No more excuses for being late

Wednesday, December 12, 2007 | 10:07 AM

Marcus FosterProduct Manager, Google mobile team, London

A few months ago we released a mobile version of Google Calendar. I find it incredibly useful, especially when traveling and running from one meeting to the next. I know that wherever I am, my Google Calendar travels with me.

Since we know how much Calendar users depend on their schedules, we are always trying to make it easier to access at any time. For example, I live in London, and like many people in major metropolitan areas around the world, I spend a lot of time underground, on the Tube (a.k.a. subway, Metro, U-Bahn...). At least in London, there is no mobile network coverage on the Underground, so I cannot always access Google Calendar on my phone.

But now there's a solution. Starting today, you can use Google Sync for mobile to synchronize your BlackBerry handheld with Google Calendar. Simply go to http://m.google.com/sync in your mobile browser to download and install the Google Sync for mobile application.


Once installed, simply click on the Google Sync icon (which looks like this):
Then, sign in to your Google Account or your Google Apps account, and that's it. The Calendar application on your BlackBerry will always be synchronized with your Google Calendar. You can even edit events or create new ones on the handheld.

Get more information on Google Sync.

118 comments:

Mickey said...

That looks great. I'd love to have this work on my phone (N95). Any plans to expand this to other devices in the future?

Guillermo Esteves said...

Please, I beg you, make a S60 version of Google Sync.

Alex Rodriguez said...

Great! I am downloading it now.

Codename Matrix said...

wouldn't it be possible to provide a syncml option for the mobile phones with syncml support ? Shouldn't be that hard... or please please a version for Symbian UIQ3 (Sony Ericsson P1i)

Unknown said...

Darn..

I've been waiting for this but just not for the blackberry) but for my ppc (htc touch, running wm6)

Any chance my wish will be reality any time soon?
At the moment I have to forward all of my meetings to my push mail account etc etc. I'djust love to have one (and that's google) service for all my things.

Hope you can answer my question and hope the answer will be: soon ;)

Thanks for any reply in advance!

grtz,
Sjeems

Unknown said...

Windows Mobile and Palm definitely need one of these.

What a tease...

Anonymous said...

got rid of my blackberry long time ago, it'll be great when this is available for the iphone/itouch.

hasa said...

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE... i want this for my nokia e61. i've been waiting for something like this for ages! PLEASE release a S60 3rd edition version asap! THANKS :)

SkavenXXI said...

Please, a "Windows Mobile" version could be great!

Unknown said...

Genius. I love you guys. I've been using GAFYD as an alternative to hosted exchange and this completes the package.

Thank you SO much!!

-Rob

Unknown said...

Great! When can we expect SyncML (Nokia devices) and CalDav (iCal) support?

ItstheEaze said...

Can you guys get Sync program work with my contacts on my BlackBerry too?

Anonymous said...

This is brilliant!

I'm also glad to see that it syncs with Google Apps for Domains (or whatever it is called right now.)

Now we just need a way to sync contacts with gmail.

forgot said...

When can we expect a Palm (Garnet) OS version?

Jed said...

The Google Mobile help group doesn't seem to have a forum yet for Sync. So I'll post my question here and hope someone helps me out:

Does Sync support Google Apps accounts? On the What username do I use to log in? FAQ page, it says you can use Google Apps accounts, but it doesn't seem to work for me.

Anyone else have success sync'ing a Google Apps accounts?

Tyler Willis said...

Google, I love you.

John C said...

The link at http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/sync/stp-js.html doesn't allow for international phone numbers. Also visiting www.google.com/mobile/sync/index.html didn't work for me either (I'm in Australia). The fix for all you International folks needing to access it is via http://m.google.com/sync

John

Unknown said...

GOT IT......LOVE IT! I've been waiting for this for some time. Good work!

ross veitch said...

Easy to install and configure. Worked nicely first time with my GAFYD Calendars on my Blackberry 8320. Thanks for this!

Next request: Please add 2-way syncing between Gmail/GAFYD Mail Contacts <--> Blackberry Contacts

Andrew said...

One of the best things to happen to Google and the BlackBerry product line in a long time... since the whole Google Mobile roll-out. Now if we could only have a similar piece that takes care of the contacts, then this would be an almost complete package - The GoogleBerry lives.

Lawrence said...

