Using Google as a *free* MobileMe alternative (with push contacts & calendar)
For those who dont want to shell out the $99 for a MobileMe subscription, here’s a free alternative with support for push Contacts & Calendar on your iPod touch or iPhone, thanks to NuevaSync and Google.
(You’ll need the iPhone 2.0 software for this, if you havent upgraded already. Plug your device in and click ‘Check for Updates’ in iTunes)
NuevaSync is a new website which links Google Calendar and Contacts with their Exchange server, letting you sync your Google items with devices that support Microsoft Exchange.
First up, you’re going to need a Google Account (you’ll need a Gmail account if you wish to sync your contacts too.) if you dont already have one (Google Apps accounts work fine). You can sign up here.
Once that is done, NuevaSync reccommends you verify your account, by filling out a simple CAPTCHA.
For regular Gmail and Calendar accounts go to:
https://www.google.com/accounts/DisplayUnlockCaptcha
For Google Apps accounts go to:
https://www.google.com/a/YOURDOMAIN.com/UnlockCaptcha (substitute ‘YOURDOMAIN’ with well, your domain!)
Read the rest after the jump ;-)
So, you’ve got your Gmail account set up, and you’ve verified your account. Now, here’s the fun stuff.
Surf on over to NuevaSync, and create a new account. It only takes a second.
When you’ve verified your account, login to set your settings. We’ll start with Calendar. Click ‘Change’ next to the Calendar option, and choose ‘Google’ (or disabled if you dont want to sync your calendar). Click Change to confirm. On the next page, click the link to configure your account.
On this page, enter in your Google Account details (full email address, eg test@gmail.com) of the account you wish to sync with. All of your calendars will be synced to your device.
Click Save.
Alright, that’s the Calendar all sorted. Now, on to your contacts!
Head back to the status page on NuevaSync, where you’ll hit ‘change’ next to Contacts. Here, you can choose from your Google or your Plaxo contacts. I’m selecting Google for this guide. Again, you’ll need to fill out your Google Account info of the account you wish to use.
Save, and back to the status page; it should look something like this:
So, we’ve got the online part all worked out. Let’s move on to setting up your iPod/iPhone.
Tap ‘Settings’ from your home screen, followed by ‘Mail, Contacts, Calendars’, then ‘Add Account’.
Choose ‘Microsoft Exchange’ from the list of services (it’s the top one).
Under Email, put in the one you used for NuevaSync registration.
Your Username is the one you chose when you registered for NuevaSync, and same for the password.
For description, you can put anything (I decided on ‘NuevaSync’).
Tap ‘Next’.
Your device will now verify your account, and may take a couple of minutes.
After it has been verified, you’ll see a new field, “Server”. Enter “www.nuevasync.com” in here. (without the quotes)
When the next page comes up, make sure you turn off ‘Mail’. You can also toggle Contacts or Calendar if you just want to sync one of them.
Tap ‘Save’.
That’s it, it’s done! You can play around with your push/fetch settings in the Settings.app on your device as well.
Read on to Part two to find out how you can add your Mac into the syncing ‘loop’.
Footnotes;
- This will sync all your calendars, (except ones shared over your domain for Google Apps users), however they will all appear as the one calendar on your iPhone (eg. no colour coding).
- All of your existing contacts & calendars will be wiped from your iPhone, so I’d recommend you make a backup before turning on ‘push’ ;-)
August 14th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
[...] a blog entry on “Using Google as a *free* MobileMe alternative (with push contacts & calendar)“. It appears that only one calendar can be used. Note that Google contacts requires that [...]
August 23rd, 2008 at 12:00 am
mobileme is mostly just a personal information manager, and does not allow for sharing of information, which is an important function of Exchange, so it falls short of being an “exchange alternative”.
September 12th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
[...] Using Google as a free MobileMe alternative (with push contacts & calendar) | Beau Giles Making Push & Fetch for Google Calendars Work for 2.0 Users from ModMyiFone.com by chriscoyne After talking with an Apple Representative today, I was asking more about how to use Push and Fetch features. Especially, for Google calendars to sync to the iPhone calendar. [...]
September 24th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
This worked so fast and easy I don’t know why I didn’t so it before, way better than funambol because it doesnt erase pics and groups from contacts, better than syncje because you don’t have to pay and better than nemussyc because its more reliable, syncs contacts and is compatible with intelliscreen so im happy :)
Kay
September 30th, 2008 at 7:37 am
[...] on setting up NuevaSync inside your iPhone, as well as Windows Mobile and Palm Treo devices. Using Google as a *free* MobileMe alternative (with push contacts & calendar) [Good News for People Who Like Bad News via Lifehacker [...]
