Take Control of Syncing in Tiger: Learn how to sync data between Macs, or with devices like the iPhone, Apple TV, and iPod

Take Control of Syncing in Tiger

Learn how to synchronize all your data between Macs, or with mobile phones, PDAs, and iPods!

With clear directions and a humorous touch, Take Control of Syncing in Tiger walks you through tasks like syncing data with your iPhone, iPod, or Apple TV, syncing phone numbers between your Mac and mobile phone or PDA; syncing files between your desktop and laptop Macs; and sharing Safari bookmarks and keychains between Macs. You'll learn what gear you need and the best ways to move your data between devices, whether your syncing software is built in to Tiger, works through .Mac, or comes from an independent Mac developer.

A Leopard editon of this ebook is available—see Take Control of Syncing Data in Leopard.

More Info
Contents & Intro
FAQ
Blog

Read Me First
Introduction
Quick Start
A Briefing on Syncing
What You Can Sync
Connect Your Gear
Sync an Apple Device with iTunes
Sync a Handheld Device with iSync
Sync Another Mac with .Mac
The Conflict Resolver
Sync with Third-Party Software
Lost in Translation
Synchronize Yourself
Appendix A: A Shot at Troubleshooting

Read Me First

This ebook explains how Tiger "thinks about" syncing, and shows you how to take advantage of its syncing capabilities, and how to go beyond them when they fall short. It was written by Michael E. Cohen (with an assist from the Digital Medievalist), edited by Don Sellers, and published by TidBITS Publishing Inc.

Introduction

"That syncing feeling." "I'm syncing in the rain." "Everything but the kitchen sync." "Sync-le white female." Through the course of writing this ebook, I have heard almost every single pun on the word "sync" that could be made from people I once considered friends. But after the ritual punishment that inevitably ensues when I tell someone I've been writing about syncing, I'm usually asked, "What is syncing, anyway?"

I have three answers.

The shortest answer is this: syncing is a technological solution to that age-old question, "How can you be in two places at once?" This answer usually evokes a glazed uncomprehending stare—it's the answer I use to retaliate for the worst puns.

A slightly longer answer goes something like this: "You know your Mac's Address Book? Wouldn't you love to have all those addresses and phone numbers on your mobile phone? Oh, you've done that? Well, then, you already know something about syncing." This answer usually elicits a self-congratulatory nod. Once I have my listener hooked, I talk about how adding phone numbers and contacts on the phone and moving them back to Address Book, and I tell them about syncing calendars, too, and then I say, "Oh, and you have a desktop and a laptop Mac, too, right? You know, you can sync them, too—not just your phone book and your calendar, but your bookmarks, and your Mac's keychains, and bunch of other stuff." This goes over pretty well, because I stop before I get all geeky on them.

But the most complete answer I can give to this question is the one you just downloaded: this ebook. In it, I explain how syncing works in Tiger, cover how you can sync your shiny devices—your iPods, your iPhones, your Apple TVs, your mobile phones, your PDAs, and your Macs—and describe the software you use to do that syncing. I also tell you how to solve the occasional syncing conflict, and suggest ways you can integrate syncing into your daily computing life. In short, my goal is that this ebook help you take control of syncing.

But please don't send me your favorite syncing pun. I've heard it.

Quick Start

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger provides great synchronizing capabilities to help you share your information among different devices—unfortunately, to a casual observer those capabilities seem to be confusingly scattered all over the place. In fact, though, there's some order in the chaos: to take control of syncing you need to understand only a few simple concepts, make a decision or two, and, usually, follow a few short steps.

Understand what syncing is:

Learn the basic concepts underlying syncing with A Briefing on Syncing
Check out The Elements of Syncing to get a Tiger's eye view of what syncing is all about.
Know the difference between syncing and backups. See Syncing vs. Backups.

Get your stuff together:

Find out The Information You Can Sync, and decide what you want to sync.
Decide which of The Devices You Can Sync that you'll be syncing, and then Connect Your Gear.

Get synced:

If you have an iPod, an iPhone, or an Apple TV, see Sync an Apple Device with iTunes.
If you use a PDA or mobile phone, Sync a Handheld Device with iSync is where you want to go.
Have two or more Macs? Sync Another Mac with .Mac tells you how to get your information on all of them.
If none of Tiger's tools and talents quite meet your syncing needs, you can always Sync with Third-Party Software.

Avoid trouble:

Sidestep conflicts with The Conflict Resolver, learn some techniques that might keep your information from getting Lost in Translation, and, if necessary, take A Shot at Troubleshooting
Finally, develop syncing strategies for staying up-to-date by learning how to Synchronize Yourself.

How do I find the PocketMac coupon?

After you download and unzip your ebook, open it in a PDF reader (typically Apple's Preview or Adobe Reader). You'll find the coupon on the second-to-last page.

Has this ebook been updated for Leopard or for anything that happened in 2008?

This ebook was last updated in July 2007. As such, it neither covers Leopard nor MobileMe-based syncing with Tiger. Given the demand for ebooks about Tiger, it is unlikely that we will ever update this ebook to include those (or any) new topics. However, you may instead wish to purchase Take Control of Syncing Data in Leopard.

Does this book cover syncing to the iPhone and the Apple TV?

Absolutely! And if you have an earlier version, the update to version 1.2 is free; just click the Check for Updates button in your copy to access the free update.

Will this book help me sync a handheld PDA with a Macintosh computer and a Windows PC?

Well... not so much... Someone recently wrote in with a question about this - here's the question and Michael's answer:

Question: I'd like to synchronize my Palm TX with my many Macs running OS X, and my work PC running Windows XP. I already do this, but would like to use iSync/iCal/Address Book instead of the moribund Palm Desktop on the Mac. Does this book talk about the pros and cons of this approach?

Answer: Generally speaking, you should not sync a handheld device (mobile phone, Palm, etc.) with more than one computer. Syncing with more than one computer vastly increases the possibility of sync conflicts between all the devices involved, and can increase the chances of data corruption as well. Apple includes this warning in its iSync help: "IMPORTANT: You should sync your phone with only one computer. If you sync your devices with more than one computer, your information may not sync correctly (you could see duplicates or wrong information)."

Things can only get even more confused if you sync a single Palm device between both a Mac OS computer and a Windows XP computer, which have rather different ways of syncing information.

The book does not talk about syncing handheld devices with Windows (the title, is, after all, Take Control of Syncing in Tiger). It does discuss the differences between syncing structured information (calendars, contact lists, etc.) and syncing files (images, songs, documents), and it does discuss third-party syncing applications such as Missing Sync, but it does this in the context of the Sync Services underpinnings that Mac OS X 10.4 provides.

Can I read this ebook on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch?

There are lots of great ways to read PDFs on these devices. For more details, please read our latest Device Advice.

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