After having read today about the many advantages of using an Android phone rather than the iPhone (and yes, there are many arguments for the opposite case đ ), the Lifehacker post below could make a switch decision easier.
It may sound too good to be true, but itâs actually easy to sync an Android phone with your Mac just as seamlessly as an iPhone could. Even better, the majority of syncing is done in the background for you, constantly, through Google.
The key to headache-free syncing between Mac and Android is to use Googleâs cloud services as middle-men between the two. Your phoneâs already designed around using Google for its mail, contact and calendar data, so weâre just going to show you how to sync those down to your Mac, which takes little to no effort. Once youâve got it all set up, the only reason youâll ever have for plugging your Android phone into your Mac will be to sync music (and if you really want to, you can sync that over Wi-Fi too).
Setting up Gmail in Mail
If you donât use an email app on your Mac, but instead just use a browser to access a Gmail account, then you donât need to worry about Mail at all. If you do use the app, youâll be happy to know that syncing it with a Gmail account is so simple that itâs almost automated.
Simply open Mailâs preferences, click on Accounts in the top bar, then click the â+â symbol at the bottom-left of the window. After that, itâs as simple as entering your name, email address and login information. Mail automatically knows what settings to choose for Gmail.
Syncing Your Contacts with Macâs Address Book
Open the Address Book, then open its preferences and click on Accounts in the top bar of the window. You should see an account called âOn My Mac Localâ, which should already be selected. To the right of that is a check-box labelled âSynchronize with Googleâ. Just check the box!
Afterwards, you should see a small sync icon in your Macâs menu bar. Normally, that sync indicator would be used by MobileMe, but itâll also work for other accounts. If you click on it, a menu will appear and youâll have the option to âsync nowâ. Click that, and Address Book will begin to fill up with entries from your Google Contacts within a few seconds. Simple as that, your contacts are synced.
Syncing Your Calendars with iCal
In iCal, open preferences, then click on Accounts in the top bar. Click the â+â symbol at the bottom-left of the window. Leave Account Type set to âAutomaticâ, then enter your Gmail login information. After you click Create, iCal will sync your Google Calendar automatically. If you use reminders or alerts of any sort in Google Calendar, youâll also want to click the Advanced tab in iCalâs preferences, and check the box marked âTurn off all alarmsâ. Otherwise, youâll be receiving double reminders.
Syncing Your Music with DoubleTwist
If youâve got a Google Music or Amazon Cloud Drive account, you can already upload your iTunes library and stream the music to your phone. Since not too many people use those services yet, and since theyâre a different type of syncing than what weâre after today, weâll use previously mentioned DoubleTwist.
DoubleTwist is called âiTunes for Androidâ for a reason. Not only does it look like a miniature iTunes, but it performs most of the same functions, only for your Android phone instead of an iPhone. With DoubleTwist, you can sync music to and from your phone, whether itâs song by song or a whole playlist. Itâs fast, simple and free (which we like).
Thereâs also a DoubleTwist music player app available for Android, but itâs not required to play anything that you sync using the desktop app.
The DoubleTwist desktop app for Mac doesnât only handle music, you can sync photos and videos just as easily with the built-in media browser.
If you really want to one-up your friends with iPhones, you can buy the DoubleTwist AirSync app to perform all your syncing over Wi-Fi. It costs $4.62, but itâs pretty fancy-pants to be able to sync without a cable. Note that itâll definitely be slower, though, and is probably a bigger drain on your battery.=
Sync Your Photos with Picasa Web Albums
Last but definitely not least are your photos. Weâre going to use Picasa Web Albums, since it syncs beautifully with Android. Many Android phones should be able to sync with Picasa out of the box. Just double check that all your Google services are set to sync by checking in your phoneâs settings under Accounts & Sync, and tapping on your Google account.
You donât need every Google service on the list to sync if youâre not planning on using them. Google Books, for example, may be listed. If you donât plan on using it, just leave it unchecked. It wonât affect anything when syncing with your Mac.
Unfortunately, this is only really available to users with phones running stock Android. Users in HTC Sense or other manufacturer UIs might notice that there is no Picasa entry in Accounts & Settings, but there will likely be a Flickr entry. In this case, you have two options: you can download the stock version of the Gallery app and install it on your phone, which will let you sync Picasa, or you can sync with Flickr, which is also iPhoto-friendly. Note that if you want to install the original Gallery app, youâll need an account at XDA and youâll need to check the âUnknown Sourcesâ box in Settings > Applications on your phone.
On the Mac side, you can either use Googleâs Picasa desktop software to sync Picasa albums, or you can use the iPhoto to Picasa uploader. This iPhoto plug-in which will let you upload and manage Picasa albums by choosing File, then Export. If youâve chosen to sync with Flickr, you can just hit the Flickr button in the bottom right hand corner of iPhotoâs window to send any album to your Flickr account â itâs already built-in.
Apple has actually made it very easy to sync your data with Google, so the setup should take you very little time, and by the end, youâll have all your favourite Mac apps syncing data right to your phone. From here on out, your mail, address book, calendars and music libraries should look the same on both devices, without you having to lift a finger. Got your own tricks for keeping your Mac and Android phone in sync? Let us know in the comments.