If you’ve been using iCal on your Mac and loving the way it syncs all your appointments effortlessly with your iPhone, you might be surprised to learn there’s a better way.
Making the switch to Google Calendar, you’ll be able to create and sync multiple calendars such as “Birthdays,” “Work Calendar,” “Kids,” and so on; share calendars with other Android and Google Calendar users; get daily weather, task and to-do lists and much more.
Syncing iCal with Android and Google Calendar
Apple has done its best to keep you from setting up proper syncing between Google Calendar and iCal. There are options within iCal to one-way sync your calendar events from Google Calendar toiCal, but not vice-versa.
Third-party options like SpanningSync do a good job of facilitatating two-way sync between iCal and Google Calendars (and subsequently, with Android), but they cost money.
In truth, it’s just much easier and cheaper to move your calendar workflow to Google. Here’s how:
Import iCal Events to Google Calendar
Moving to Google Calendar doesn’t mean losing all your iCal events. Do a one-time export of your iCal and import all your events into Google Calendar so you won’t miss a beat (or an important meeting with the boss) when you switch.
In iCal:
· Under the On My Mac heading on the left, highlight the calendar you wish to move to Google Calendar.
· In iCal, go to File > Export... > Export...
· Choose a save location and hit Export.
· Repeat these steps for each calendar you want to export.
Word to the wise: It may seem like a good idea to just use "Export... > iCal Archive." However, going this route, all your calendar events will be lumped into one. Better to individually import your individual iCal calendars, re-create and the import them into Gmail.
In Google Calendar:
· Log in or create a new Google Account at Google Calendar.
· Click the cog icon in the top nav bar and choose Settings.
· Click on the Calendars tab.
· (Optional but recommended unless you want to have all your events on a single calendar): Click on Create new calendar. Give it a name, set location information etc..
· Go back into Settings > Calendars and click Import calendar.
· Click Choose File and navigate to the calendar (.ics) file exported from iCal.
· Select the calendar to import to using the pull-down menu then click Import.
From now on, rather than opening iCal every time you get an event invitation, open Google Calendar instead. Better yet, switch to Gmail as your email client and optimize that work flow too...