Google vs iCloud Revisited

[ugahairydawgs]

In wake of all of the recent announcements by Google that they are going to drop Active Sync support for their accounts, does that change the calculus for any of you on whether you will continue to use Google for mail/contacts/calendar vs iCloud? Will not having push mail on iOS devices going forward (aside from the Gmail app) make you less likely to use Gmail as a service?

[whsbuss]

Originally Posted by ugahairydawgs

In wake of all of the recent announcements by Google that they are going to drop Active Sync support for their accounts, does that change the calculus for any of you on whether you will continue to use Google for mail/contacts/calendar vs iCloud? Will not having push mail on iOS devices going forward (aside from the Gmail app) make you less likely to use Gmail as a service?

Switched over to iCloud right after the announcement. I need instant push so IMAP or the Gmail app would not work for me. Both my wife and I are pleased with iCloud since the switch. One big bonus is since dropping the EAS gmail setup, battery life has improved more than 20%.

[BrianBaughn]

I can't consider iCloud since I have my own domains and don't want to change my email address. I made that choice when Comcast changed from @home to @comcast.

The Google announcement does, however, change what I might recommend to customers. Since the days of good free domain-based email hosting are gone, I'm leaning toward hosted Exchange, as it seems to be the best cross-platform solution now.

[jediistar]

Originally Posted by whsbuss

Switched over to iCloud right after the announcement. I need instant push so IMAP or the Gmail app would not work for me. Both my wife and I are pleased with iCloud since the switch. One big bonus is since dropping the EAS gmail setup, battery life has improved more than 20%.

FWIW, the Gmail app, at least the 2.0 version is near instant. Nine times out of ten I'll get the email on my iPhone or iPad before its hit gmail.com. Not for nothing and I'm considering going in with iCloud email since I already use it for calendar and contacts, but Gmail 2.0 is definitely push or push-like.

[whsbuss]

Originally Posted by jediistar

FWIW, the Gmail app, at least the 2.0 version is near instant. Nine times out of ten I'll get the email on my iPhone or iPad before its hit gmail.com. Not for nothing and I'm considering going in with iCloud email since I already use it for calendar and contacts, but Gmail 2.0 is definitely push or push-like.

Yes I can agree with that. However calendar/maps/contacts are not integrated in the Gmail app. If I get an email with someone's address I cannot click the text and open the Maps app. You will find iCloud just fine.

[shotts56]

I used to use a shared Google calendar with my wife and we switched over to a shared iCloud calendar.

Does the same job just as well, but the only thing I miss is if my wife added something to our shared calendar, I had it set up that Google would automatically SMS me the details of that appointment. iCloud doesn't have that facility.

[ugahairydawgs]

Originally Posted by BrianBaughn

I can't consider iCloud since I have my own domains and don't want to change my email address. I made that choice when Comcast changed from @home to @comcast.

The Google announcement does, however, change what I might recommend to customers. Since the days of good free domain-based email hosting are gone, I'm leaning toward hosted Exchange, as it seems to be the best cross-platform solution now.

Yeah. That's a problem I run into as well. Still have no idea why they killed off the ability to send from an external address in the Mail web app when they made the jump from MobileMe to iCloud.

[From A Buick 8]

Originally Posted by shotts56

I used to use a shared Google calendar with my wife and we switched over to a shared iCloud calendar.

Does the same job just as well, but the only thing I miss is if my wife added something to our shared calendar, I had it set up that Google would automatically SMS me the details of that appointment. iCloud doesn't have that facility.

If she adds you as an Invitee, you should get an email at least.

[maxosx]

I continue to enjoy great speed using Google services. It syncs my calendar contacts & mail to my MacBook Pro as well as my iDevices, Android devices & my ThinkPad.

My wife enjoys our shared calendar that appears on her iPhone, MBA & iPad.

We are both using iCloud, but on a limited basis since our experiences with MobileMe were both unreliable & spotty. Hopefully Apple will gradually build a decent track record with this latest attempt in the cloud. Once we can trust it, we'll certainly use it more.

[whsbuss]

Originally Posted by shotts56

I used to use a shared Google calendar with my wife and we switched over to a shared iCloud calendar.

Does the same job just as well, but the only thing I miss is if my wife added something to our shared calendar, I had it set up that Google would automatically SMS me the details of that appointment. iCloud doesn't have that facility.

