iPhone sync with Google Calendar

I had been looking at different iPhone syncing options for my contacts, and it seemed that to do anything with a PC was going to involve using Outlook, which I was reluctant to install. In general, I try to use only open source applications, ones which run under Windows and Linux (and if there is a Mac port too, even better). This was I don’t have to remember different ways of doing things when booting under the other OS, and files don’t need converting.

Instead, I found the Beta of Google Sync for iPhone.  This works so well, I was amazed.  I have already used Google Calendar (my wife and I share one for keeping each other up to date with our appointments), but I never bothered syncing it with anything.  The iPhone sync is outstanding – changes made through the web appear in my contacts and calendar instantly, and vice versa.   Now there are several options for syncing Google Calendar and Contacts with Thunderbird, so if I want an offline solution for my laptop or desktop I can go that way too.

Apple’s Mobile Me looks interesting also, although again for the PC it seems to support only Outlook.  There is currently a free 60 day trial of Mobile Me available from Apple, so it doesn’t hurt to try that out too.