Great! Love this!

One problem, however. For some reason, my calendar entries that existed on my blackberry prior to installation of sync won't show up in my google calendar. Is it just me?

Only newly created entries will show.

Unknown said...

Sure,
This is a great step forward!
But, wouldn't it be great if Google started rolling out some more applications for the Nokia S60 devices too, like the Nokia N95. Even if not Symbian Apps, atleast basic Java versions, for maybe, GTalk too.
Why this affinity towards the Blackberry devices? A simple case of targeting the corporate croud??

Grouchal said...

What's the obsession with Blackberry guys?

I use a Symbian phone (like the majority) of the UK market - you are based in the UK.

But - I can't use the Google Mail app and I can't use the Sync App (BTW there should be only one App) - but all of this is done in Java (isn't it?)

Please start supporting popular phones.

Unknown said...

you can already use syncing for all mobilephones. www.goosync.com will do it for you

Grouchal said...

yeah - goosync is great if you are happy to give your username and password (access to your google checkout account) to a 3rd party.

I am not that person!

monow said...

Blackberry users are a little crowd against the Nokia Serie60 customers. Who needs a BB, we all have Serie60!!!

Unknown said...

All you beggars!

I beg for an iPhone implementation! ;)

NIK said...

Be serious - use Symbian! :-)
Blackberry and iPhone are toys for teenagers.

I need Google Calendar to work with my Nokia E51. Right now, I'm using GooSync.

BTW, Gmail works perfectly with my E51.

Unknown said...

Similar issue to Lawrence. My BB8130 has a lot of calendar events that I was hoping get pushed up to Google. That didn't happen.


Creating a test event on Google Cal and then sync, it comes down fine. Deleting said event on the BB and then resync, it is not deleted on Google Calendars.

It's almost as if this is one-way -- stuff can come down from G, but not up from the BB.

Alex said...

It would be great if you implement SyncML. I currently use gooSync.com but it would be even better if this would be natively supported by google.

Rob said...

You know, I was seriously getting ready to give up on using Google for business, I really was, but you brought me back, FINALLY!

Now - as someone else commented, you just need something to sync contacts with Gmail.

And it would nice if you'd go all the way and let us sync notes with Google Notebook. Keep in mind, Yahoo can already do it through Blackberry Desktop (that's the last thing, Blackberry Desktop integration would be awesome.)

STK said...

This is awesome news but I seem to be having issues with T-Mobile and the Blackberry 8320. I get the following error:
Login failed, Your phone doesn't support end-to-end secure connections. In order to protect your data, Google sync cannot be used at this time.

Thoughts anyone? Could this be an issue with T-Mobile or a seting somewher eon the phone?

STK said...

I fixed my issue, reboot the phone(pull battery out).....

Anonymous said...

This is great! It made me jump from using iCal to Google Calendar. The only problem I noticed was that when I synced to my Blackberry, the time was all messed up. Anyone else having this issue?

Anonymous said...

I want to see this capability on my iPhone.

klg said...

This is exactly what I'm looking for. I'd love this for my Nokia Symbian S60 based phone. Please release a version for Symbian bofore I must turn to Outlook for synchronization issues. Many Thanks.

m2w2 said...

As a student, I've implemented a SyncML encoder (for both XML and WBXML) myself in 2002, for the OpenMobileAlliance (aka/fka SyncML consortium). It CANNOT be too hard for the great Googlers to implement this for the Google Applications...

Unknown said...

This would be great...except it doesn't work! Other forums confirm that no appointments already on the Blackberry calendar transfer over to the Google calendar. This makes it pretty useless. Please fix it!

Unknown said...

Me too! Seems to only download from Google to Blackberry.

It would be great if it would sync both ways.

Michael Perlman said...

Keep up the great work, Google.

I'm not expecting anything for my Motorola i855 (which supports Java), but if there was a GCal application for that device and platform, I would be satisfied.

amarshallc said...

Love this concept, but, as many others have posted elsewhere, no currently scheduled appointments on my Blackberry (a Verizon 8830) sync to my Google Calendar. If I create a new appointment in Google Calendar, my Blackberry, or in Outlook (I'm connected to BES) the sync works fine--which is very impressive.

However, the hundreds of appointments already on my calendar never make their way to the Google Calendar...making this tool of limited use currently. I'd love to see that corrected!

