Slashdot Mirror
iSync Beta Released
OrangeHairMan writes "iSync, 'the cutting-edge synchronization software from Apple,' has been released in beta, with support for Bluetooth phones, iPods, Palm OS-based handhelds, and .Mac (for synchronizing multiple Macs). Now only if I had any of these products... ;)"
So far, everything works great. I wonder why this is a Beta and not an earlier release. I think that it runs much better than the iCal program.
Without any kludgy work-arounds and anoyances. There hasn't been a non-classic solution to that in a while.
Out of the supported devices, I only have the iPod. But when I told it to sync, it failed to notice that I'd already copied over most of my contacts and two of my calendars already, so I've got a ton of duplicate entries. I hope it doesn't decide to replace the duplicates that I delete.
"Common Sense Ain't" -Unknown
The ReadMe clearly says that it is for Palm devices from Palm or Handpsring. My Clie may be supported, but until I know I will continue to use Palm Desktop with the MissingSync. I have no desire to try to move over to iCal until I know that I can synch it with my Sony.
It amazes me that people are able to write support for these devices without too much trouble and yet the companies are not able to support Macs.
Getting my old Handspring to work with Palm Desktop 4.0 (so that I did not have to use Classic) was a very minor thing on my part, but Handspring took forever to get it working. They just released the Desktop 4.0 software for Visors last week!
The fact that an indivdual can write support into Palm Desktop to support Clies is amazing as well, given that Sony will not support it.
Now Apple will not support Clies, as well.
I can only hope that support is added later.
- (c) 2018 Hank Zimmerman
They release this just when my iPod is away getting repaired. What I really would like to know is what other phones they plan on supporting. Is this going to stay a bluetooth only solution, or will they support phones connected in another way (infrared, usb)? And why do I need a .Mac membership to sync two computers?
Hank! White!
I've been holding out on .Mac for some time, but today I finally took the plunge (not because of iSync, but because my $50 discount was about to expire). Some cool stuff included, one of which is that iSync can sync up the Calendars and Address books of two macs. Very nice (if I had 2 macs).
What I'm really looking for it to do, and what it doesn't yet do, is sync up my desktop stuff (cal, address, etc.) with web versions of the same (the way that MAPI lets email be synchronized between the web version and any number of desktop mail readers). Right now, when you sync to .Mac, your data gets sucked into some invisible location at Apple's NOC, never to be seen by anyone by the iSync application. Instead, I want it editable -- I want webtop versions of iCal and Address Book, at least very rudimentary ones. They've got webtop Address Book as part of .Mac email, but that doesn't sync. Yet.
My guess is that Apple is working on it, but they just haven't gotten that far. But come on! I need it now ... :)
Look forward to Newton support soon for iSync... Luckily, getting Newton support is in a lot of ways, a lot more straightforward than it is for Palm OS. It's easily done via a plain old TCP/IP connection with a little app on the Newton side. :)
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
It should be just a small part of the larger design problem of allowing for your personal info and identity to securely track between all the computing devices you use.
It seems like a great idea to be able to synchronize my contacts, calendars etc. over .Mac between all my Macs spread out at 3 different locations.
Problem is that currently, you have to manually run the Synch, and there isn't an automate option or even an Applescript hook yet (there isn't even an Applescript dictionary in this release). I've tried the usual suspects: synch, synchronize, dosynch. No luck.
I'll be playing the next day or two to see if I can create something cron-able to synch my stuff at 8am and 6pm.
I'm also interested to see if there's a way to hack this to work with other services -- iCal works (sorta) with WebDAV servers.
--dr00gy
- iSync does not use WebDAV, but a different protocol (at least for registering).
- iSync contacts the server using https. The server is authenticated properly. I tried to fool iSync like I did with Backup but that didn't work, because iSync does not accept the server certificate.
So at first look, iSync security is better done than Backup, making it hard to use another server, like can be done with iCal or Backup.http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~me/isync/
I'm unfortunately still having some problems. I have two Macs, one Palm Vx and one Sony Ericsson T68i. For some strange reason it keeps duplicating appointments. I'm still experimenting, but I've had to remove all calendars except one just to get everything synchronized over the devices.
Ciryon
I havent a Palm too, and Im in love with my Jornada Pocket PC so thats the reason why I dont buy a Macintosh: iBook & PocketPC dont work together. What are you waiting for Apple? Must I buy an obsolete Palm? ;-)
Two big holes. No support for Palm categories. No support for Palm custom fields.
I'm having the same issue with both of the iCal calendars that I created - one at work and one on my laptop. (The ones I've downloaded from Apple and other sites are fine.) I find that I am able to delete duplicate TODOs but I am unable to delete either the original or the duplicate appointment. I get a message saying that I don't have authority to delete items on a calendar that I've subscribed to, but I'm trying to clean up the work calendar on the work computer and the home calendar on the laptop. On the other hand, I've had no problem with syncing the Address Book.
I've been using iCal since it came out in late August and I have to say that iCal should have been classified as a beta version. iSync, despite it's current limitations, has worked fine so far. I can't say the same for iCal.
A word of warning - there's an option to backup data before you sync. Practice safe beta - use it.
I only read
The PalmOS Conduit setup help says that you should only sync your device with one computer using this, as "data corruption may result" or some other such jazz.
Has anybody tried this? I'd like to try out iSync to get my iPod into the calendaring world, but not if it's gonna work just fine for my iBook but screw things up on my work (Palm Desktop) and home (Outlook XP) PCs. (Yes, I know. I need to can Outlook anyway.) Thanks.
If apple wants to make iSync a killer app, they should publish the API and allow 3rd parties to create modules sync anything to anything.
I for example would like a Calendar/Address Book -> Entourage Sync, or my filemaker database to address book... I'd also love to sync everything to my my Motorola phone.... it's gotta be possible.
But first I have to point out that I haven't had the time to fiddle around with it much yet. But I've come to expect from Apple products, that I don't have to fiddle around. They're supposed to "just work". I have three buts:
- NO IrDA support at all! So, I cannot sync my Nokia 6310. Yes, the Nokia has Bluetooth, but I don't have the dongle for my Mac yet. Hope the dongle will work when it arrives...
- iPod synced incorrectly! I cleared the iPod totally (calendar & contacts anyway) and synced. Synced contacts ok, but swapped the place of two of my iCal calendars. No idea why yet. Luckily I don't use the iPod for calendar anyway, this was just a test.
- Couldn't get my Palm 505 to sync! I followed the readme, but no sync. VERY disappointed!
So, at the moment the iSync is totally useless to me. I hope to have a look at it over the weekend, but that's something I'm not supposed to do with Mac - to spend time getting things to work like they're supposed to...Ok, I know it's a beta. But their adds were toting the release of iSync in September. All I got was a non-working beta. That's why I'm disappointed. Guess I'll just have to wait for the "real thing"?
If all else fails, pull the plug and get out...
The Life is out there...