With the pending release of the iPad (still a terrible name) I started wondering what were the practical applications for such a device. After all it's just an iPhone on steroids, without the phone for that matter. The immediate advantages I saw were larger screen, bigger keyboard, and instant on. The disadvantages were memory size, cost, and it still has to be synced with iTunes. I'm kind of a gadget freak to begin with so how could I go about justifying the cost to get one? As a photographer the larger screen would be excellent for showcasing photos....but what else can it do?
If you truly "live in the cloud" you could have instant access to all of your information (provided you have a Wi-Fi or AT&T signal of course). I don't live in the cloud. I have used mobile me for the past two years to sync my iPhone back to my Mac, but always been afraid to truly live in the cloud...not from a security standpoint but from a data corruption perspective. So I've decided to conduct a little experiment to see if I can really get all my information into the cloud and syncing with my iPhone, Mac, and Google Apps account. If I can, maybe I'll add an iPad to my gadget collection and have a sleek new way to display photos to clients.
So over the next week I will blog about the how to get your data into the cloud and still retain a local back up. I have found there are mutiple methods for accomplishing this, but the one below works best for me. It may not be the best method for you. I picked this over POP because it will allow you to place mail in any folder in your apps account or from either device and these changes then sync across all three platforms. I elected not to go with the Exchange method because it sometimes leaves items in the inbox even after labeling and folder changes, I'm not quite sure why.
Part #1 - How to sync Apple Mail, iPhone, and Google Apps (or gmail)
...most of this is directly from google and a direct link can be found at the bottom of this blog
1. Enable IMAP in your google mail account (click here for Google's instructions on how to enable IMAP)
2. On your iPhone, tap "settings"
3. Tap "mail", tap "add account", tap "other" Do not select Gmail, it will behave differently than indicated in this post
4. Enter your account information, use your full email address "username@yourdomain.com"
-the "Name" field is how it will appear to mail recipients
-the "Description" field is how this account will appear in the list of accounts on your iPhone
5. Tap "Save"
-the phone will know try to look up your account information
-if you have entered your user name and password correctly you see a screen with IMAP and POP at the top, if it is not already highlighted in blue
tap the "IMAP" tab
6. On the incoming mail server fields
7. On the outgoing mail server fields
8. Tap "save"
9. You should receive an account verified message and be returned to the accounts home screen
10. Google has some recommended settings for mailbox behaviors, I recommend you set these as indicated by Google. The setting can be found
hereOk, on to the next part....configuring Apple Mail
1. Open Apple Mail, kind of goes without saying, right?
2. Fome the "file" menu select "Add Account"
3. Enter your name as you wish it to appear to recipients
-enter your full email address
-enter your password
4. Apple mail will now try to automatically configure your account
-you may receive several security warning (I personally got two certificate can't be authenticated). In order to continue you must click connect or ok
5. On the next screen enter your incoming mail server information
-Account type is "IMAP"
-description can be anything you like, it how the account will show in Apple Mail under accounts
-enter your password, click "continue"
6. On the next screen enter your outgoing mail server information
-description can be anything you like, it how the account will show in Apple Mail under accounts
-use only this server will keep sent mail folders synced correctly
-google does require outgoing authentication, this box must be checked
-Enter your password, click "Continue"
7. You may receive another box for outgoing mail security, if you do
-check Use SSL
-Select "password" for authentication
8. You should receive a confirmation screen
-make sure "take account online" is checked
-click "create" (ignore my mismatched email addresses in the photo below, yours should be the same)
9. You should be returned to Apple Mail
You are ready to go. Any folders set up on Apple Mail or Google will now populate with each other and your iPhone. Any mail moved between folders will populate on all three platforms. Next blog will be on setting up Google calendar with iCal and iPhone...and retaining calendar color codes.
Apple Mail accounts can be edited by going to Mail, Preferences, Accounts Tab
