10]:
I completely understand hearing someone say turn it off and back on again in whatever form that is. Usually it's a reboot, it's a restart, it's this, it's that. But it does boil down to turn it off and back on again. And that means that you would get a little bit frustrated, right, that someone might not be taking you seriously because you are doing the, because you're hearing the thing that everyone says that you're supposed to do. And maybe you've done it before and it didn't work that time. Bear in mind that when it comes to solving tech problems, it really can be a, you know, a simple answer, but it can also be a very complicated answer that requires sort of input and output. We are scientists, right, who are running experiments where we need control. And by that I don't mean control in the sort of well known definition of having power over a thing.
Mikah Sargent [00:07:15]:
No, I mean we need a control. We need to figure out what variables we can sort of lock in place so that we can find the one that is messed up. So when you are going through the process of helping someone else with their tech and they are frustrated because you're telling them to restart, reboot, remember of course, that for them they may be feeling like you aren't taking the problem seriously, but it is your opportunity to sort of put on that badge that says, I'm a scientist in this moment, I'm solving the problem, and, and I have to run these experiments to figure out what it is. And I think that it's also helpful to share your thought process along the way. Hey, I do want you to turn it off and back on again. But here's why I think that's the right thing to do. Because I know when I'm speaking To you all, the person on the other side of this, this lens, you are a person who probably knows a little bit about tech at least, right? That's why you're tuning into this show. You have the capability of subscribing to a podcast.
Mikah Sargent [00:08:25]:
You have the capability of putting together your thoughts and sending in an email asking for help with something. So I trust your chops. You probably are giving other people tech support, right? And that's just something to bear in mind. You're a scientist, you're running experiments. But don't forget to share the thoughts behind your experiments with the people you're helping. Because not only will they feel more comfortable with understanding what's going on, but it also means that maybe next time they'll have that mindset and be able to fix the problem on their own. So, just a little, a few words. You know, we used to do those sermons, as Leo and I called them for Ask the Tech Guys, and there have been a few times where I've thought about bringing that back.
Mikah Sargent [00:09:15]:
So we'll have to see if that ends up being a future inclusion in Hands-On Tech. We shall see. In any case, thank you all for writing in, for tuning in, and if you haven't written in, well, then now's your time. hot@twit.tv is how you get in touch with me. Thanks so much and I'll catch you next time for another episode of Hands-On Tech. Bye Bye.
