Google (contacts/calendar) to iCloud. what is the best way?

[biggjoe]

Hmmm...I wonder if it's meant to be a true bi-directional sync feature??

 

[DANNCAS]

just got the phone

I too dont like gmail. I use it for only junk mail. I do use Yahoo more. But I dont like either when they try to add anyone i evr had contact with to my contact like. I like my outlook it only has who I want and doesnt anoy me. I don't 200 plus contacts

 

[joanthansblog]

I had my google contacts synced to lion and to ios.
all i did was to enable icloud sync in lion and in ios.
then all my contacts appeared in icloud.
if i turn off google now and only have icloud sync enabled then it works exactly the same as if i turn off icloud and only have google.
i have them both on, just incase

 

[9thWonder]

my only solution was to export from google to a .vcf. Then i dropped it into an empty icloud contacts page. Then i manually edited the address fields. Luckily i only had about 10 addresses in there. i don't write many letters. Also needed to edit some birthdays. For some reason if i didn't have a year in the birthday in google when i exported it and added it to icloud it added 1970 as the year. Then when done i dropped hi res pics into icloud contacts from my desktop browser interface.

 

[sillypop]

Surprise! With iCloud, there more new known issues! They're at the top of the list on the web page above. Keep your data separated according to platform and you'll be a happy camper. Since I did it my way, I have spent maybe 5 minutes this year ironing out any issues, and I've eliminated my IT guy (I didn't like him anyway, he was a tool...). If anyone tells you synching with Google is easy, well, read the hundreds of new posts on Google's Help Center that indicate something like "my iPhone/iPad won't sync to my Google account, waaaah" or "my Google contacts are all ******ed up, wahhhh". Too bad, so sad - do it my way.

Bones, you are saying keep the platform contacts separate right?

But say one enters a contact on their iPhone (iCloud), and then wants to send an email in Gmail using that Contact, it's not going to be there...

How do you keep them in Sync if they're separate?

Confused

 

[bonesb]

Bones, you are saying keep the platform contacts separate right?

But say one enters a contact on their iPhone (iCloud), and then wants to send an email in Gmail using that Contact, it's not going to be there...

How do you keep them in Sync if they're separate?

Confused

Don't be confused. Read my earlier post in this thread. I keep my contacts essentially duplicated but each platform completely separate - I use (and mandate for my own company) a vCard as a basis for a contact, but then import each vCard into a Google account or Outlook account individually. I don't sync them but make sure our platforms are essentially duplicates of each other (redundancy). When a contact is no longer needed, it's removed from each of the four platforms we use. Some may say the way I do it it's a PITA, but each contact add/delete takes maybe 10 seconds to import and verify. If we use Google Apps via the web interface, or an iOS or Mac, or Outlook, each contact is properly formatted.

Another simple means of getting a vCard into a Gmail account - mail it to that account and add it from the Inbox - QED.

I know that synching across platforms should "just work" - and I don't mean the Mac platform or the Windows platform, but the vCard/Google CSV/Outlook CSV/Yahoo Contacts formats - keeping a file isolated to its platform (Google's exporting leaves much to be desired (like doing it the same way every single time - it doesn't). Synching across platforms doesn't "just work" and since I started doing it my way we've had not one problem with duplicates or some other synching headache. I've read the "it works for me" posts - whatever, it's just a matter of time... I'm not anti-Gmail, not in the slightest way...

 

[sillypop]

Don't be confused. Read my earlier post in this thread. I keep my contacts essentially duplicated but each platform completely separate - I use (and mandate for my own company) a vCard as a basis for a contact, but then import each vCard into a Google account or Outlook account individually. I don't sync them but make sure our platforms are essentially duplicates of each other (redundancy). When a contact is no longer needed, it's removed from each of the four platforms we use. Some may say the way I do it it's a PITA, but each contact add/delete takes maybe 10 seconds to import and verify. If we use Google Apps via the web interface, or an iOS or Mac, or Outlook, each contact is properly formatted.

