You can also watch this video at YouTube (but with ads).
MacMost Now 909: Syncing Google Contacts With iOS
Comments: 19 Responses to “MacMost Now 909: Syncing Google Contacts With iOS”
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Hi Gary,
I have the reversed problem. I have no google contacts and would like to have my Mac contacts to appear in Google. It would give me some kind of a security back-up. Does your method do this?
Thanks for everything.
No. That's not how cloud services work. If you are using iCloud, then your contacts are on the iCloud server and you are viewing them from there in the Contacts app. If your contacts are in Google, then you are viewing them from there in your Contacts app. But syncing them across two services is problematic as there is no bridge to tell each of them about changes. And then it would look like you had two of everyone in your Contacts app.
A simple backup would make more sense. But cloud services back up automatically. Still, an archive to protect yourself from accidental deletions would be OK.
If you are actually storing your contacts on your Mac -- locally, not cloud at all -- then I would move them to the cloud service of your choice by using whatever import function is available. Not sure of your situation, so I'll stop there.
I prefer to keep my contacts synced with iCloud but I like having them in Google's cloud, too, mainly for Google Voice. The only way to do this and avoid duplication is to keep them only on Google as you describe on this vid (which I don't want to do) or to manually import the contacts into Google. I do the latter once a month or so to keep the contact list on Google fairly up to date. Easy to
I tend to use all fields and create my own for my contacts that have a variety of touch points and interactions that I'd like to remember. For instance I use the notes field to keep track of conversations (this comes in handy when dealing with utility companies, contractors etc).
What I've just noticed is that in icloud, searching includes ALL fields, and in google it does not. This is a major oversight on Google's part and as such icloud is my main database that I work from.
Be prepared to delete a lot of copies
I followed your steps, but when I hit 'next' I got a "cannot Connect Using SSL" it asks do you want to try setting up the account w/o SSL. I tried but tht failed also. What am I doing wrong?
Are you sure you are choosing CardDAV and not another option?
Yes, I chose the CarDAV!
Not sure what could be wrong, then. Password or perhaps the ID is wrong? Impossible to say without first-hand investigation.
Is this also the way to get one's Yahoo contacts into the Address Book?
You don't need to do anything special. When you add your Yahoo account in Settings, it should add Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Reminders and Notes. Check you Settings app and look in Mail, Contacts, Calendars and then select your Yahoo account (assuming you have already added it before).
@John - try the AtoG extension on OSX. It will export all your Apple Addy Book contacts to a Google format. Upload that to Google for your incremental update. DONE.
Wish I could do this - more detail would be appreciated :-)
On my iOS devices I have defined my Google account at the Settings as an "Microsoft Exchange" account. This settings is simpler (only one account) and syncs easily Mail, Contacts and Calendar (but not the Notes).
I'm confused about that video. Was that IF you are NOT using icloud ONLY? Or even IF you are using icloud? Because you mentioned something at the end regarding google's cloud - which I don't know anything about. I did everything you said and the account was created but I do not have "Google Contacts" appear when I open my contacts.....
Perhaps then you have no contacts stored in your Google account. In that case, you don't need the technique described in this video.
Google's cloud services include email (called Gmail, contacts, Google calendar, etc).
Hi Gary,
Thanks for MacMost.
I have had this set-up running for a while. However, there most have been an "update or patch" recently. Because now the CardDAV does not work in OSX Addressbook. The mail and calendar works, but Addressbook cannot validate password.
Is this a know issue?
Still working for me. Perhaps it has something to do with settings in your Google account -- security or special characters in your password or something else.
Thank you! I have been trying to understand why new contacts added on my computer were not showing up on my phone. Somehow an older version of my contacts migrated over and then...froze.
I did have to take a deep breath at the end of the process you describe and press "delete all existing contacts on phone". It seems to have worked. If you can figure out how to get/see groups in my contacts life will be good.