As Google absorbs more and more of my cyber-life (resistance IS futile!), I am wanting to coordinate between things like their calendar and my Palm Centro more and more. (Yes, I can look things up on-line on the Centro, but it is slow and awkward to work with.) GooSync is a free on-line tool that will do the job with little fuss.
GooSync offers this program in a free standard version (which is what I am using) and a Premium package that can sync multiple Google calendars, sync your contacts, etc. One big difference between the two versions is that the free version only syncs the upcoming 30 days, while the premium does the upcoming year. Another is that the premium package offers an Autosync option. Personally, my social life is not so busy that either of these is a big need!
Installation was about the same as any other Palm program, and there was no difficulty getting it to work over WiFi or to access my Google account. The on-line documentation is OK, but I only tried it for one issue that it really did not help me with- setting up Autosync (it is supposed to be available only in the Premium Edition, but there is a screen for it in the Standard Edition.)
It does a good job putting things from the Google Calendar into the right places automatically, and so far has worked for me the way I want- set up the Google Calendar as I want, hit a button on the Centro, and Tah-Dahhhh! The job is done. The screen may not be exciting, but it tells me what I want to know- the Palm Zen spirit, if not the usual Palm Zen look.
The program only takes about 500kb of memory, and has caused no glitches or problems for my Centro at all. This is not a big ‘gee whiz!’ kind of program, but rather one of those little unsung utilities that just plain works the way it should.
If you are like me and all of these computer options that are supposed to make our lives easier is confusing you just a little bit, then you’ll appreciate how easy GooSync is and how convenient it is to carry a calendar that is stored, shared, and synced on-line.
Product Information
| Price: | Free for standard edition, 20 Pounds British per year for Premium |
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I have used this application before and it did indeed work the way it should. No bugs or crashes on my AT&T-locked Centro.
I don’t know, last time I had goo in my sync, I just called a plummer. OooooooooooooooH !
I am curious, Mark – with the Centro being your main cell (?), do you plan on upgrading at all to a Pre, whether it be with Sprint, or, if you are with ATT, the rumored centro/BB look-alike, thats been popping up in photos here and there?
I am currently with Sprint, but I would gladly look at a Pre if one became available to review. I admit that I am nervous about buying one considering that Palm is on several lists of businesses that are not expected to survive the recession. Palm has been limping along for years- which saddens me considering how much I like them and their stuff… for the most part!
The Pre looks cool, as do many other options. I also find myself getting more and more jealous of my daughter’s iPhone and the number of apps that are growing for it.
My firm attachment to Palm has eroded with the Centro. Compared to my old TX, I rarely watch movies, write anything, play games, listen to the music, etc. I’ve never bothered hooking up a larger keyboard or my GPS, rarely surf the web, and have a whole file of games and apps I have not even bothered to install. Part of this I think is the small screen on the Centro- it is just not as fun to use as the big screen toys are.
Until recently, whenever I have thought about ‘jumping ship’, one thing that held me back was the investment I had in Palm software. The other day I noticed that I had not updated most of my programs in over a year, and only have 5 non-games apps I have paid for (or would have if they had not been free for whatever reason), including a screenshot program for these reviews. 3 of the programs can be easily replaced with free software on my Mini netbook, which basically means that this argument is pretty much null and void.
Considering that most of the mainstream Palm software and hardware sites are shifting to other revenue streams, i get the feeling that I am not alone in my thinking.
It works really well with my Blackberry Curve as well through T-Mobile, with just one issue about updating from two sources, G-sync will not allow it.
That is all.
Baker
Autosync works well on my Treo 755p with the timed settings in the free version. Overall, I’m really impressed with this product’s ability to sync with Google Calendar. That said, I can’t consider subscribing until they also sync contacts and tasks with Google’s apps. As a Google Voice user it would be extremely useful to have the same set of contacts on my phone. And the recent inclusion of tasks in gmail and Google Calendar makes me wonder if Google won’t be making a push to sync tasks with their own sync software. Hopefully they get around to making a version for Palm OS despite it’s obvious demise.
biggest question you seemed to fail to answer – DOES IT RUN/SYNC IN THE BACKGROUND?