Aleksandra said...

After the Sync some old repeat appointments which I deleted weeks ago from google calendar show up on the blackberry calendar. Any advice?

Ben James said...

Wow, I just got a BB last week and was searching for something like this. Luckily I didn't have any previous events on my BB, so everything synced just fine! Google you are my favorite.

Unknown said...

This works fantastically and is the final piece of making Apps essential for my one-man PR shop.

RaslDasl said...

Amen to the requests for two-way syncing. Otherwise it's just importing, not syncing.
And when do we get a tasks application (online at least?) to complete Google's PIM suite?

RaslDasl said...

My apologies - I see that it does sync new items. Thanks for this great tool!

Unknown said...

well first, I've never seen anyone with a symbian device in the U.S. whereas blackberries are EVERYWHERE, particularly in most fortune 500 companies. It will sync new calendar events fine, just not events already on your calendar. My problem is how to add a second calendar. It syncs my google (the default i assume)calendar, but not any other google calendar I have privaleges to.

Unknown said...

i get the following error note:
invalid manifest or application descriptor
The "MIDlet-Name" attribute is missing.
please advise how to fix it

bleaus said...

It would be great to see a Google sync product for Google Calendar and iCal. I'm not overly impressed with the options currently out there.

This would also help those of us who don't have data plans on their phones, but sync their iCal to their phone.

Johan Grafström said...

Wonderful. I can just wish that you add a Nokia S60 version now!
/J

Renovatio said...

Great concept and product, however when syncing to google calender none of the events in my BB show up. I tried several of the suggestions listed and a few of my own but this product simply does not work yet. Any suggestions

Unknown said...

I get the following error:
"Login failed, due to network problems, please check your settings."
Phone: BlackBerry Pearl 1800 with T-Mobile.
Any ideas?

xtrqt said...

syncml needed badly ;)

Orrin said...

I might actually give AT&T money for a data plan if there were a Windows Mobile version of this.

Unknown said...

Thank you! I also would like to request two-way syncing, but this alone is incredibly helpful!

Dhrumil said...

I'm so happy!

60 said...

Without 2 way sync, its sort of useless.

Unknown said...

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
I almost paid $30+ for a sync utility.
So, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for creating this!!

Viva Google!!

Jimi Spier
www.the-tpn.com

Eric Mortenson said...

YAY!!! Finally!!!

Chris and Julie Good said...

THANK YOU GOOGLE ITS WORKS GREAT ON MY SPRINT PEARL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

not to beg, but i have mail and calender (and the rest of the mobile suite) NEED tasks and contact please then I will never need bill gates again!!!!!!

thank you !!!!!!!

Digidms said...

Google this is the best christmas present ever!!! Keep up the good work boys and girls!

-Ash (former palm/windows/treo user)

Tom said...

@Grouchal Goosync uses AuthSub for gmail accounts so you don't touch your username or password. Apps for your domain doesn't support AuthSub.

Unknown said...

The two-way sync does work! It just takes like 5 - 10 min (when google sync is set to automatic).

I made changes in google cal that changed on my BB pearl, and vice versa, you just have to give it a little time, its not instant.

This is kinda annoying, though. It would be nice to have instant syncing action.

Also a free way to sync ical/mobile device/google cal all at the same time would be great too. Spanning Sync seems cool, but not on a student budget.

Mac Pro Newbie said...

Please, please, please make this available for Symbian. There are more people with Symbian phones out there who'd really like to take advantage of this.

cdevjto said...

I've got a SE850i, and I can sync using My Phone explorer from my PC but a syncML option would be the perfect companion for the recent introduction of IMAP for GMail.

Regardless of the brand I thought most handsets support SyncML in some way.

Unknown said...

It works great on my BB 8800. The only problem that I see is it doesn't sync the events/meetings to which I am invited (ie, those that I didn't create myself)... pretty annoying for business persons.

Anonymous said...

That's wonderful, as many people say, contact sync is the next logical step and a must have for the road warrior.

Ian said...

Despite fulfilling the minimum requirements, I'm unable to load Google Calendar on my mobile (Samsung m510).

I always get a "The Requested Page cannot be displayed" error.

Any ideas?

Unknown said...

now what would be best is if it didn't duplicate every entry in a manner which I cannot remove them that would be great.

