Hawk Wings » Google calendar

Syncman 1.1: Address Book-Gmail sync app gets new features

Tim Gaden — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:37:15 +0000

The recent 10.5.3 update introduced built-in syncing with Gmail Contacts in Address Book.

Despite this, developers of third-party Address Book-Gmail syncing apps are soldiering on. Both SpanningSync and Syncman developers point out that 10.5.3 offers this only for Leopard users and, even then, only for Leopard users with an iPhone or iTouch device.

Jeff Nichols, Syncman developer, has just released a new improved version of his sync app, lending credence to his claim that Wateree (his software firm) is a “small and agile company that can adjust quickly to our customers needs and desires”.

Syncman 1.1 can now be configured to run as a menubar utility and to load automatically when you fire up Mac OS X.

Behind the scenes further tweaks have improved the way Google Talk address are mapped to Jabber addresses in Address Book, and improved treatment of how Address Book’s Last Name field is handled.

But the number one request of users was for scheduled syncing, and Syncman delivers on that too.

The Preferences allow you to set the period of the sync and to customise the level of confirmation you want before it makes any changes:

Confirmation is another nice feature of Syncman, that is lacking in Address Book’s default sync option. As Jeff puts it:

Syncman respects the effort you’ve put into maintaining your Address Book, and therefore gets your confirmation before making any changes that could potentially cause you a whole bunch of headache.

So Syncman offers a confirmation dialog displaying potential changes before it makes them:

SpanningSync has also recently launched a 2.0 beta of its software, which is addition to syncing iCal and Google Calendar, will also sync Address Book data, including photos (Syncman is promised to have this feature soon too). The beta is free (but is a beta, so backup!).

SpanningSync costs either USD 25 for a year’s subscription or USD 65 for a once-off, unlimited licence.

Syncman is shareware and costs USD 15 (€9.95). You can get a 30-day free demo from Wateree’s web site. address book, gmail, google calendar, syncing, menubar, contacts, scheduling, nimble agile developersSimilar Posts:

Fluid 0.9.2: Make your own site-specific web apps

Tim Gaden — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:36:29 +0000

Fluid has just been updated. It’s a clever new app that allows you to make your own site-specific browsers (including the power of Greasemonkey scripts in Cocoa).

Along with a raft of bugfixes, the new version (0.9.2) can now turn the browswers into menubar items for even greater flexibility.

Longtime Hawk Wings readers will remember the small flurry of site-specific web apps two years — Michael McCracken’s WebMail app for Gmail and Chip Cuccio’s GCal app for Google Calendar. With no bookmarks, other windows and other temptations, these apps allowed users to focus on their productivity without distractions.

Fluid works on the same principle. Based on Mozilla’s Prism app , it creates a site-specific app, complete with its own Dock icon, menubars and other individual settings.

Here are some that I made earlier for Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, mint and facebook:

Now, when I want to get the email done, I open the Gmail app, when I want to unwind I turn to the facebook one. I am never tempted to work when I should be relaxing, nor to relax when I should be at work. (That’s the theory; as every “Getting Things Done” fan knows deep in their heart, in the end no app can save you from yourself!).

The ability to run Greasemonkey scripts inside these Fluid apps is very cool. Previously only really available to Firefox users, Fluid now lets me load my two favourite scripts from userscripts.org so that I can use Gmail with killer keyboard macros and some of the noise taken out of the Gmail interface:

Fluid’s free-standing apps can each have their own preference settings. The overall behaviour of the window is also customizable — overlaid on the Dashboard, normal, floating or embedded in the Desktop. Here, for example, is my mint in Fluid’s simple black HUD style:

A Flickr group – Fluid Icons – offers lots of nice looking Dock icons for various web sites. I scored most of the icons in the screenshot above from there.

The possibilities seem enormous, and this article only scratches the surface of the app’s potential.

This updated version lets you turn a browser into a menubar utility, so that clicking on its menubar icon opens its window–instant, roll-your-own to-do lists in a Fluid-generated Remember the Milk or Stikkit app!

Fluid is freeware and available from the Fluid web site . productivity, GTD, Getting Things Done, webkit, fluid, gmail, google calendar, facebook, mint, google docs, web 2.0, web apps, greasemonkeySimilar Posts:

Spanning Sync gets more reliable

Tim Gaden — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 10:38:44 +0000

Spanning Sync has released a new version (1.1.3) of its iCal-Google Calendar syncing utility, which offers several significant stability improvements.

In particular this release makes large syncing attempts more reliable and less memory-intensive.

Also, in Leopard it now allows the syncing of iCal-Address Book’s Birthday calendar, as well as CalDAV and subscribed calendars.

The developers are quick to point out, however, that Leopard users are still experiencing problems, ranging from data loss to minor annoyances. They offer a short and a lengthy explanation and some tips on Spanning Sync |
Google Groups">how to unstick Leopard iCal when things go wrong.

Spanning Sync casts USD 25 for one year and USD 65 for a life-time licence, although a free trial copy is available from its web site .gmail, google calendar, ical, address book, syncing, leopard, caldavSimilar Posts:

Inside Spanning Sync’s iCal-Google Calendar sync beta

Tim Gaden — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 10:26:48 +0000

The private beta of Spanning Sync’s full two-way iCal and Google Calendar sync app is under way.