September 30th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
[...] Google/iPhone-brugerne har jeg fundet et alternativ til MobileMe som gør Push-synkronisering muligt. Det er stadig i beta, og jeg har endnu ikke eksperimenteret [...]
October 17th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Has anyone considered the fact that you have to pay $20 a month to use the exchange service? That is $240 per year. That is a lot of money for an ad-hoc feature that doesn’t really work. I would stick with the MobileMe for a one time $99 hit per year and you know that it works.
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:18 pm
@earleyedition http://is.gd/X9j
November 7th, 2008 at 10:21 am
@KathleenLD FIXED IT! http://bit.ly/48ZXYN (explains how to do it), https://www.nuevasync.com/ (company that syncs GCal to iPod/iPhone) g/l!
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Just saved $100 or so on @BeauGile’s Free mobile me alternative – http://is.gd/X9j
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Just saved $100 or so on @BeauGiles‘ Free mobile me alternative – http://is.gd/X9j
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:31 am
[...] Free iphone “pushing” via google-nuevasync/exchange server [...]
November 24th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
[...] Using Google as a *free* MobileMe alternative (with push contacts & calendar) | Beau Giles – Sync gmail contacts and calendar with the iPhone via exchange server. [...]
November 25th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
[...] A Free MobileMe Alternative My intents of getting an iPhone began in 2007 when it was introduced – at the time I wasn’t sure it met my cost/value needs. Only after breaking the applications barrier and proving its commitment with the 2.0 overhaul, Apple made the decision much easier. I finally got the first 2G generation iPhone at 320$ on eBay. With the launch of MobileMe – Apple changed the rules for personal email/contacts/calendar syncing, bringing the experience of Exchange push technology “to the rest of us”. Apple’s one step forward to this uncharted scene was predictively followed by a step backward, a yearly 99$ price tag. Yes, you do get an additional few gigs of net storage and beautifully designed set of web apps, but these just don’t measure up to the tax. In this post I will describe a free alternative for MobileMe – for an iPhone, Mac OS X and Gmail setup, using Apple’s native applications – As I find the best solution around. It took me a few days to get it going, as expected – it has its ups and downs, and I will try to guide you through everything. Credit goes to Beau Giles for his detailed post on the matter. [...]
November 27th, 2008 at 5:51 am
scopre come sincronizzare il calendario dell’ipodtouch senza usare mobileme ma google :P http://tinyurl.com/6dsafa
December 11th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
I am REALLY impressed with this … Being a tech-head and wanting ALL THE SYNCING IN THE WORLD … Now i am SO much closer … THANK YOU … Easy to setup … Even for us in Australia … lol … My iPhone runs the 2.2 firmware also, no hassle either … Looking forward to seeing a sync with Google tasks though … X-man
December 18th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
[...] my own guide here – Using Google as a *free* MobileMe alternative (with push contacts & calendar) | Beau Giles – for push contacts and calendar on my iPhone, works well, and free too! Have Gmail set up as a [...]
December 27th, 2008 at 12:19 am
@malcolli I have MobileMe and don’t really recommend it… links http://tinyurl.com/6dsafa & http://tinyurl.com/52fs8q
January 5th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Who said nothing in life is free?
January 6th, 2009 at 10:15 am
The problem I’m having is that I think NuevaSync is trying to sync all the calendars in our company to my phone. Is there anyway to only sync with the Calendar that is assigned to my email address or default calendar?
Thanks.
January 10th, 2009 at 4:52 am
[...] Read more here. And welcome back to reality. [...]
January 31st, 2009 at 5:03 am
Just found this article while researching for MobileMe alternatives.
I found another alternative for the desktop syncing stuff. Might be interesting for other readers, too. It’s called fruux.
The app syncs the addressbook, ical and safari bookmarks between macs. Just installed it on my iMac and my Macbook. Works without any issues so far.
February 13th, 2009 at 8:18 am
yeah im having problems with the nuevasync setup
the calendar shows a red status
the the contacts is green
and both email & tasks only give me the (disabled) option
wut do i do?
February 13th, 2009 at 8:18 am
yeah im having problems with the nuevasync setup
the calendar shows a red status
the the contacts is green
and both email & tasks only give me the (disabled) option? wut do i do?
February 17th, 2009 at 10:30 am
How Dumb am I? I did the setup and lost all my contacts off my Iphone because now it syncs off gmail.
May 7th, 2009 at 3:24 am
Thanks!
It was very useful for me.
Good luck!
July 19th, 2008 at 2:42 am
Hi Ted – my first sync took about 2 minutes – but I have barely any events or contacts.
July 19th, 2008 at 3:15 am
Sorry Derek – not just yet. However, NuevaSync have plans to add IMAP support so soon you’ll be able to add push gmail to the mix as well.