# iCloud Sync prevents sleep **URL:** \ **Category:** Bugs or Unexpected Behavior\ **Created:** [August 13, 2026, 1:37pm UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/icloud-sync-prevents-sleep/47575 "2026-08-13T13:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nuTTeLLo](https://community.folivora.ai/user_avatar/community.folivora.ai/nuttello/32/42664_2.png) [@nuTTeLLo](https://community.folivora.ai/u/nuTTeLLo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 1:37pm UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/icloud-sync-prevents-sleep/47575/1 "2026-08-13T13:37:57Z")
**Note:** Before bug reporting, please make sure you have tried the **latest** (alpha) version of BetterTouchTool and that you have already tried to restart your system :-). If you encounter a crash, please attach a crash log from the macOS Console.app's "Crash Reports" section. * * * **Describe the bug** A clear and concise description of what the bug is. Any bug reports that contain insults against me or my software will be deleted without warning and the user will be blocked (unfortunately this has become necessary to mention here). This took me a few days of experimentation with AI assistance to narrow this down. Apparently when iCloud Sync is turned on, it prevents the Mac from sleeping due to synthetic HID events being fired periodically. * * * **Affected input device (e.g. MacBook Trackpad, Magic Mouse/Trackpad, Touch Bar, etc.):** N/A. It happens if the 'Enable iCloud Sync' is turned on. * * * **Screenshots** If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem. (You can just paste or drag them here) * * * **Device information:** - Type of Mac: M1 Mac Studio Max - macOS version: 26.6.1 - BetterTouchTool version: (please post the exact version - not just "the latest one"): 6.698, 6.703, 6.710, 6.721, 6.723 * * * **Additional information (e.g. crash logs, related issues, etc.):** Attaching a markdown file of the report generated by Claude on what is being caught. There is a synthetic HID event that is being fired at a regular interval when BTT with iCloud Sync is turned on. # iCloud settings sync posts a synthetic HID event on every cycle, preventing macOS idle sleep **Environment:** macOS 26.6.1 (25G76), Apple M1 Max. Reproduced across 6.698, 6.703, 6.710, 6.721 and **6.723 alpha (build 2026081202)**. * * * ## Summary Every iCloud settings sync coincides with a synthetic HID event attributed to BetterTouchTool. Each one resets the system idle timer, so the display never reaches its sleep threshold and the machine never idle-sleeps. ## The events They arrive on the legacy NX event path, not the normal driver path. From the `UserIsActive` tickle assertion label: ```auto BetterTouchTool: com.apple.iohideventsystem.queue.tickle.nxevent service:IOHIDSystem pid: process:BetterTouchTool real keyboard: com.apple.iohideventsystem.queue.tickle service:AppleUserHIDEventService product:Voyager eventType:3 real trackpad: com.apple.iohideventsystem.queue.tickle service:AppleMultitouchDevice product: eventType:11 ``` The `.nxevent` suffix and `service:IOHIDSystem` indicate a userspace process posting through the legacy `IOHIDSystem` interface (i.e. `IOHIDPostEvent` or equivalent), attributed to BTT's pid. Real devices are attributed to a hardware `product:` and carry an `eventType:`; the BTT variant carries neither, so the event type itself is not visible from outside. What is not determinable externally is the call site — whether the sync path posts an event deliberately, or whether it is incidental to something else on that path (a cursor query, a menubar refresh) that routes through the legacy API. That should be quick to identify from the source. ## Period tracks the sync interval, and changed between versions The tickle period is not a fixed keepalive interval — it tracks whatever the sync scheduler is doing in that build, and has changed twice: | BTT version | Tickle period | | --- | --- | | 6.698 / 6.703 | ~96–101 s | | 6.710 / 6.721 | ~178 s | | 6.723 alpha | ~105 s | ## Correlation evidence A 35-minute idle run on 6.723 alpha, logging sync completions and idle-timer tickles into one stream: **20 syncs, 20 synthetic tickles, 20/20 paired within 0–3 seconds.** No unpaired sync, no unpaired tickle, and zero real input for the whole window. ```auto 21:52:03 SYNC + TICKLE 21:53:51 SYNC + TICKLE 21:55:35 SYNC + TICKLE … 20 consecutive pairs … 22:25:32 SYNC + TICKLE ``` During that run `HIDIdleTime` never exceeded ~105 s despite 35 minutes of no user input, and the display never reached its 10-minute sleep threshold. An earlier run on 6.710 gave the same result at the slower period (4/4 within 2 s). ## Disabling sync resolves it completely With `BTTiCloudSyncEnabled = 0` and everything else left on: - 0 synthetic events in a 2 h 20 min run, and again in a 39 min run - `HIDIdleTime` reached 2282 s uninterrupted (previously never exceeded ~180 s) - display slept 10 m 11 s after last input, exactly on schedule - machine idle-slept and stayed asleep ~20 hours ## Ruled out Each measured on an idle machine with sync still enabled: all user triggers, script widgets at every refresh interval including 0, the Now Playing widget, all plugins, the launcher, the HTTP server, BTT Remote, and three version upgrades. The behaviour is independent of user configuration. ## Impact Any user with iCloud settings sync enabled — the default — silently loses display and system sleep. There is no visible indication BTT is the cause: `pmset -g assertions` shows no BTT power assertion, because the idle timer is being reset rather than held. Every normal diagnostic therefore points elsewhere. ## Suggested fix The sync cycle should not post HID events. If something on that path needs to signal activity, a power assertion would be visible in `pmset -g assertions` and would respect the user's power settings; a synthetic HID event is indistinguishable from real input and defeats them. ## Reproducing 1. Enable iCloud settings sync. Leave the machine completely idle — any real input masks the synthetic events, since the tickle assertion records only the most recent source. 2. Watch `pmset -g assertions | grep -i tickle` and note the assertion age resetting on a fixed period with `process:BetterTouchTool` as the source. 3. Sample `defaults read com.hegenberg.BetterTouchTool BTTLastSyncDate` alongside it — the timestamps advance in lockstep with the tickles. This measurement does not require an idle machine. 4. Set `BTTiCloudSyncEnabled = 0`. The tickles stop immediately and the display sleeps on schedule. ---
**Author:** ![Andreas\_Hegenberg](https://community.folivora.ai/user_avatar/community.folivora.ai/andreas_hegenberg/32/39221_2.png) [@Andreas\_Hegenberg](https://community.folivora.ai/u/Andreas_Hegenberg)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 2:55pm UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/icloud-sync-prevents-sleep/47575/2 "2026-08-13T14:55:40Z")
I tried to reproduce, but there are no tickles here. I currently can't think of anything that would do this inside of BTT. Could you go to Help =\> Export Basic Debug Logs and send them to me? ([andreas@folivora.ai](mailto:andreas@folivora.ai))