Google adds CardDAV support for iOS contacts

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AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Google has added support for the open CardDAV contact syncing protocol used by Apple in OS X and iOS, enabling Google Contacts users to directly sync just like Yahoo and iCloud.

Google's Gmail product manager Jeff Ellingson noted the new support for CardDAV in a blog posting today.

The new support requires iOS 5 or higher, and currently requires users to manually set up an "other" CardDAV account, as Apple's automated setup for Google accounts on both OS X and iOS only configure Gmail & Notes (via IMAP), Calendar & Reminders (via CalDAV), and Messages (via XMPP).



In the future, Apple will likely add support for simply checking a box for Contacts sync to simplify CardDAV account configuration, just as it does for Yahoo and Facebook accounts that already support CardDAV.

Apple pioneered support for the CalDAV and CardDAV open specifications in its efforts to build open Calendar and Contact sharing services in OS X Server as an alternative to Microsoft Exchange Server, which uses proprietary protocols to sync such data between clients and servers.

The company first added CalDAV and CardDAV support to its mobile devices in iOS 4 two years ago.

Apple has aggressively pushed both open standards for calendar and contact sync, enabling users to seamlessly use Macs and iOS devices with not just its own OS X Server and iCloud offerings, but also third party services from AOL, Google, Yahoo and any other systems that support them.

CalDAV and CardDAV are based upon the WebDAV specification for building web servers capable of both reading and writing information, so implementing the protocols is relatively simple for third parties.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    drewys808drewys808 Posts: 549member


    I'd appreciate this article more if it were explained in more layman's terms...please?

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  • Reply 2 of 18
    SpamSandwichspamsandwich Posts: 33,407member


    Will this finally eliminate the needless duplication of data between iCal/Calendar and Google's calendar? On my desktop calendar I have two, sometimes three duplicates of the same event thanks to whatever incompatibilities between applications.

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  • Reply 3 of 18
    Daekwandaekwan Posts: 175member


    Yeah what the hell does this even mean.  Either the address book syncs with Google contacts or it doesnt.


     


    And how in the hell do we get rid of the dupes that are guaranteed to show up anytime you sync with a new contact list.  Its the main reason I dont sync with Google contacts anymore.. dupes keep coming back (even after merging & deletions).

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  • Reply 4 of 18
    uberspeckuberspeck Posts: 2member


    Google adds CardDAV support for iOS calendars contacts

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  • Reply 5 of 18
    cinder6cinder6 Posts: 38member
    What does this mean for users? Will Google Contacts now have access to contacts you add in iOS, and vice versa? That's what it seems to imply, but it's somewhat vague.
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  • Reply 6 of 18
    uberspeckuberspeck Posts: 2member


    You just add another contacts account. It can be managed from your Contacts application, but it doesn't spill over into your other accounts with Contacts

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  • Reply 7 of 18
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Oh, good. The link didn't break when I fixed the title. Now I know that's fixable!


     


    Front page, you're on your own.

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  • Reply 8 of 18
    munasmunas Posts: 14member
    Header sais "Google adds CardDAV support for iOS calendars"
    Shouldn't be calendars in header replaced by contacts?
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  • Reply 9 of 18
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member


    Deleted

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  • Reply 10 of 18
    pembrokepembroke Posts: 231member


    Here are the instructions from Google:



    http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2753077



    Says it works for iOS5 and above and requires SSL. I've followed the instructions and get a message 'Cannot Connect Using SSL'. I'm running iOS 6 on a 3Gs iPhone.


     


    Edit: Just tried again and it worked!

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  • Reply 11 of 18
    kyle smithkyle smith Posts: 1member
    pembroke wrote: »
    Here are the instructions from Google:

    http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2753077


    Says it works for iOS5 and above and requires SSL. I've followed the instructions and get a message 'Cannot Connect Using SSL'. I'm running iOS 6 on a 3Gs iPhone.

    Edit: Just tried again and it worked!

    I've got the same iPhone and iOS 6 and I keep getting the SSL error too. What did you do to fix it? What does your iPhone list under "Advanced Settings" for port number?
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  • Reply 12 of 18
    cvdgcvdg Posts: 1member
    Will Google contacts sync my Groups? I've successfully added contacts to Address Book on Lion via the CardDAV instructions, but I don't see any groups... only "All Google Contacts".
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  • Reply 13 of 18
    jmontanajmontana Posts: 1member


    I was psyched to do this because Exchange limits the number of phone numbers and emails you can associate with a specific contact. The real bummer is that this doesn't push on the iPhone. It defaults to Fetch, so it's not instant. It follows whatever you have set for "Fetch New Data" in the Contact Settings. In my case, this is 15 minutes. So don't expect that updates will happen immediately.


     


    It does seem to be instant on the Mac, though. 

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  • Reply 14 of 18
    yujia6688yujia6688 Posts: 4member


    I strongly recommended this app?

    Download Contacts for Google

    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/downl...430950040?mt=8

    Fast Sync For "Gmail Contacts"

    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fast-...520030762?mt=8

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  • Reply 15 of 18
    yujia6688yujia6688 Posts: 4member

    Quote:

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  • Reply 16 of 18
    thomas pequetthomas pequet Posts: 2member


    It is strange that Google do not support group with CardDAV... Because with Memotoo and CardDAV sync it is possible...


     


    If you want you can use Memotoo as gateway between your iOS contacts and Gmail: http://www.memotoo.com/how-to-sync-your-apple-iphone.php?buttonSelected=carddav

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  • Reply 17 of 18
    thomas pequetthomas pequet Posts: 2member


    It is strange that Google do not support group with CardDAV... Because with Memotoo and CardDAV sync it is possible...


     


    If you want you can use Memotoo as gateway between your iOS contacts and Gmail:

    http://www.memotoo.com/how-to-sync-your-apple-iphone.php?buttonSelected=carddav

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  • Reply 18 of 18
    daveinportlanddaveinportland Posts: 1member


    Did you ever get that working? I'm getting the same error.

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