You can go into icloud.com and setup notifications for calendar events.... its in the settings. That's what me and my wife do.

[iampaulb]

I was looking to make the change this year anyways, due to gmail not using all the features on iOS especially within email and contacts.

So i have moved...but after reading this it will be a perm move for me! Go iCloud!! woo

[Menel]

Originally Posted by BrianBaughn

I can't consider iCloud since I have my own domains and don't want to change my email address. I made that choice when Comcast changed from @home to @comcast.

The Google announcement does, however, change what I might recommend to customers. Since the days of good free domain-based email hosting are gone, I'm leaning toward hosted Exchange, as it seems to be the best cross-platform solution now.

False

http://www.labnol.org/internet/setup...-domain/24699/

Outlook.com is highly acclaimed.

Not a lot of personal experience, still using Google Activesync.

[djshack]

Originally Posted by Menel

False

http://www.labnol.org/internet/setup...-domain/24699/

Outlook.com is highly acclaimed.

Not a lot of personal experience, still using Google Activesync.

No aliases though. That's a HUGE missing feature. And Microsoft apparently has no fix in place.

[BrianBaughn]

Here's a blog post from August about the features of Outlook.com. I don't know how accurate it is.

The web interface is pretty nice, if slow. It seems it's ActiveSync-only for true syncing. Outlook 2013 for Windows will support it, of course. I don't know about the next Outlook 201x for Mac.

They will host domain-based email (up to 500 accounts!) but I don't think I'll be recommending it to anyone.

So, beats Google for future ActiveSync integration (including iPhone Reminders).

[mac.cali]

I wish both apple and google would stop pissin on their customers on what they "think" they want. I like gmail but I don't like how I don't get push email unless I use their iOS app.

[whsbuss]

Originally Posted by mac.cali

I wish both apple and google would stop pissin on their customers on what they "think" they want. I like gmail but I don't like how I don't get push email unless I use their iOS app.

Yep. Google lost me when they decided to drop AES on free accounts. iCloud works just fine now. Just wish they would support read/delete sync across iOS devices.

[gc916]

Originally Posted by whsbuss

iCloud works just fine now. Just wish they would support read/delete sync across iOS devices.

Could you please explain? My iCloud mail syncs fine between my iPhone 4s and MacBook Pro. Are you saying it won't sync between two iOS devices, such as iPhone and iPad?

Thanks.

[ugahairydawgs]

Originally Posted by gc916

Could you please explain? My iCloud mail syncs fine between my iPhone 4s and MacBook Pro. Are you saying it won't sync between two iOS devices, such as iPhone and iPad?

Thanks.

It does not support updating of read status across iOS devices right now. So if you get a message in your inbox and you just simply open it and read it on your iPad the read status will not update on your iPhone until you either take action with the message (delete it, move it to a folder, or archive it) or until another new message comes in. It used to be that only the latter would update the badge, but somewhere along the way they added the functionality of getting everything to update when you take action.

[gc916]

Thanks for the clarification. I currently have only one iOS device, and wasn't aware of this issue.

[whsbuss]

Originally Posted by gc916

Thanks for the clarification. I currently have only one iOS device, and wasn't aware of this issue.

Well same goes for web access or mac mail. Its not just on another iOS device.

[gc916]

Originally Posted by whsbuss

Well same goes for web access or mac mail. Its not just on another iOS device.

iCloud mail syncs fine for me between iOS, Mac Mail, Outlook, and iCloud Mail via a browser.

[wzz]

Originally Posted by jediistar

... Nine times out of ten I'll get the email on my iPhone or iPad before its hit gmail.com...

wow, is that true (just wondering)?

[jediistar]

Originally Posted by wzz

wow, is that true (just wondering)?

Definitely true, though the random thing is the iPad app and iPhone can vary by 30 seconds. It's completely random and in no way troublesome, it's definitely still "immediate" as far as email needs go. Just something I've noticed.

[mlody]

I am a recent happy iCloud user - I have two iOS devices and a hackintosh, although I am planning to buy a real mac hopefully this year (will be looking for haswell system) and things are working/syncing as expected.

I am used to Exchange as that is what I have been using for the past 10+ years at my workplace and iCloud things such e-mail, calendar etc are working just like my work environment as far as I can tell, so I can say that iCloud from the functionality perspective is as good as the next other big thing.