Can I sync my iPad iPhone and iMac without MobileMe?

[wyattdvm]

The title is my question. I have a friend who says she keeps her devices (except has a PC) synced (contacts, calendar, mail, etc) by using Yahoo mail or something like that. How can I keep them synced wirelessly without paying for MobileMe? Thanks.

 

[DefBref]

I do this using gmail set up as a exchange account on the iPhones and iPad. Don't know if yahoo mail supports this, hotmail does as well.

 

[Ohpinion8ted]

I do the same thing with gmail and also with Google Apps. Gmail is free so can't beat the price. The syncing is near instantaneous for email, calendar, contacts, notes, etc. Like the other poster said, use the Exchange email configuration when you set it up. The mail server will be m.google.com. That's it.

 

[twerppoet]

GMail is a better choice for keeping the devices and computer synced. If there is a way to sync Yahoo's contacts, I haven't seen it yet. Most computer mail, calendar, and contact programs can be set up to sync with Google.

To set up your iDevices use these instructions to setup as an Exchange account:

Setting up Google Sync with your iOS device : Mail, Calendar, & Contacts - Google Mobile Help

 

[Montereybob]

GMail is a better choice for keeping the devices and computer synced. If there is a way to sync Yahoo's contacts, I haven't seen it yet. Most computer mail, calendar, and contact programs can be set up to sync with Google.

To set up your iDevices use these instructions to setup as an Exchange account:

Setting up Google Sync with your iOS device : Mail, Calendar, & Contacts - Google Mobile Help

I was able to sync my yahoo mail, contacts and calendar using the yahoo mail app and the calendar, mail, contacts in the iPad settings.

 

[twerppoet]

GMail is a better choice for keeping the devices and computer synced. If there is a way to sync Yahoo's contacts, I haven't seen it yet. Most computer mail, calendar, and contact programs can be set up to sync with Google.

To set up your iDevices use these instructions to setup as an Exchange account:

Setting up Google Sync with your iOS device : Mail, Calendar, & Contacts - Google Mobile Help

I was able to sync my yahoo mail, contacts and calendar using the yahoo mail app and the calendar, mail, contacts in the iPad settings.

Are you a Plus user (paid account)? I've only got the free account, and the normal Yahoo setup won't allow contact syncing. I've never run across anyone with a full account to ask what all works.

 

[wyattdvm]

I already have a gmail account and the mail isn't a problem. How do I take my current gmail account and make it an exchange account? Will this them automatically sync everything or is there further set up I need to do for contacts, calendar, etc? Thanks.

 

[twerppoet]

I already have a gmail account and the mail isn't a problem. How do I take my current gmail account and make it an exchange account? Will this them automatically sync everything or is there further set up I need to do for contacts, calendar, etc? Thanks.

You go into Settings >> Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and delete your current GMail account. Then you set it up again as an Exchange account using the instructions in the link I provided in my earlier post. Here it is again:

Setting up Google Sync with your iOS device : Mail, Calendar, & Contacts - Google Mobile Help

This will set up your contacts, calendars, and mail. You can also sync multiple calendars. Follow the last link in the instructions to see how to set that up.

 

[Carlloch90]

this is what i did (syncing 1 x laptop, 2 x google accounts(mine and my wifes) and 1 x ipad.

i will take that you should know how to set up accounts on all devices but if not let me know.

1.Setup 2 google accounts and sync those accounts together.
2.Download google sync for your Pc and sync it to one of the google acounts.
3.Using caldev on the ipad create an account to link to one of your goggle accounts.
4. sync accounts using this link https://www.google.com/calendar/iphoneselect
5. On your ipad under settings go to your calendar and choose gmail as default account.

it's very important that u choose gmail calendar account on the ipad or it will not work.

this will work and now no matter where i put a event in the calendar on either account it will sync over the 4 devices.

 

[Montereybob]

Are you a Plus user (paid account)? I've only got the free account, and the normal Yahoo setup won't allow contact syncing. I've never run across anyone with a full account to ask what all works.

I have the free account. When I switched over to Yahoo Mail Beta, it gave me the option to sync my contacts to my mobile devices. Yahoo Mail Beta is soon to become the standard version of Yahoo Mail.

 

[twerppoet]

I have the free account. When I switched over to Yahoo Mail Beta, it gave me the option to sync my contacts to my mobile devices. Yahoo Mail Beta is soon to become the standard version of Yahoo Mail.

I'd like more details if you don't mind. I've been using the beta for months and never saw this option. Are you actually syncing your yahoo contacts with the Contacts app, and over the internet (not through iTunes)? Sorry if I sound pushy, but I've looked every where I can think, and not seen the option. Unless it's the one that involves sending them your phone number so they can send you an SMS with a link. That seems unlikely, since it would not work for the iPad.

The ony Yahoo app I can find is the iPhone one. You can get the address book this way but you can't see it without an internet connection, and it looks terrible on the iPad.

 

[wyattdvm]

Will following these instructions also sync everything with my iMac?

 

[twerppoet]

Will following these instructions also sync everything with my iMac?

The Mai, Address Book, and iCal programs can all be setup to sync with Google. Just add the in the Preferences, Accounts, of each app. Sometimes, depending on the program, it will offer to add the other accounts at the same time.

The only nit is that iCal will only sync the primary Google calendar, but it is possible to add others by subscribing to them.

 

[Montereybob]

I'd like more details if you don't mind. I've been using the beta for months and never saw this option. Are you actually syncing your yahoo contacts with the Contacts app, and over the internet (not through iTunes)? Sorry if I sound pushy, but I've looked every where I can think, and not seen the option. Unless it's the one that involves sending them your phone number so they can send you an SMS with a link. That seems unlikely, since it would not work for the iPad.

The ony Yahoo app I can find is the iPhone one. You can get the address book this way but you can't see it without an internet connection, and it looks terrible on the iPad.

If you use your iPad safari to go to yahoo.com, yahoo senses that you are using iPad and redirects you to yahoo.com/tablet. At that site you can get the Yahoo Mail app for iPad.

 

[twerppoet]

If you use your iPad safari to go to yahoo.com, yahoo senses that you are using iPad and redirects you to yahoo.com/tablet. At that site you can get the Yahoo Mail app for iPad.

No app, just the tablet optimized yahoo mail site. Been there. There does not appear to be one for contacts, though it is possible to go to the desktop browser version of contacts.

But, this does not sync anything to the iPad. It's an online only way to access Yahoo Mail and Contacts. What I thought you meant was that I'd actually get something to sync with the iPad and store the contacts for offline use, like you can when you sync contacts with Google or MobileMe.

Am I still missing something? Because I see no app, or even web app. It is just a web side email client optimized for iPad use. Not that this isn't nice, but it isn't syncing with anything.