How to Sync your iPhone with iCal and Google Calendar
So I bought an iPhone. “Finally,” I said to myself, “I will be able to get my life organised!” Never will I forget an appointment, a work meeting or a task, because I will always have my calendar with me wherever I am.Alas, it was not to be. When I was at home, I would enter appointments in iCal. At work, I used Google Calendar. And outside of that, I would make appointments in my iPhone. Trouble was, they were 3 separate calendars, and they did not play well together. Entries made in one would not show up in the other, let alone the third. Editing an entry on one system would no always show up edited on another. I could sync iCal with my iPhone, using iTunes, but when I tried to add the Google Calendar, it either did not work reliably or made a huge mess of disjointed calendars on all devices.There had to be a better way.What follows is my own experience, using forum advice and procedures set up by Google, using Google sync. I am using an iMac with Snow Leopard, I have a standard Google account, and I have an iPhone 3GS with version 3 OS. This works for me, and I am offering this advice to you at your risk. I take no responsibility for lost data.Here we go….The trick is to use Google’s new Google Sync system, making Google’s Calendar (gCal) the central hub, and linking iCal to gCal and the iPhone to gCal. Once set up, all your calendars will look identical in all 3 devices, and edits made on one device will show up on the other two within seconds, if you are on a Wi-Fi network.What you sync system will look like when finished is this:
iCal <==> gCal <==> iPhone
Step 1 - Get a Google Account
If you haven’t already, sign up with Google (here) for a free account. This will give you access to a host of Googles free services, including gMail, photo storage and Google Calendar.
Step 2 - Back Up Your Data
This cannot be stressed enough. When we create our sync, gCal will be our primary Calendar, and any data you have on iCal or the iPhone Calendar will be lost. Back them up now, before you proceed any further.