Filed under: Software, Beta Beat
BusySync 2 to include Google Calendar to iCal capability
If you're iCal-based for your scheduling needs and you want to share calendars with family or colleagues, you're probably already hip to BusySync and the delights of iCal syncing Mac-to-Mac without a .Mac account. Now the BusySync team has announced a key feature for 2.0, shipping in February: Google Calendar synchronization. You should be able to share calendars across the internet with other Google Calendar users, and if they have BusySync on their machines the Gcal data will slide neatly into iCal for them.
BusySync 2.0 will ship for $24.95 per computer, a $5 price increase -- if you buy a BusySync 1.5 license today for $19.95, you can upgrade for free to the new version. There's also a public beta on the way if you want to check it out.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ryan said 3:26PM on 1-14-2008
So if I'm currently a user of spanning sync, is there a compelling reason for me to switch to this?
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Lustigson said 3:41PM on 1-14-2008
Sure looks like it. I'm gonna check it out.
marc said 3:42PM on 1-14-2008
'DARINGFIREBALL' coupon code gets you 20% off
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Gideon said 3:45PM on 1-14-2008
Here's a reason not to - $19.95 PER computer. So if you are using it to sync your iMac and Macbook for instance, this cal syncing software will cost you 40 bucks.
I don't know about you, but I'd rather pay 60-70 over at Amazon for .Mac and get all the rest of the features without the hassle. $40 bucks for an app like this is bloody crazy.
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Shahryar said 3:52PM on 1-14-2008
my HTC Touch is arriving tomorrow and I'm hoping to start synchronizing it with my MBP (probably via Pocketmac). With my previous Sprint windows-based PDA's, I just synced to my PCs to avoid the headache. Now that I'm diving into Google Documents some more, I'm wondering if it's possible to do a 3 way sync whenever my MBP is connected online. So this program that syncs iCal to Google Calendar's definitely nice for what I need. Anything that syncs documents?
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Tom said 3:56PM on 1-14-2008
Aren't there quite a few free apps out there for Gmail syncing?
I don't use it much ... at all, but I know GSync does the job for free (£10 if used on 2 computers), if not a bit quirky.
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Reuben said 4:00PM on 1-14-2008
No, .mac doesn't do what this does. This allows two users to collaborate on a calendar through iCal. In other words, I have a calendar that's shared in my family. I can edit it and the other people with busysync can also edit it. Edits show up instantaneously on our iCal, so it's just shared. It's actually a collaborative calendar.
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Sam Gross said 4:02PM on 1-14-2008
One unmentioned benefit: Google Calendar iCal iPhone Google Calendar. You'll never be away from your appointments.
@Ryan: it's a LOT cheaper.
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Geoff said 4:29PM on 1-14-2008
Reason to use it over .Mac sync: it actually works.
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Kai said 5:15PM on 1-14-2008
I'm using Plaxo 3, and it has this feature, too. Only it syncs from any Mac to the Plaxo first, and then to Google. But changes get populated both ways - and I can include more Macs. And it syncs my Outlook at work, which is behind a stupid web proxy that requires authentication. And it keeps all my address books in sync. I'm using the free version. Can recommend. (No, I don't work for them. Just a happy user.) Regards from Barcelona/Spain, Kai
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Josh said 8:25PM on 1-14-2008
Or you could do this for free...
1) Create a google calendar
2) Make it public
3) Put some appointments on it
4) Click the RSS feed for your calendar
5) Place this within iCal and subscribe
Your calendar will update automatically with your google cal. Set up Quicksilver to make speedy appointments on gcal and you're even better!
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blatz said 1:58AM on 1-15-2008
Or you could get a clue, RTFA, and understand what BusySync (as well as Spanning Sync) does that your "free" solution CANNOT do, namely, bidrectional calendar editing and syncing.
All you lame "or you could just..." posters drive me nuts. Read the post and understand what the product does FIRST, before you post your jaded, "techier than thou" retorts
Josh said 9:45AM on 1-15-2008
Yep, this is bidirectional but apparently that is worth $25 and proving you're a complete and utter dick. Kudos!
Rick Proctor said 8:31PM on 1-14-2008
Or just get Plaxo and sync everything in the world for free and automatically.
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Thijs Poorthuis said 5:10AM on 1-16-2008
But plaxo can't seem to sync multiple calendars...
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jpoa said 3:51PM on 1-16-2008
Man... In the beginning I tought everyone knew it, but now I don't get it...
There is a free (GPL'D!!) application that does that! Gcaldaemon does all you want for free! And for a LONG time!
If the trouble is setting it up I can make a tool for that, as long as anyone is interested (wont spend time developing a GUI for nothing...).
Cheers!
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Kyle said 3:57PM on 1-16-2008
@jpoa
I am definitely interested in that. I tried installing it on Tiger and Leopard and I can't get it to work. I follow it to a tee but something goes wrong and then I'm lost. A GUI would be fantastic, if you had the time. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
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pschaefs said 11:08AM on 4-07-2008
yeah, I couldn't get gcaldaemon set up either. would appreciate the help
pjones said 1:12PM on 1-18-2008
Does anybody know how to share iCal calendars over a local network? I don't have OSX server or the calDAV capabilities... but I am running a local network with a three macs and would like to be able to share each machine's calendars with the other machines.
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Michael Rose said 1:26PM on 1-18-2008
pjones -- that's what BusySync does! :-)