Windows 10 October Update Breaks iCloud Shared Album Syncing
Windows 10's October 2018 major update, a.k.a. version 1809, is turning out to be quite the nightmare, most especially for users. It was rolled out early lost month with a nefarious file-deleting bug that allegedly affected only a small number of users. Microsoft has since pulled out the update and re-released it but the nightmare is far from over. The latest is a still unfixed bug that is causing problems for iCloud users trying to sync their shared albums.
Some will only be too happy to point out that every major Windows 10 update since its first launch has never rolled out smoothly in the first place. While there's some truth to that, Windows 10 version 1809 has is probably the worst so far. In addition to the file-deleting bug, there was also a ZIP mishandling bug that also caused files to disappear. Fortunately, that only affected testers after Microsoft pulled out the update from public servers.
Last week, the software giant confidently re-released the October 2018 update but it isn't out of the woods yet. In fact, there's another bug that, while not as egregious, is getting the spotlight because it affects a third-party service, one that comes from Apple. According to the report, Windows 10 version 1809 has an incompatibility with iCloud for Windows version 7.7.0.276 that breaks syncing Shared Albums. Had it been any other service, it might have gone under the radar.
Microsoft says that it is working with Apple to fix the issue, most likely with a new version of iCloud for Windows. In the meantime, it is blocking Windows 10 PCs from updating if iCloud for Windows is installed. On the other hand, if a Windows 10 computer already running version 1809 tries to install the affected iCloud for Windows version, it will block that process too.
That's not the only blocker the latest Windows 10 update has. To its credit, Microsoft is transparently listing those on its support page just for version 1809. That said, the growing list of compatibility problems, including for computers with now unsupported Radeon graphics cards, doesn't inspire much confidence in this re-release either.