Pre + Mac users: issues, questions - Page 3

zmerahn · 05/21/2009, 07:15 PM

Has anyone found a solution to this? If this cant be prevented I might have to look at other solutions such as exchange.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zmerahn

Does anyone know if there is a way to stop gmail from automatically adding new email address that you reply to to your contacts. I want to give spanning Sync a try, but want to resolve this issue first. I dont want every address I reply to ending up in my contacts/ Address Book.

rumz · 05/21/2009, 07:41 PM

According to this blog post, Gmail is no longer supposed to be auto-adding contacts:

Official Gmail Blog: Updates to Gmail contact manager

Quote:

We've heard from some of you that Gmail's auto-added contacts can lead to too much address book clutter. One of the advantages of automatically creating contacts is that all of the addresses you email subsequently show up in auto-complete. We wanted to preserve this benefit while giving you the ability to have a clean, uncluttered contact list, and we've come up with a solution that's rolling out this week. It separates your contacts into two groups: "My Contacts" and "Suggested Contacts."

My Contacts contains the contacts you explicitly put in your address book (via manual entry, import or sync) as well as any address you've emailed a lot (we're using five or more times as the threshold for now).

Suggested Contacts is where Gmail puts its auto-created contacts. By default, Suggested Contacts you email frequently are automatically added to My Contacts, but for those of you who prefer tighter control of your address books, you can choose to disable usage-based addition of contacts to My Contacts (see the checkbox in the screenshot above). Once you do this, no matter how many times you email an auto-added email address it won't move to My Contacts.

We realize there's a lot more we can do to make Gmail contacts even more useful, but let us know what you think so far.

I don't see a tab for "suggested contacts" when I look at my contacts in Gmail, however. Is it functioning like this for anyone else?

Edit: I take it back. Apparently there is a group of "suggested contacts" (click the "view suggestions" button), and those are the ones I haven't manually edited or added to "My Contacts". So if the Pre syncs only with "My Contacts" (or even lets you choose which group of contacts to sync with in your google contacts), we'll be in good shape. I guess we'll see very shortly, huh.

zmerahn · 05/22/2009, 12:54 AM

Tried Spanning Sync and wasn't all that impressed. I ended up restoring my Address book and iCal from a backup. It mishandled a lot of information and created duplicates.

Mikest · 05/22/2009, 01:31 PM

Sorry bout the bump but I just tried the demo of Spanning Sync. Worked pretty well but there are about 5 contacts it just refuses to add to gmail. Anyone else experienced this?

EeZeEpEe · 05/22/2009, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zmerahn

Tried Spanning Sync and wasn't all that impressed. I ended up restoring my Address book and iCal from a backup. It mishandled a lot of information and created duplicates.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikest

Sorry bout the bump but I just tried the demo of Spanning Sync. Worked pretty well but there are about 5 contacts it just refuses to add to gmail. Anyone else experienced this?

I just installed the demo and it worked just fine for me. The initial sync took a while but all my contacts are there and include pictures. My calendars also appear to be just fine. The only thing I see missing so far are birthdays for contacts. It appears it's a known issue (http://groups.google.com/group/spann...77ff2a5e?pli=1) but if enough people request it they could add it to a feature version. Not too big of a deal because I have "Show Birthdays calendar" on iCal so at least I can see that in Google Calendar. I'm still playing around with it but I definitely like it.

kilofoxtrot · 05/22/2009, 05:36 PM

Why use iCal, Address Book at all? I have a MacBook and iMac and use Google (gmail contacts and calendar) as my desktop applications. Why add another layer that increases the possibility of an error?

Using Fluid and Google Gears, I get a desktop experience that is free and efficient.

What is Fluid? Fluid (fluidapp.com) creates SSBs - site specific browser - that has its own icon that can be located on your Dock if you wish. A SSB is just a fancy way of saying that Fluid creates special browser instance that runs independently of Safari. You can have Safari AND a SSB of Google Calendar open that the same time. The SSB looks like an application, but its really a modified version of Safari. You really dont need Fluid to use Google Services... but if you like having a "desktop" app, Fluid makes Gmail, Calendar feel more like a desktop app.

Google Gears stores your online data on your PC/Mac so you can have access offline. Any additions/changes/deletions you make offline will sync once your internet access is restored.

Below: To the right of the iChat icon are SSB icons for Google Calendar, Gmail and Google Docs

EeZeEpEe · 05/22/2009, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kilofoxtrot

Why use iCal, Address Book at all? I have a MacBook and iMac and use Google (gmail contacts and calendar) as my desktop applications. Why add another layer that increases the possibility of an error?