Aaron Freedman at MacUser provides a insider’s view of how the app works and how well it works.

It is packaged as a system preference:

Spanning Sync installs not as an application, but a System Preferences panel. In it, you put in your Google Account username and password, and then select which iCal calendars to sync with which Google Calendars. You can also set at which interval to have the calendars sync (or you can just choose to sync only manually), and you can choose to sync alarms on each individual calendar. All of this can be set up very quickly, and once so, you can close System Preferences and, if automatic sync is enables, have your calendars sync in the background.

And it is working pretty well. After some initial duplication problems were sorted out, Aaron is pleased with the app’s performance:

Itâ€™s great to be able to use my Google Calendar on my PC, and use iCal at home, and then be able to sync my calendar to portable devices with iCal.

ical, google calendar, syncing, synching, private beta, productivitySimilar Posts:

Syncing iCal with Google Calendar

Tim Gaden — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 12:43:35 +0000

The clever people at Spanning Sync are working on a service which will allow for full, two-way syncing between Google Calendar and iCal.

This has long been a Holy Grail for Mac users. Now it looks as if it could be in reach, judging from the screencast of a beta version and the screenshots at Spanning Sync.

According to TUAW a private beta test is just starting. When the app launches you will find it here .

[Via TUAW ]ical, google calendar, syncing, plugins, apple, productivitySimilar Posts:

From .Mac to Gmail without pain

Tim Gaden — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 11:02:37 +0000

Matthew Russell at MacDevCenter has produced a magnificent walkthrough with lavish screenshots for switching your online life from .Mac to Google’s many free apps.

He covers moving and forwarding email from .Mac to Gmail, getting your contacts into Gmail with Address Book to CSV converter and how to extract the Mail.app’s Previous Recipients list from the Envelope Index file in your ~/Library/Mail folder.

Using Google Calendar is next up, including exporting calendars from iCal, Google Calendar’s features and using Google Notifier.

Finally, he talks a bit about gDisk which provides a nice way to use some of your Gmail quota space as file storage.

Whether switching your life from .Mac to Google is a good idea is something that he doesn’t answer. mail.app, apple mail, ical, gmail, google calendar, switchingSimilar Posts:

Draining the online calendar swamp

Tim Gaden — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 13:18:28 +0000

The latest TWiT “Inside the Net” podcast deals with online calendar services and the quest for inter-operability.

Guest presenter Scott Mace (Calender Swamp ) talks up Apple’s iCal and Google Calendar which get good marks for working well together (although not always). However,

The biggest problem has been Microsoft Outlook, which I would say most of the world’s calendars are stored in right now. And Outlook has not played well with others.

[Pause the podcast here and get a copy of OMiC which helps Mail.app and iCal play well with Outlook-generated email and calendar data.]

Google Calendar gets Scott’s vote for the most complete solution although his wife (“an Apple bigot”) thinks that iCal is the bees’ knees and she does things with colour in iCal that other calendar apps can only dream about.

The open source calendar app Chandler gets a good rap too, although it is still in beta and has been for a long time.

UPDATE: Hope on the horizon for iCal-Google Calendar synchronisation.ical, online calendaring, google calendar, productivity, outlook, gcalSimilar Posts:

Gcal 0.2: Smaller footprint, tweaks

Tim Gaden — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 12:34:39 +0000

Chip Cuccio’s distraction-free WebKit browser for Google Calendar has been updated.

It now features a new icon and uses less screen space (800×600), which will please people with smaller displays.

Gcal is freeware and available from Chip’s web site .gcal, google calendar, browser, WebKit, productivitySimilar Posts:

Gcal.app: Distraction-free Google Calendar WebKit client

Tim Gaden — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 11:54:08 +0000

Inspired partly by Michael McCracken’s distraction-free, dedicated WebKit browser for Gmail, Chip Cuccio has written one for Google calendar.

It does just what Michael’s does for Gmail, giving you a view of your Google calendar without the toolbars and other things that distract you from your work.

Chip has posted the app, the source code and a screenshot on his web site .

Quick work too, considering recent news.ical, gcal, Google calendar, webkit, productivity, safari, gmailSimilar Posts:

GCalSync: Sync your cell/mobile with GCal

Tim Gaden — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 10:55:31 +0000

GCalSync is an app that offers two-way synchronisation between your mobile/cell phone or Blackberry and Google Calendar.

You can download events from GCal to your mobile phone and upload events created on your mobile, although at the moment, changes made to events on your mobile are not synced.

The past and future date ranges are user-customisable.

Currently the app does not support reminders and treats repeating events as multiple single events, but the developer promises more features soon.

Lots of Nokia handsets are supported as well as many Sony Ericsson models and two Motorola phones (not my RAZR, however, hence no screenshots).

You can read more about it and download the app on the developer’s web site or just point your phone at http://wap.gcalsync.com to get started.Google calendar, cell phone, mobile phone, blackberry, syncing, nokia, productivity Similar Posts: