adding email addresses from gmail to ipad's mail application without using itunes

[88raymond]

my predicament started with the realization that MAIL doesn't access the email addresses in my gmail account. i was horrified as i have more than 900 email addresses stored there. i am not crazy enough to copy each entry one by one! so i looked for ways to do it in simple steps using only my IPAD without having to resort to itunes on another computer. i was also wary that my existing phone contacts, which is almost 2000 entries, would be erased with the itunes option.

i've been searching for days on how to do this with just an ipad, and haven't found any resource available. i just 'discovered' how to do this using safari, mail and cortado.

since it's only my second post, i have no idea how to present the pics for the newbie (like me) to easily understand what i want to share, lol... but i think the pics can speak for themselves. the steps are 'numbered' with my shaky handwriting, lol...

gmail in safari doesn't give you direct access to your contacts. but the link google.com/contacts immediately takes you there! what i did after was choose the entries that i want to transfer and export them and subsequently email to myself via cortado. when i open the message via MAIL, then i can save the email addresses directly to contacts by first MERGING those with existing entries (since some have phone entries but no email addresses) and then choosing CREATE NEW CONTACTS for what's left.

btw, i come from the philippines. i hope to learn also from my 'kababayans' (countrymen) especially on tips on how to easily send free sms to a groups of numbers here, and a lot of other life-altering things

hope this helps. pardon me if the pics do not turn out right, you might find yourselves reading with your head turned sideways... and the sequencing totally wonked out... hahaha!

cheers!

 

[88raymond]

really funny, i can't send attachments until after my third post.

 

[88raymond]

and i can't send links... lol...

 

[DefBref]

You certainly went a very complicated and convoluted method.

You could have just setup your gmail as an exchange account on your iPad and all your contacts from gmail would appear in your contacts on the iPad.

www.google.com/mobile/sync/

 

[88raymond]

but there is a danger stated there, and i haven't learned how to back up my contacts.... does it support merging?

"On most devices, Google Sync uses the Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® protocol. When setting up a new Exchange ActiveSync account on your device, existing data may be removed from your phone. Please make sure to back up before you set up Google Sync."

 

[DefBref]

The iPad will ask you if you want to keep your existing contacts or delete them when you first setup the exchange account.

Your contacts on your iPad should be backed up in your iTunes backup, provided you've synced with iTunes lately. If it goes wrong you can restore from backup to get them back.

 

[88raymond]

i'm stuck at step 9

the ipad would not continue after i clicked on 'next'

 

[DefBref]

What happens? Is it just stuck? You need an Internet connection from that point on.

You should get a message box appearing.

 

[88raymond]

i have internet connection (receiving and replying at iPF). it's just stuck at that dialog box, the 'next' button is not blue... after it indicates 'verifying'...

it took me only twenty minutes to merge and add the gmail email addresses to contact, lol....

but i am very much interested in getting the sync option to work.

 

[88raymond]

hope this works... (the first pic had an error and was placed last).... hehe

 

[DefBref]

Did the server field appear? You just need to enter m.google.com into it and the next should become available.

So your saying you've transferred your current contacts on the ipad manually to your gmail? You may want to be careful then as you may end up with duplicates.

 

[88raymond]

there are no duplicates. the gmail entries are all just email addresses, while my contact entries are all phone numbers

the worst i got is having a separate entry for the email address and phone numbers of a single person... but i can live with that.

btw, i haven't installed itunes to my desktop computer (windows). i'm in danger of losing all my contacts if the ipad 'falls in the pool'...

i'll try importing the csv file to gmail (reverse of what i've done earlier).

......

i'm thinking, i already set up my MAIL to gmail. will setting the same email address to microsoft exchange cause the "freeze"?

 

[88raymond]

Did the server field appear? You just need to enter m.google.com into it and the next should become available.

So your saying you've transferred your current contacts on the ipad manually to your gmail? You may want to be careful then as you may end up with duplicates.

i only reached the point where the username and password was asked... it froze before i can use m.google

 

[DefBref]

All your contacts are in gmail now aren't they? So you won't lose them if your ipad falls in the pool

How have you got the gmail currently setup? I wouldn't expect it to cause the problem you describe but you never know. Did you check that the server field appeared and you didn't notice it? You may not get the certificate is invalid message mentioned in 9a.

 

[88raymond]

for some reason, the server appeared, and i have set up my account using microsoft exchange.

thanks! i'll check if my previous contacts are intact... and no, i haven't saved any of my phone contacts in gmail, hehe... hope the sync works...