Another simple means of getting a vCard into a Gmail account - mail it to that account and add it from the Inbox - QED.

I know that synching across platforms should "just work" - and I don't mean the Mac platform or the Windows platform, but the vCard/Google CSV/Outlook CSV/Yahoo Contacts formats - keeping a file isolated to its platform (Google's exporting leaves much to be desired (like doing it the same way every single time - it doesn't). Synching across platforms doesn't "just work" and since I started doing it my way we've had not one problem with duplicates or some other synching headache. I've read the "it works for me" posts - whatever, it's just a matter of time... I'm not anti-Gmail, not in the slightest way...

So you telling me each time you remove or add a contact you have to manually do it in 4 places?

Wow. I agree with everyone that is a huge PITA. QED

Sorry.

 

[bonesb]

So you telling me each time you remove or add a contact you have to manually do it in 4 places?

Wow. I agree with everyone that is a huge PITA. QED

Sorry.

For what? I've seen endless thread titles about sync problems, duplication errors, and general whining. I have none of those problems, and neither do any of my 20-odd employees using my GAL - ever. A few tweaks like this to my workflow, and I cut out my IT guy - $80k per year saved. I've spent maybe 8-10 minutes this entire year managing my contacts lists. So, it's not a PITA, and not everyone disagrees with me - I just see it as others simply don't get sync platforms and don't know how to parse data efficiently. I offered my advice, use it or don't - and you and maybe 8-10 people that are following this thread isn't "everyone". About the copy, I wrote an Applescript - executable from the Finder, and the copy takes two clicks of a mouse. QED.

I'm using part of my IT budget and taking me to Hawaii and Pohnpei for some sun and fun. Thanks in part to my workflow change. Yeah, you're not so much the expert, eh?

 

[warmwater]

Current problem solved!

Okay, here is my solution to this that works really well for me. Here is what I want:
Full field labels from iCloud. (usually Google changes email fields to Other)
Full res pics for incoming calls.
If Google Contacts offered these then I wouldn't bother with iCloud.
So what I did was:
Import my Google contacts into iCloud. (see previous post in this thread).
I already had Google Exchange set up and running.
Turn on iCloud Contacts on iPhone.
iOS5 automatically links exact names without showing them as duplicates.
Under All Contacts do any editing you want (set pic, label fields, etc.)
That will update both iCloud AND Google.
iOS5 is smart enough to use iCloud Contact info first so you get all the benefit of iCloud but any updates also get pushed to Google Contacts.
I've been using it for the last few hours and so no drawbacks.
I think this will work for the majority out there that have been sealing with this issue.

The above alost worked but was missing one step. I have solved it! I want the same things mentioned above, the main thing I was missing was full resolution pictures for calls made and received.
I started with a clean export of Google contacts, cleaned off my Iphone 4S through Itunes, cleaned off all contacts from the Mac Address book then began.
First synced Iphone via the exchange method, now I have a synced IPhone and google contacts list

I make sure that the phone and the mac do not sync address or calendars through Itunes. This solution does not use Itunes for anything.

I then turn on Icloud and have it sync with my Mac Address book
There is still nothing in either at this point.

Then I open address book on my Mac and double click the VCard format I exported from google contacts. (This is found at the Contacts Settings page at Google, I exported every type just to be sure). I now have a Mac address book and ICloud syncing perfectly, but it still does not know anything about my Iphone

I then turn on Icloud as mentioned above, on my Iphone 4. Now on my Iphone Under Groups I have All Contacts, Exchange/Contacts and iCloud/All ICloud

Now I go to Settings, Mail Contacts and Calendars, scroll down to the Contacts option and under Default account I click to iCloud.

Just did this, but now when I take a picture for a contact it syncs instantly via the cloud to google contacts, icloud and my mac address book and shows up when that contact calls me, at least it has for a few minutes, after 5 minutes, I have found it no longer shows the full picture when I call them.