Sync Your Mobile and Desktop Calendars: Possibilities and Pitfalls

Smarthphones, cloud computing, and the ubiquity of Wi-Fi and wireless internet access has created some new demands from consumers and users of tech gadgets. Furthermore, it seems that the lives of average citizens have grown busier and busier and the need for calendars and time management have grown. I know this is particularly true for me. New technology has removed the need for paper calendars and calendars that a person may carry with him. Nowadays even the most basic phone has a calendar application of some kind. Also there are numerous types of desktop and internet-based calendars to help users manage their time and errands. But these two types of technology are most powerful when used together.

A Quick Word About iPhone

I am a Mac user but I am not an iPhone user. iPhone is a powerful smartphone and has great support for Mac OS X's native iCal app as well as Microsoft Outlook and these settings can be made right in iTunes when you sync your iPhone to your computer. The aim of this article is to help Mac and Windows users who are not iPhone users, get to their calendar information no matter where they are!

To Google Calendar, or not to Google Calendar...

The world's two major computer operating systems, Mac OS X and Windows, both offer their own proprietary calendar applications known as iCal and Outlook Calendar, respectively. What if you are a Mac user who does not own an iPhone? Or maybe you own an iPod Touch but your smartphone is a Palm device or an Android device. How will you sync your desktop, iPod, and smartphone calendars? Windows users, same question. It is tricky yet possible to sync your desktop calendar with your smartphone so that they interact with each other wirelessly. However this will call for throwing Google Calendar into the mix. The set-up I am about to address will enable you to view and edit your calendar in iCal, your smartphone, and the web.

Since Google Calendar is compatible with nearly every smartphone (check the settings on your particular phone before proceeding), it is key in creating a seamless calendar syncing experience. This is because, except for the iPhone, plugging in and syncing a smartphone via USB can be hit-or-miss. But with this method, editing your calendar on your phone will automatically update your Google Calendar and linking your desktop application with "gCal" will also get your iCal or Outlook Calendar in on things.

First, if you have not already done so, sign up for a Google account which will give you access to all of Google's apps including Calendar and Gmail. Next you must determine how you would like to import information into your Google Calendar and how many separate Calendars you need. I have different calendars for personal and family events and for work events in iCal. In order to reflect this in Google Calendar I had to import each of those calendars into Google Calendar.

1. There is currently no way to sync existing iCal information to Google Calendar. Once linked, all future new iCal events will be added to your Google Calendar but the only way to get existing ones over to "gCal" is to export them from iCal and then import them into Google Calendar. For each different calendar you have in your iCal sidebar, highlight the calendar then go to File>Export and the calendar will be exported in the .ics format.

2. Next go on over to your gCal. If this is the first time you have used Google Calendar then chances are you have only one calendar and it's named with your first and last name (whatever name you used when you signed up for your Google account). This means that any calendars you import at this point will go under this calendar. If this is what you want then proceed to step 4! Go to Settings > Calendar Settings > Calendars. Click "Create New Calendar. Give it a name and fill in the appropriate information.

3. Next click "Import Calendar." Select the location where you saved the calendar (s) you exported from iCal and then select the Google Calendar under which you want the first imported calendar to be placed (if you have only your main calendar then that will be the default calendar chosen).

4. Once imported all of your events will show up in your Google Calendar. Now go back to iCal. Go to iCal > Preferences > Accounts. Press the "plus" (+) at the bottom. Enter your Google username and password and be sure that Google is selected from the drop-down menu. Click Ok. Your iCal will sync and be populated by your Google Calendar information.

5. Delegates: Any Google Calendar that is not your main one. So by default iCal will only sync the main calendar. To get your other calendars pulled down go to iCal > Preferences > Accounts. Select the account you created in step 4. Click the Delegates tab and check the box next to each Google Calendar you wish to have pulled down to your iCal interface.

A Caveat...or Two

For me this set-up is not perfect but it is close. It was the best way I could figure out for having both a desktop client with which to work while being able to update calendars on the go.

One issue you may notice is with the Delegates. Once you have checked the Delegates you want to appear in iCal (step 5) you will notice that for each delegate there is a heading with that delegate calendar's title with a sub heading of the exact same title. It's not a big deal but it definitely creates some extra clutter.

A second caveat is that after you have imported your calendars into Google and have synced iCal with it, there will suddenly be duplicates in iCal. This is because iCal will be showing you events created within iCal itself and events being pulled down from "gCal." And since the events in Google were taken directly from iCal you are left with duplicates. So it will take some time (but not as much as you might think) to remove these duplicates. In the end it was easier for me to simply delete my iCal calendars and allow Google Calendar to be the heart of my time management system.

Of course there are third party tools to help you sync this information but the means I have outlined here are free and readily available to all users. If you are willing to pay for a better solution, I would suggest Missing Sync. But if you decide to go this route I hope it works out the way you like it. It is not a perfect solution but it works best for me and maybe it will work best for you too. Good luck!