P: Why was sync settings removed?

My frustrated, pseudo, potentially comical anger is on par with Jacobs. It was just such a silly thing to do, removing a super valuable feature that was already working for the customer! 

Thank you for your rapid recognition of my angst-laden post Dave 🙂

Thanks for the comments, Jacob.  Let me see what I can find out about future plans.  

Well written, Jacob! Indeed, what exactly is the user benefit to having a "cloud" subscription if one cannot use the cloud for the most obvious and essential use: syncing preferences across machines? 

I wonder if the next version of Photoshop might exclude the ability to use multiple layers. Those can be very "complex and difficult" for many users. It's much simpler if there's just one layer (in fact, let's call it "Background" and make sure it always defaults to being locked) and everything could be painted on that for simplicity. In that vein, we could also do away with things like rectangular and elliptical marquee selection tools since it would be less confusing for the customer to have fewer tools and you can make circles and squares freehand with the lasso tool. Get rid of any clone stamping or content-aware fill, too, too confusing. You can just use paint tools. Come to think of it, the ability to select a color presents a dizzying array of choice that is just too much for the customer. Maybe Photoshop 2016 could include the ability to only work in grayscale for simplicity's sake? And lower bit depths please–even 256 individual options for gray is probably too confusing.

Dear faceless mass of Adobe® developers and product engineers, Microsoft® Paint exists for those who prioritize simplicity and ease of use. (It's actually not that easy to use anymore–this statement is more for dramatic effect). We want a real paint and photo program.

Can't feature testing like this be done in a Beta program, rather than in "shipping" software? Alienate your beta testers instead of a huge portion of your customer base? A feature like sync settings is so intrinsic to what one would assume the cloud is for that it's disappointing not to have it. What's appalling is that it was advertised as a feature to a lot of people who put money into something that was removed shortly thereafter. What a benefit the cloud subscription model is:  exciting features can be removed at any time–you don't even have to wait for an annual product update! 

I appreciate the fact that David Tristam gave something of an empathetic response, but I really wish he hadn't cited those three points specifically. Do those actually make any sense to everyone here? They make me lose hope in Adobe®. Does anyone else not find this disconcerting?

1) Usability: the feature was complex and difficult for many users".

I think we've already addressed that ad nauseam. PHOTOSHOP ALLOWS FOR CREATION AND RENDERING OF 3D GEOMETRY BUT NOT THE ABILITY TO SYNC KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS BETWEEN TWO MACHINES?  Who decides the priority list of most-pertinent features again? I thought this would be the worst possible justification for exclusion of a feature (how hard is it really for the end user to sync settings?). Then I read the other two:

2) Roadmap changes: Adobe wants more of a focus on CC Libraries.

What does that even mean? Is an alternative to "sync settings" coming via CC Libraries? I'm all for it if it fills the same need, but I'm struggling to see why 'sync settings' has to be dropped so libraries can be focused on. This is like taking your toddler to the landfill because you have a new baby. Aren't they two different things with individually unique merit?
  
3) Technical issues: the servers used for the feature are going away.

Ummm, use different servers? Use more servers? You can store bazillions of  CC Adobe stock images and video but don't have the server capability of storing kilobytes of preference data? This point is perplexing.

I can, of course, at any time, cancel my Creative Cloud subscription and go back to MS Paint. Of course I'm not likely to do that because there are a thousand other things that Photoshop excels at. I just want Adobe® to feel like it's not resting on its laurels, but rather working to satisfy customer needs like this one. 

Is this post a bit ridiculous, facetious, and sensational? Admittedly, yes. But so is the removal of sync-able settings in Photoshop. Just returning like for like. Only problem is I'm easy to ignore. Please do respond Adobe®. Show me where I'm wrong and help us all understand the real motivation behind this. A little honest transparency will bring so much more customer loyalty and much more understanding on our part. David, did you get permission to post more details on this? I really want to be a happy customer posting worthwhile feature requests instead of cathartic rants. Thanks for bearing with me.

I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what happened to Sync Settings and now I see that it was removed. As someone in the industry I seriously hope you guys did proper UX diligence with prioritization, and I hope whatever you guys came out with made sense overall but to THIS user, this was something you all should have bumped up instead of ditching. This is maddening. Come on guys. 

I maintain two CC accounts so I can use a laptop and three other Macs. With Lightroom, which never had the sync capabilities, it keeps all the presets, settings, etc. in a single location which works well using a symlink to Dropbox. So every time I make a change or create a preset, or change a preference in one computer, it quickly updates on all the others so when I launch Lightroom there, it's updated. Caveat: the 'default' catalog is changed too, so if the catalog isn't in the same location on each machine and named the same, you get the 'cant locate default catalog' message and have to locate it each time. I work around this by keeping an alias of the catalog or catalogs I use frequently on each machine on the desktop so I launch LR from those. 
Photoshop is really difficult however, now that they've dropped the sync feature. The solution above is fine in a pinch but not for four machines used frequently depending on project and location. I've tried the dropbox solution with PS but it's been problematic. For one thing, PS keeps parts in different places on the system and so I've had issues when I tried that to the point I gave up. If anyone has gotten a working method to store PS settings/plug-ins/preferenes on a symlinked cloud system I'd love to hear it. But in my experience, I've not found a reliable workaround as I did in LR. Maybe Adobe should re-examine how they have setup the cloud services and do something using the cloud storage that comes with the CC accounts to sync installations across multiple devices.

My solution.
1/  %$#%!
2/ Install Photoshop 2014 from Creative Cloud 
3/ import the settings to CC2014
4/ Transfer them to 2015 
Adobe come on!!!! that is not a good soloution 

Argh! This was one of the main reasons I preferred photoshop. What really annoys me is the lack of responsibility  for their users. I adjust settings toolpresets, etc. I am dependent on this and in a hurry to finish my work for my client. And here I am on another location. I have to travel almost 2 hours back to my home office to manually copy my settings etc.  almost 5 hours time spent on %$#%!

I can't believe they removed it and have no solution for it. Now I run around with an USB Stick and before starting Photoshop I've to get my settings out of the system folders and take it to the second workplace and overwrite the settings there once a week sometimes daily.

Thanks for not supporting the customers and still delivering an unstable Photoshop CC 2015!