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Synching iCal between computers

Stampyhead

Stampyhead

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 3, 2004
2,294
30
London, UK
I'm trying to find a way to sinc iCal between my work computer (PowerMac G5 2Ghz) and my Powerbook so I can view and change my work calendar when I am away from the office. I tried iSync on my Powerbook, but it did not recognize the G5 as a device. I do not have a .Mac account. Any other ways you know of to get this to work?
Thanks.
 
Don't really have a good solution for you other than manually copying the calendar from your Library on one computer to the other. And just so you know, a .Mac account wouldn't help out much anyway. All it allows you to do is to publish the calendar online and then subscribe to it. The problem is that you cannot make changes to subscribed calendars. You can only make changes from the computer thatcreated the calendar. It is a major limitation, but hopefully Apple will rectify this soon.
 
kgarner said:
Don't really have a good solution for you other than manually copying the calendar from your Library on one computer to the other. And just so you know, a .Mac account wouldn't help out much anyway. All it allows you to do is to publish the calendar online and then subscribe to it. The problem is that you cannot make changes to subscribed calendars. You can only make changes from the computer thatcreated the calendar. It is a major limitation, but hopefully Apple will rectify this soon.
Click to expand...

yes and no, .mac would let him upload it to his space on there, then grab it from there on either machine. in reality if you have a web host of some kind you could technically do the same thing and automate it with applescripts with Transmit or something similar... just an idea
 
Logik said:
yes and no, .mac would let him upload it to his space on there, then grab it from there on either machine. in reality if you have a web host of some kind you could technically do the same thing and automate it with applescripts with Transmit or something similar... just an idea
Click to expand...
Oh yeah I forgot that you can use iSync to sync the calendars back and forth from .Mac. Just sync it to your .Mac account from one and then sync it onto the other. Of course you need to remember to do that everytime, but it would work.

I never get to use that feature as I use a PC at work. That's why I want to be able to make changes over the web, it would be much more convenient.
 
kingjr3 said:
Isn't this the point of a PDA?
Click to expand...
I spend most of my time at work in front of my computer. It would be easier for me to just be able to add/change an event online and have it happen on my iCal at home. A PDA would work, but I would have to get out the PDA and add/change it in there and then remember to sync it when i get home.

I don't know, maybe I'm lazy, but either way, the ability to add/change events online would be a welcome addition and would make .Mac a more useful package.
 
kgarner said:
I spend most of my time at work in front of my computer. It would be easier for me to just be able to add/change an event online and have it happen on my iCal at home. A PDA would work, but I would have to get out the PDA and add/change it in there and then remember to sync it when i get home.

I don't know, maybe I'm lazy, but either way, the ability to add/change events online would be a welcome addition and would make .Mac a more useful package.
Click to expand...

Try this google search. You need a webdav server, but it should be doable.
 
kgarner said:
And just so you know, a .Mac account wouldn't help out much anyway. All it allows you to do is to publish the calendar online and then subscribe to it. The problem is that you cannot make changes to subscribed calendars. You can only make changes from the computer thatcreated the calendar. It is a major limitation, but hopefully Apple will rectify this soon.
Click to expand...

Like others have said, .Mac will let you do EXACTLY what you want to do. I have two macs, one at my wife's school and our home iMac and two palms which are all in sync with each other. If I make a change on any Mac or palm device it is automatically updated on all devices and Macs. Works flawlessly. Yes, .Mac does have the option of publishing the calendar to the web for others to view, but you can just sync it like I describe above and make changes in iCal on either machine. Try it for 60 days free with .mac and you will see how easy it is. It all works with .Mac. The other thing it does is keeps all address books synched at the same time along with bookmarks in Safari.

kingjr3...yes, that is the purpose of a PDA unless you want to use a desktop computer to keep your calendar at home or work which we do. PDA's are great for taking to a meeting where you don't take your computer, etc., but I don't care to use it everyday for my entire calendar...but then again I have a cheap Zire palm...if I had a full color and larger palm I might like it better.

I would go with .mac. Check out the .Mac page for all the benefits of having it...much underated in my opinion. I know all the arguments against it, but for the ease of use and getting all in one place is worth a few extra bucks.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. The webDAV idea is a good one for letting me simply view the calendar online, but if .Mac will actually let me sinc calendars between computers then it might actually be worth renewing my subscription. I used to have one but I only used the email.
 
Stampyhead said:
Thanks for the suggestions. The webDAV idea is a good one for letting me simply view the calendar online, but if .Mac will actually let me sinc calendars between computers then it might actually be worth renewing my subscription. I used to have one but I only used the email.
Click to expand...

i'm waiting for the next iLife to come out and Tiger before i even think about buying .Mac... we'll see how it goes from there. but i wouldn't pay $99/yr for calendar syncing ;)

just upload the ics file to a webserver via ftp and create a script or two that will grab and sync it with the click of a few buttons... heck i think if you looked on version tracker you'd find someone has already written something like this
 
Le Big Mac said:
Try this google search. You need a webdav server, but it should be doable.
Click to expand...
I have a .Mac account, and this search still doesn't solve my dilemma. I want to be able to load my calendar onto a site (.Mac - check), but I want to be able to make changes to it over the Internet and have those changes made back home (.Mac - nope, PHPiCal - nope, other solutions - not found). I (unfortunately) have to spend a fair amount of time on PCs and would love to be able to update my calendar online, but I can't find a way to that yet.
 
Logik said:
just upload the ics file to a webserver via ftp and create a script or two that will grab and sync it with the click of a few buttons... heck i think if you looked on version tracker you'd find someone has already written something like this
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's kind of what I was hoping, that there was a shareware program out there that would do this. Any programmers here want to take up the challenge?
No, I don't really want to pay $99 per year for calendar sincing, but I would have to if that were my only option. I might just try copying the .ics file over for now and see if that's too much of a hassle. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
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