Unknown said...

Why make this (and mobile hosted email tool) for a blackberry? Most of the world ha s moved on! As a google hosted apps customer I would expect proper integration across mobile and other platforms, but instead, all google seems to be saying is "go and buy a blackberry" - you guys must have a serious commercial deal with blackberry to pushing apps at thier stuff only. What a yawn. You're just proving you're not a viable option for the rest of the mobile world.

Unknown said...

I don't understand why Apple hasn't implemented this feature for the iPhone/Touch devices.

I have been manually copying the .ics and .cvs files to my 1st gen iPod Nano for a few months now with no problems.

Why does Apple only support Outlook, when the iPod can clearly read calendar & contact data from Google?

Until this is resolved, I have put off buying an iPhone. Please, talk to Apple and get them to see past MS Outlook!

Two Finger Poi of S/V Ka’aumoana said...

Really appreciate the calendar sync and hope that a contact sync is in the works.

Flora said...

I can only sync my default calender and it won't let me change, it means I've only got a third of my events... any help?

Unknown said...

Wonderful product - have been using it since release on my 8130 (Sprint). Have used it for two-way syncing for many events and haven't noticed any problems so far. This product instantly makes both Apple and Microsoft look dated for not having a similar feature that is as simple to use.

To address what "k" said - maybe because BlackBerry is the most common Smartphone in the US, so it makes the most sense?

Frank Zentura said...

Please set this up to include pre-exising appointment from the Blackberry (Pearl) calendar. This would make it a hundred times more useful!

Unknown said...

I have the same problem as "Floetry". Help pls!!! ;)

Floetry said...

I can only sync my default calender and it won't let me change, it means I've only got a third of my events... any help?
January 23, 2008 7:38 AM

Unknown said...

Unfortunately this feature does not work for Vodafone in the Netherlands.

they just say " we do not support this"?????


What can we do about that?

RWP

Tom Davidson said...

Release under the GPL so we can support more than blackberries and expand.

Rolfe said...

I too am getting the "your phone doesn't support end-to-end secure connections" and I cannot seem to fix this.

I have a Blackberry Pearl and am using Vodafone UK.

The Vodafone guys don't seem to want to try to help.

Any suggestions!? How to fix this on my phone welcome!

Thanks!!

Unknown said...

I tried again with Vodafone. They refused to respond in written text "since it is too complex to describe". They advise to call customer support to get a verbal explanation. This will not do for me. I will file a formal complaint.

Unknown said...

BB Junkie says: February 26th, 2008 10:38amGoogle sync looked like my solution. My enterprise uses NotifyLink which is a complete disaster as a synching product to Groupwise. I synched to Outlook, exported my calendar as a csv file to get all my current entries into Google calendar. Loaded Google sync to my ATT 8800, I was a pig is S _ _ _.

Then… I realized that not all the entries that I was creating were synching. I gave my secretary full editing permission to my calendar (and asked her to keep a record of all changes while I test the syncing.) The initial tests passes. When we moved to “production”, I saw that some appointments that were created on Google calendar never synched to my BBerry, and some from my BBerry would appear on the calendar and then vanish from my BBerry.

Oh well, Sync needs to go back to Google labs. it’s not ripe yet…

Unknown said...

guys I'm waiting for syncing software for Symbian for very long now. Would be great to be able to sync calendar, tasks, notes and contacts - are you working on it?

Unknown said...

Now, if I could only sync CONTACTS in my blackberry with GMAIL contacts !!!

Jon said...

#1 Thing that would make my life easier would be the ability to sync CONTACTS in my blackberry with GMAIL contacts!!!

Andrea Bertini said...

IMPORTANT: i'm a google /Blackberry italian user. Do sync works for italian mobile numbers?

Please email at and.bertini@gmail.com thanku

Rafa Montoya Adarraga said...

"An error occurred durng the
last sync"... Am I the only guy getting this message?
Actually, on my last BB8300 it worked fine, but in my new BB8300 I cant get it to sync.
Ideas?

richms said...

PLEASE do an S60 version. I have tried the 2 free syncers that I have being able to find. One only seems to do a week, and the other just doesnt want to work at all.

Also please somehow make it so that if I have outlook to google sync on the PC's, and outlook to phone sync, that they dont mess up my recurring ones like seems to have happened with the free ones.

