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My good friend Derek Guder usually figures out how to make tech work better than the original factory settings long before I do. Last week he figured out how to sync multiple calendars on an iOS device and Mac OS. If this is something that has plagued you for awhile here is a simple how-to he wrote to make it easy for you. Enjoy, and feel free to say thanks to Derek if it helps you at all.

By default, Google accounts only sync the basic default calendar to the Calendar app in iOS and Mac OS. The fix to display multiple calendars isn’t actually that hard, it’s just surprising that it’s not enabled by default.

First, the Complicated one – iOS

Setting it up for iOS takes a couple steps.

1.  Go to m.google/com/sync in mobile Safari (didn’t seem to work properly in a desktop browser). You should see a list of mobile devices that you’ve synced with your Google account, like this:

Note that I have two iPhones listed because I had to get mine replaced, so this will list each device. Make sure to pick the right one if you’ve changed phones recently.

2. Tap on the device you want to display other calendars on and you should get another screen that lists a few options, including other calendars to list, like this:

The first calendar listed should be your default personal calendar, likely listed as your Gmail address. This is the one that should already be syncing to your device. “Sex Tavern” is the shared calendar for my house that I and my housemates use (in theory) to plan stuff that everyone needs to know about. This is the one I wanted to add, so I checked it off, too. Don’t ask why it’s called “Sex Tavern.” Long story.

3. Save that, and the next time you load the Calendar app and tap on “Calendars”, you should see the extra calendars show up, like this:

And now you should be all set. You can toggle local display on/off like you can with any other calendar. If you need to display it on another device, just go through the same steps again. Definitely one of those things I wish were enabled by default.

Second, the Easy One – Mac OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion

Not sure how easy this is in previous versions of the Mac OS, as this is the first time I tried it. My quick searching online revealed an old thread and it seemed to work though, so it should be good.

It’s very simple. Just open the Calendar app (or iCal if you’re on an older OS) and click on Calendar -> Preferences -> Accounts. Select the account in question (presumably labeled “Gmail” or whatever you called it) and click on the “Delegation” tab within the account itself. You should see a list of all your Google Calendars, and can just select the additional calendars you want to display. Should look like this:

Just check off the calendars you want to enable and they should start showing up. This will also make the additional calendars show up in Notification Center, etc.

And that’s it – I think.

And that seems like all you need to do. I say seems because I just did it myself and it all seems to be working fine, but you know how technology is. And anyone who knows me personally knows the kind of history I have with getting things to work smoothly…

Anyway, it should be straightforward. Just remember you’ll need to repeat those steps with each device you want to enable them on, and if you add more calendars later you’ll need to manually toggle all of them on again.

If anyone has any other Google account sync tricks, let me know. Until then, I’ll keep dreaming of the day when Google will sync smoothly and properly with all Apple products, on both iOS and OSX.

Geek Out

Steph: “So tell me again why you want a new iPhone?”

Me: “Well it’s bigger, and it has a new chip so it’s faster.”

Steph: “Is yours slow?”

Me: “No, but this one is newer, and it um, can have more apps on the screen.”

This was by no means the end of the conversation but it’s the part where it all started to turn around for me. I was no longer convincing my girlfriend that I needed a new phone, instead I was convincing my self that the iPhone 5 really isn’t a new phone. I mean technically it is, as some of the parts are new, but for the most part the experience of the phone does not look like anything revolutionary.

I’m sure a lot of people feel differently about the new hardware, but after the initial excitement of shiny new thing announcement day has worn off, I just can’t bring myself to get one. I like my 4s, and I’m sure I’ll like the 5 just as much, but that’s the thing, why should I pay $200 to like a new phone just about as much as I like the one I already have? Could it be that I want everyone to see how I have the latest technology? Sure, that is always a bonus, but it also puts a few unwanted points in my Douchey stat.

I’m not writing a tech review of the phone here, nor am I writing this to compare the specs of my old iPhone 4s to the new iPhone 5. No, I’m simply capturing the moment in my week where I went from really wanting this brand new super phone, to being happy with my old but still new super phone. I’m not going anti apple or anything. But I have noticed that they are really slowing down on the revolution, are really picking up on the tweaking. It sometimes feels like their motto was “If it isn’t broken then redesign it until the old one looks broken and the new one is the answer” and has become more of a “It isn’t broken because we made it so just throw a new chip in it.” Ok, maybe not, I never claimed to be a slogan writer.

I will say this, the one thing I am going to miss getting to play around with is the new connector. Apple called it “The Lightning” so I wonder if that means the transfer rate is going to be super fast, or if it somehow manages to charge the battery quickly. The up side of not having the new connector: I won’t have to buy a new iPod dock stereo! I actually have a few different devices designed to interact with my iPhone/iPad and having a universal plug also means I only have to pack one for the two devices when I travel. I’m sure they have already worked that out though, some adapter or what not.

All of that being said (or written) I’ll hold onto my phone for now, and see how the iPhone 5s, or the 6 looks. I honestly hope they get rid of the numbers by the time the 6 comes out.

Steph: “Mind if I correct that conversation just a bit?”

Me: “Well I don’t really remember it all I am just paraphrasing”

Steph: “You said it was smaller, thinner, that it’s the same but faster. And that it was made out of aluminum.”

Me: “I love you, and you were right.”

Steph: “This isn’t what I told you to write at the end.”

Me “I’ll write that now”

Thus proving that my girlfriend is super smart  the smartest person on the planet.

Geek Out