greg hughes - dot net - Two-way sync between Outlook and Google Calendar

Monday, 10 March 2008

Two-way sync between Outlook and Google Calendar

Ahhh, a big thank-you to Google. I can now sync both directions between Outlook 2007 and my Google Calendar account thanks to Google Calendar Sync. Simply install one little program that occupies (another) space in the taskbar, and set it to sync as often as you wish. Simple as that. I like simple.

I just installed the app, specified my Google Apps account (yep, it work with the Apps calendars, too) and everything was perfect. Can't ask for more than that.

You can set the direction of information flow (from Google Calendar to Outlook, from Outlook to Google Calendar, or both directions), as well.

Quick, useful, easy and it "just works." This whole mobility concept is starting to become more and more usable and seamless. Nice.

UPDATE: In the comments and in email, a couple smart people have asked some important questions regarding whether the app syncs everything it needs to. My thoughts: "So, there's certainly room for improvement, and it looks like some relatively simple enhancements with corresponding configuration options would make this an even better app for a broader range of users."

Add/Read: Comments [4]

Mobile | Tech

Monday, 10 March 2008 13:39:02 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

Monday, 10 March 2008 14:25:41 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

I was so happy to read this, and then I installed it and tried it.

Google will only sync appointments I create, so I get this totally fragmented perception of what my schedule is online.

I'm totally about moving my apps to the cloud, I've pretty much quit using excel at home, and use google docs. But if I can't see all the appointments on my calendar, what's the use?

Until google figures out how to overcome this hurdle, the google calendar is only good for moving data from my personal life, to my work calender, and not the way I really want it.

I hate having to open my work machine, vpn in, etc. just to check to see if I have a meeting the next day... come on google, you're better than this.

John Batdorf

Monday, 10 March 2008 17:26:16 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

Did it actually sync all your events?

Omar Shahine

Monday, 10 March 2008 21:46:35 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

To Omar's point, it looks like it is syncing anything where I am in an address/participant field, but on the rare occasion that's not true (like in one case where I added an event item from a link on a web site), it's not syncing. John's comments about it only syncing the items he creates is interesting to me, since my experience is not quite the same. Hmmm... This could be better. In my case it's not a deal-killer (at least not at this point), but I can see where it would be for some.

I also noticed that only the primary calendar is included in the sync if using more than one calendar in Outlook. I have a second calendar that I use occasionally, but again not a deal-breaker.

So, there's certainly room for improvement, and it looks like some relatively simple enhancements with corresponding configuration options would make this an even better app for a broader range of users.

Greg

Wednesday, 12 March 2008 08:30:51 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

But why only Outlook 2007? There is a huge chunk of the world who won't downgrade to Outlook 2007, and a huge chunk who are happy with Outlook 2003.

Google is so nearly there with a killer app - I've been looking for a proper cost effective solution to this for my family (i.e. cheap not corporate) for over ten years, and the best option I can find is to write my own, or buy an exchange server for my house with OWA.

Ollie

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