Comments on: Syncing bliss with the iPhone

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:20:10 +0000

Hi Colin

Thanks for the initial write up in Jul 07. Since both you and Eliza have both your calendars on each other’s iPhone based on the sharing-setup over google, when you make changes to your schedule on your iphone, will the changes be updated only to your Google/ Ical calendars ?

What if I had personal info on my iCal on my mac at home and work info on a PC at work. Can I still use your methodology to sync both calendars and contacts using google calendar as the medium with spanning sync ?

By: John Mactavish

John Mactavish — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:19:00 +0000

if i connect my iphone to another computer. will i be able to backup the info of the iphone onto the computer (transfer all my data- notes, bookmarks, home screen icons, etc), or will the data on my iphone be erased?

i am planning to get another laptop and get rid of this old laptop.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:38:22 +0000

I am wanting to sync my contact and calendar on both my work and home computers. I don’t just mean move them to my iPhone from my work computer and never see them on my hoe computer. If I change a business contact, I want it at home…if I change a friend’s contact (or a calendar entry) I want it at work also. Syncing to multiple machines doesn’t really work well for this instance. Buying the subscription seems that it would work, but Plaxo is free. It syncs up my Address Book, iCal, Outlook Contacts, Outlook Calendar, Gmail Calendar, MSN, Yahoo, etc..
And if your .Mac account syncs automatically when something is updated, then it will be updated also.

If I change one thing on one machine, all of the other devices are all automatically synced with their server.

Now if the iPhone would only allow wireless syncing….

By: Carlos

Carlos — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:56:46 +0000

This is what you call “Syncing bliss”?! Sounds to me like it took a lot of tinkering and workarounds to make something happen which a revolutionary mobile smartphone should be able to do right out of the box. I really can’t see why Apple doesn’t manage to provide an option to sync your device’s calender with 2 machines or more if necessary. It’s not like having an office machine and another at home is a rare setup by any means. This should be basic stuff and it should be covered by now. Especially if you google it and find a zillion sites with people looking for solutions to this problem/fault.

And don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hater. I own an iPhone myself and love it. It’s just that Apple seems to always drop the “usability” ball when it comes to syncing their devices. The device itself is great. Syncing not so much.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:23:21 +0000

I just got an iPod Touch and was wondering if there are other PC calendar programs besides Outlook that iTouch can sync with?
Also, can I do this? Sync my music to my home computer and my calendar to my work calendar?
Thanks.

By: scott

scott — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 06:05:49 +0000

I’m an iPhone newbie, and I am tryin to sync photos from the phone to my laptop. Am I missing something? This seems like it should be easy.

By: Colin Devroe

Colin Devroe — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 07:30:19 +0000

Kirby: You’ll probably need to call Apple for that one. My guess is that they’ll need to deauthorize the old computer and authorize the new computer manually? Really though, I don’t have any advice besides to give Apple Support a call.

By: Kirby

Kirby — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 00:03:57 +0000

I recently spilled liquid on my laptop putting it out of commission. After that, I purchased movies on iTunes using my account but my friend’s computer. How can I add those movies I purchased on my friend’s computer to my iPhone without deleting all the music/pictures that I currently have on my iPhone?

By: Colin Devroe

Colin Devroe — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 17:35:30 +0000

Jeff: Unfortunately you are not allowed to take music and/or video from any else’s computer using the iPhone. Burn a CD it probably the easiest way. Or, there are a few applications out there specifically made to do this – but again, it isn’t against the EULA.

By: jeff

jeff — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:14:48 +0000

Anyone know why my iphone will not let me sync with more than one computer for music and videos?? I tried to get some music and a movie off my bro’s computer and it erased all the pictures and music I already had on the phone. How can I get music from other peoples pc’s without it erasing what I already have on there? Thanks, J.

By: Colin Devroe

Colin Devroe — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 14:05:23 +0000

Kirt: Follow the same instructions that I have here, instead of using iCal though, just share Google Calendars with your work email address or simply keep two separate calendars so that whether you sync at work, or at home, you will be syncing the same information.

By: Kirt

Kirt — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:24:06 +0000

I originally sync’d my iPhone with my home PC. I got my calandar, contacts, music, photos etc. without too much problem. However, I need to keep my calandar and contacts up to date and sync’d with my office PC as well. When I attached my iPhone to my office PC I only sync’d my Info (calandar and contacts) and that is working fine. Now I’m afraid to try to sync my Info from the office back to the home PC. Have you, or are you aware of anyone who is doing what I’m trying to describe successfully? Thanks for your help.

By: Diana

Diana — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 16:36:13 +0000

Nice write up, explained well. I’ve been wanting to do something like this for quite some time.

Same situation, we’ve got two Macs, two sets of different calendars, but I wanted one calendar we could share and update regarding those unified events (BBQs, visits with the parents…). Currently we send invites back and forth, but I think it’s a pain for every single thing, and then when you make a change you have to send another round of invites.

This also solves my problem of being able to update my iCal calendars while at work. I don’t have to have my laptop sitting next to me all day just for the possibly I want to make a change to an event.

Now I just need an iPhone for myself.