Thanks!
@Gordon It does not.. There’s a popup, like with SMS, so you can opt to wait or go ahead with your scheduled sync.
@Gordon: The Palm OS is not big on multi-tasking. Few Palm programs can run in the background- I cannot think of any offhand.
What about syncing google tasks with outlook? Do you know of anything that does that? I am hitting a brick wall!
Sasha: The program you’re looking for is OggSync — it works very well!! http://www.oggsync.com — don’t worry about it being beta, like Google apps it’s been beta for ages! 🙂
This is great. TY One question, does this sync the Google calendar to your phone calendar, or will it create a 2nd calendar on the phone? I’d prefer to have 2nd calendars, one for personal (default on phone) and one for buisness (Google Calendar). TY
I am not sure- I stopped using the Palm Centro several months ago, and GooSync has made some changes as well. I don’t need it on my Blackberry.
JUNK! I have paid for the full version and it corrupts your contacts both on your phone and then after sync in gmail. It also doesn’t allow appt changes on your phone as when I sync it, it undoes any changes I made.
Now I have had a support ticket for 13 days and nothing has been done.
This company is a joke and their product is CRAP!!! I’m just going to get an Android phone and stop dealing with crappy Palm programs. I love Palm when it works but when it doesn’t you need a degree in C# and a case of Jolt cause nothing fixes easy in Palm.
@GuruJ,
I’m sorry you are having problems, but the program I reviewed here, the freeware version, does not do contacts, so could not have done this. It is a little unfair of you to blast THIS program when it is a different program causing your headaches.
I will point out that in the past, when my contacts have had problems syncing in one program or another, it was because my contacts database was corrupted or used in a non-traditional way. If memory serves, the guy who made the wonderful Palm program Datebk also offered a database cleaner that might help, and I believe that there is a cleaner built into the Palm desktop as well. Have you tried either of those?
@Mark: Can you elaborate on the changes that GooSync made prior to your comment in October?
Also, Palm OS does allow background operations – but it isn’t as seemless as other full OS options. PTunes, Audible, Realplayer all operate in the background, as do many of the email PUSH programs for Palm OS.
@Vinnie- the website would be your best source of the changes. Since I no longer had a Palm at that point, I really did not have a chance to try the ‘before and after’.
Thanks for the reminder of some background programs- I shoulda remembered pTunes and some of the alarm programs.
I am trying the free version on my Centro and it errors out with a 511. I can’t get any info out of Google, they no longer respond. I did notice to the right of the check mark in Calendar, it shows ‘Never’. It starts the sync, gets to 1692/1706, then errors out with the 511 code. Google calendar on line is correct now, the Centro does not update.
Honestly I think this is bogus, I haven’t had to pay for Google and I’m not starting now. I’m hoping Google will offer their own service to sync its features between accounts and platforms
Dit anyboy answer Megans’posting?
> This is great. TY One question, does this sync the Google
> calendar to your phone calendar, or will it create a 2nd
> calendar on the phone? I’d prefer to have 2nd calendars, one
> for personal (default on phone) and one for buisness
> (Google Calendar). TY”
I’m trying to find a way to:
1) sync my work email/contacs/calendar (at my job we have ActiveSync for that)
2) sync my private mail (Google Apps) – I don’t knwo what tool to use, maybe GooSync?
on the same phone (Nokia N95) but of course I’d like to keep them seperate..
@Huub-
As far as megan’s question- again, since I have not used the program in some time, i cannot really provide any support for it, and this is not really a support forum unfortunately.
You might try a Nokia user’s forum- if they don’t know about the Goo, they might have other options for ya.
I can’t get the syncing to start. I have the program downloaded to my Treo 700p, have put my gmail username and password in the settings, but keep getting the message “access denied” when I press the start button for syncing the goosync client. I sent a message to su*****@go*****.com, but no answer as of yet. Any suggestions?
thanks,
mw