

A new way to sync Google Contacts - AndrewDucker
http://gmailblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/a-new-way-to-sync-google-contacts.html

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zrail
CardDAV is very much not a new standard. It's been around for at least a
decade and is based on vCard which has been around for even longer.

That said, I'm glad they're doing this now. For the longest time the only way
to sync contacts on iOS has been to set up google as an exchange provider.

~~~
leephillips
"the only way to sync contacts on iOS has been to set up google as an exchange
provider."

This seems to work fine for me. Is there an advantage to CardDAV?

~~~
chmars
Google Sync via ActiveSync/Exchange has some serious limitations:

'Limited Contact Information. The iOS device can synchronize up to 3 email
addresses. Phone number synchronization is limited to 2 Home numbers, 1 Home
Fax, 1 Mobile, 1 Pager, 3 Work (one will be labeled 'Company Main') and one
Work Fax number.'

[https://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answ...](https://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=139635)

The limitations on the Mac are less serious but still not all address data
gets synced, for example relationships.

~~~
conradev
The lack of relationship syncing is particularly irksome when using Siri.

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AndrewDucker
And it looks like Thunderbird is going to support it natively (when they've
finished rewriting their address book back-end)

<https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=546932>

~~~
acabal
Very cool if true, but didn't they recently announce they're stopping new
development on TB? And that bug was opened in 2010 and isn't assigned to
anyone.

~~~
18pfsmt
In the comments, someone (from last week) linked to this post:
[http://mikeconley.ca/blog/2011/09/07/creating-a-new-
thunderb...](http://mikeconley.ca/blog/2011/09/07/creating-a-new-thunderbird-
address-book-the-feature-page-and-some-literature/)

So, it seems like work on a better address book is ongoing.

------
jasonkostempski
Goodbye Exchange! I also just accidentally figured out iPhone supports syncing
notes in Gmail through IMAP. The behavior is a little wonky but it's pretty
handy. [http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2010/06/save-iphone-
notes-t...](http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2010/06/save-iphone-notes-to-
gmail-account.html)

Now if todo list could just get an open standard maybe we could sync iPhone
Reminders to Gmail Tasks.

~~~
BHSPitMonkey
Aren't Google Tasks synced through Google Calendar as events?

~~~
jasonkostempski
I think the ones with dates do but I use my calendar directly for items like
that, I use my task list for tasks with no time dimension.

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a3_nm
Now, if only Android supported CalDAV and CardDAV synchronization (with your
own server) instead of only offering Google account synchronization and
Exchange synchronization...

~~~
BitMastro
Aren't there any apps that offer CalDAV and CardDAV synchronization?

~~~
phireal
Yes:

[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.dmfs.calda...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.dmfs.caldav.lib)

[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.dmfs.cardd...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.dmfs.carddav.Sync)

are two of which I'm aware, but they're not free. They worked well when I had
my own calendar server, integrating into the "Accounts and sync" section of
the settings, thus providing fairly seamless integration with the native
calendar app, for example.

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peterjmag
Woohoo! This seems to fix the issue with large contact photos (from your
iPhone) being resized down to tiny 48x48 icons by Google Sync. As far as I
know, there wasn't any way around that when syncing via Exchange.

[http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-
topic/mobil...](http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-
topic/mobile/apple-devices/cO2L3s509LQ%5B1-25%5D)

[http://superuser.com/questions/40437/editing-contact-in-
gmai...](http://superuser.com/questions/40437/editing-contact-in-gmail-
overwrites-iphone-contact-photo-with-a-poor-quality-pic)

[http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-
topic/gmail...](http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-
topic/gmail/android/_0aUWkpprsw%5B1-25%5D)

~~~
cochese
This was the first thing I checked for. Finally!

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dmd
Is there any advantage other than ideological to switching to using this if
one already has Exchange sync set up and working for mail/cal/contacts?

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Smudge
Is it just me, or are these flashy new Blogger themes not really that
impressive? This is what the official Gmail blog looks like on my (android)
phone:

[https://plus.google.com/112865255606805639625/posts/8E8Mtx9f...](https://plus.google.com/112865255606805639625/posts/8E8Mtx9fNAx)

~~~
ripperdoc
Not just you. My pet peeve is that their sharing links gadget on the right
side covers the scroll bar on at least Chrome. So, the scroll handle can get
stuck under the links. Not very smart.

~~~
SquareWheel
I keep thinking that widget _is_ the scroll bar and clicking a share button
accidentally.

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andyl
With this scheme, it looks like gmail is the source, and you can sync from
gmail to other devices. Is that true?

Could you go the other way, and have a standalone app be the contact source,
then sync from the app into gmail??

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jasonkolb
Having gone thru hell moving my contact list from iOS to Android, I am for it.
Anything that might lead to better utilities to make contact lists more
portable and easier to mine/use is a big plus as far as I'm concerned.

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markstahler
For iOS specifically, is there any benefit to using CardDAV vs Exchange sync?

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dbloom
It doesn't involve Google paying royalties to Microsoft :-)

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jpxxx
You mean Apple too. :] They've licensed ActiveSync for iOS since 1.0 I
believe.

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tlrobinson
Is this the iCloud/Google Contacts sync solution I've been waiting for?

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antihero
Is there some API documentation?

~~~
icebraining
There's the RFC: <https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6352>