Rafa Montoya Adarraga said...

"An error occurred durng the
last sync" does not appear any more. How? I realized that I had too many appointments in my device calendar (more than 2.500) so I erased all of them and started from zero. Now it is working. Good luck!

Jon C said...

it seems there is no answer to the 'phone doesnt support end to end secure connections'.

google techs.. please help us as it seems many people have blackberries with this same problem.

yours.. in hopeful expecation

Jon said...

Will google ever be able to sync contacts with Blackberry?

Rafa Montoya Adarraga said...

Sure it will, Jon. Perhaps they are waiting for the Googlephone to present it...

Unknown said...

Sync has stopped working for me since the 5th. Anyone else have a problem?
thx

Dangelo said...

PLEASE do an S60 version.
PLEASE... PLEASE... PLEASE...
NOKIA GO!

Sara said...

Skipstone - mine isn't syncing either, I think since around the same time as you. I thought I was just doing something wrong, since I just got this phone.

clairewkyb said...

After installing the google sync app on my mobile, I see the events i had in my google cal in my cal bberry app, but not the events I had in my cal bberry app in my google cal. so the syncing in only happening one way from google cal to bberry cal...any ideas why?

thanks!

Anonymous said...

I THINK THE GOOGLE CALENDAR / BLACKBERRY CALENDAR SYNC IS GREAT! NOW, IF WE CAN JUST GET A GOOGLE CONTACTS / BLACKBERRY CONTACTS SYNC ...

shalafarky said...

awesome ap - absolutely love it! please please please work on adding contacts to sync. this would complete my holy grail of synchronization!

Future Mrs. Fletcher said...

Please add sync for contacts in gmail - my only wish - otherwise, you guys are awesome!!! You make my new BlackBerry even cooler with all of your apps!

neems said...

Googlesync has worked for me on and off. Every so often it would stop syncing. and the only way to fix it is to completely uninstall and reinstall. This is terrible. It's such a common problem and I haven't been able to find a fix online. Come on Google!

rr-on-blogger said...

http://m.google.com/sync is a 404!!

Unknown said...

@Rakshith

Note that m.google.com/sync is the address to visit on your mobile browser. On the desktop try http://www.google.com/mobile/sync.

rr-on-blogger said...

I tried it on my BB Pearl and a my work phone which is some Nokia, but am getting a 404 on both... :(

rr-on-blogger said...

wierdly enough, only m.google.com/sync seems to throw a 404. Any other URL (like m.google.com/sync111) seems to be redirecting to (or displaying) the mobile products home page. Makes me think if the link has been intentionally disabled.. Google support???

Margie said...

my blackberry won't sync to my google calendar. I keep getting- sync failed. Also on my google calendar settings/ mobile setup my status is FALSE- in green with a check mark by it.
please help.
I've uninstalled, reinstalled, reset etc and still no sync.

thanks
Margie

Unknown said...

Please for my Sony Ericsson P1i...

Patrick R. Donahue said...

are contacts coming? absolutely require this to drop BES/exchange and migrate to google apps.

Unknown said...

Please, support Sony Erricson P1i.

Unknown said...

Cool! As a student, I have a little more motivation to keep my calendar updated!

BBTreker said...

Obviously Google Synch Mobile for BB's isn't reliable. I just ried a fresh install on a BB 8730. Hangs on connecting to Google. Moving on ...

Matthew Hunt said...

i will add new events on my BB device and it won't show up online. WHYYYY???? it works just fine when i add online, but i use my device more frequently than i do my comp...any thoughts?

Unknown said...

Great work.
I second lots of people here: please give us something similar for contacts.
Thanks anyway

Unknown said...

S60 application needed! Almost an year from the BB release and still no release for nokia!!??

Unknown said...

So...when if this going to work for Smartphones? Also, how about syncing tasks?

dmk said...

erm. great? nokia N95? would help...

Unknown said...

i guess i'm person 917971931 who will ask this, begg you... Make a sync tool for windows mobile 6.x...

Thanks thanks thanks thanks x 100000

Ricky Maveety said...

And, of course, there is still nothing for the iPhone. If you have an iPhone, you are apparently out of luck when it comes to editing events on your Google Calendar.

eromandra@gmail.com said...

please support Sony Ericsson P1i !

aldescubierto said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.