Using Fluid and Google Gears, I get a desktop experience that is free and efficient.

What is Fluid? Fluid (fluidapp.com) creates SSBs - site specific browser - that has its own icon that can be located on your Dock if you wish. A SSB is just a fancy way of saying that Fluid creates special browser instance that runs independently of Safari. You can have Safari AND a SSB of Google Calendar open that the same time. The SSB looks like an application, but its really a modified version of Safari. You really dont need Fluid to use Google Services... but if you like having a "desktop" app, Fluid makes Gmail, Calendar feel more like a desktop app.

Google Gears stores your online data on your PC/Mac so you can have access offline. Any additions/changes/deletions you make offline will sync once your internet access is restored.

Below: To the right of the iChat icon are SSB icons for Google Calendar, Gmail and Google Docs

I have heard about Fluid and it's definitely good. If I wasn't also a MobileMe subscriber I probably would do that but I'm not quite ready to cancel. That is the best way to go cloud yet still have offline availability.

Gekko · 05/22/2009, 08:38 PM

that's the beauty of the cloud. you are now platform agnostic.

galavanter · 05/22/2009, 09:51 PM

Thanks for laying that all out kilofoxtrot. I've never tried google services other than the reader. I too have been a mobileme/mac.com customer for years. Works good with my BB and Markspace. I like my name@mac.com addresses and wish I could keep them for less than a c note a year.

hbg · 05/22/2009, 10:02 PM

[quote=kilofoxtrot;1613063]Why use iCal, Address Book at all? I have a MacBook and iMac and use Google (gmail contacts and calendar) as my desktop applications. Why add another layer that increases the possibility of an error?

But what if you have your own domain email account? How would Google help in that instance?

kilofoxtrot · 05/22/2009, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hbg

But what if you have your own domain email account? How would Google help in that instance?

Google Apps allows you to map your own domain email to Gmail/Google. There is a free version and paid version. I believe the free version would suit your needs.

hbg · 05/22/2009, 10:15 PM

If I do that, when I hit reply on the Pre will it say my email address is my domain name, or @gmail.com?

kilofoxtrot · 05/22/2009, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hbg

If I do that, when I hit reply on the Pre will it say my email address is my domain name, or @gmail.com?

I believe it will be your domain name. More info here.

hbg · 05/22/2009, 10:25 PM

In the early iPhone it would only let you use one reply name, but later it let you use multiple ones to solve this issue.

TomD · 05/22/2009, 10:28 PM

We just got word that Mark/Space has an app to be released on or soon after June 6.

They make the present "Missing Sync for Palm OS" that I use with my Treo 700p.

The details of what Mark/Space will have for the Pre is not yet known, but it is likely to be a USB sync for Mac-Pre.

Could be a non-cloud sync alternative.

Just what I was hoping for!

hbg · 05/22/2009, 10:30 PM

Thanks TomD. They sent me an email earlier today saying they couldn't comment on any development activities. As a Mac user that is really reassuring.

hbg · 05/22/2009, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomD

We just got word that Mark/Space has an app to be released on or soon after June 6.

They make the present "Missing Sync for Palm OS" that I use with my Treo 700p.

The details of what Mark/Space will have for the Pre is not yet known, but it is likely to be a USB sync for Mac-Pre.

Could be a non-cloud sync alternative.

Just what I was hoping for!

TomD- one question since you use their present product. Can it sync music from the Mac to the phone? I have a lot of itunes songs I will have to rip to then transfer to the Pre and would like to have some sort of syncing ability.

Also, is there a Mac client that will play Amazon music store music on the Mac?

TomD · 05/23/2009, 02:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hbg

TomD- one question since you use their present product. Can it sync music from the Mac to the phone? I have a lot of itunes songs I will have to rip to then transfer to the Pre and would like to have some sort of syncing ability.

Also, is there a Mac client that will play Amazon music store music on the Mac?

Missing Sync for PalmOS syncs: iCal, Address Book, Install, Call Log, iTunes, Notes, Photos, SMS Log, Tasks, Video, Pocket Quicken, and a few others.

Don't need a Mac client for Amazon. Just use Safari, or Firefox.

Homie · 05/25/2009, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kilofoxtrot

Why use iCal, Address Book at all? I have a MacBook and iMac and use Google (gmail contacts and calendar) as my desktop applications. Why add another layer that increases the possibility of an error?

Wow. Fluid is great! That is working very well and really helps me treat mail and calendar like a separate app, but I can still get to it from anywhere and remove a layer of syncing.

I like it.

THANKS!