Syncing iCal and Contacts with two computers

simonr · 11-15-2007, 04:18 AM

I have just replaced my separate mobile phone and PDA with an iPhone. I need to be able to sync my calendar and contacts both with my PC at work (Outlook on Windows XP) and at home with my Mac Book. I'm sure I'm not the only one in this boat as there must be lots of people who need to keep their info synced between their home and work computers.

This doesn't seem to work as well on the iPhone as it did with my Palm PDA. When I sync with either computer after having synced with the other, the contact and calendar sync is disabled in iTunes by default and I have to check the boxes every time. This brings up a dialogue to tell me that the iPhone has been synced with another user account and asking me if I want to Replace Info or Merge Info. I have so far always opted to Merge, because Replace would presumably overwrite any changes made on the other computer and synced to the iPhone. The problem with this seems to be that any item that I deleted on the other computer will be restored to the iPhone instead of being deleted on the computer I am are currently syncing with as it should be. In other words the computer you are syncing with always seems to override the iPhone, rather than be a true 2-way sync of the most up-to-date info.

So, how can I get this to work such that any changes (modifications, additions and deletions) that I make on one computer get correctly synced with the iPhone and thence with the other computer? Preferable without having to check the boxes to sync calendar and contacts every single time.

Also I get conflicts every time I sync on either machine. I think I am getting fewer each time, but often I can see no difference between the two versions.

termleech · 11-15-2007, 08:02 AM

I know it's not an ideal solution, but if you can't get the iPhone to sync correctly, use a third party solution such as Plaxo or Funambol to sync you outlook at work with your computer at home and vice versa. Then when you sync with either computer it should basically be the same information minus anything you change on the iPhone. It's not a perfect solution but it works pretty well. I've done it for quite some time.

I will warn you of one thing. If you have people's birthdays set up, you will get duplicates (and a lot of them) if you sync between two computers. I'm not sure why, but for most of the people I had birthdays for, I ended up with like 15 of them on the calendar. I finally ended up setting up funambol and it works pretty well. I'm hoping they get the calendar part working on the iPhone then I'll never have to sync through iTunes again. It will all be OTA.

charlesd · 11-20-2007, 12:25 PM

Originally Posted by termleech

I know it's not an ideal solution, but if you can't get the iPhone to sync correctly, use a third party solution such as Plaxo or Funambol to sync you outlook at work with your computer at home and vice versa. Then when you sync with either computer it should basically be the same information minus anything you change on the iPhone. It's not a perfect solution but it works pretty well. I've done it for quite some time.

I will warn you of one thing. If you have people's birthdays set up, you will get duplicates (and a lot of them) if you sync between two computers. I'm not sure why, but for most of the people I had birthdays for, I ended up with like 15 of them on the calendar. I finally ended up setting up funambol and it works pretty well. I'm hoping they get the calendar part working on the iPhone then I'll never have to sync through iTunes again. It will all be OTA.

I use a Mac at work, and a PC at home. I set up at home, synced with iTunes and outlook for addresses. Now I want to sync with the Mac at work to get those addresses and to regularly update my work calender - but get nothing when I connect. Am I not doing something basic? I have itunes on the work Macbook but nothing registers when I connect the iPhone.

meiphones_brill · 11-20-2007, 12:31 PM

I use .mac to sync my home and work macs - and only sync the iphone with my mac at home (seeing as I'm there more often than i'm at work - yay)

This works like a dream - and you get your bookmarks, application preferences, and loads of stuff synched on the macs as well as share a huge iDisk to put files in from either end.

Treat yourself - buy two macs. Honest - it's proper mint

charlesd · 11-20-2007, 12:39 PM

but assuming that I am looking for a marginally less expensive solution?
Why doesn't my work Mac show any sign of noticing I have just plugged the iPhone in?

meiphones_brill · 11-20-2007, 03:27 PM

Originally Posted by charlesd

but assuming that I am looking for a marginally less expensive solution?
Why doesn't my work Mac show any sign of noticing I have just plugged the iPhone in?

I think Leech had the best realistic solution. The mac should launch Itunes when the iphone's geplugged but if not - open itunes manually and make sure it's the current version 7.5 or thereabouts.

Bizarrely Apple doesn't support its own device in iSync and went for itunes only. Then again I've never found iSync any use for anything.

charlesd · 11-21-2007, 03:30 AM

Originally Posted by meiphones_brill

I think Leech had the best realistic solution. The mac should launch Itunes when the iphone's geplugged but if not - open itunes manually and make sure it's the current version 7.5 or thereabouts.

Bizarrely Apple doesn't support its own device in iSync and went for itunes only. Then again I've never found iSync any use for anything.

Thanks - I think it may simply be an issue with the iTunes version on the Mac.
Your help much appreciated.