July 28, 2008

Google Calendar Adds CalDAV Support

After many months of testing, Google Calendar finally adds CalDAV support. "CalDAV is an open protocol that allows calendar access via WebDAV. CalDAV models calendar events as HTTP resources in iCalendar format, and models calendars containing events as WebDAV collections. This allows you to publish and subscribe to calendars, share them collaboratively, sync between multiple users and sync between multiple devices."

For now, the only application supported by Google Calendar is Apple's iCal. "With CalDAV support in Google Calendar, you'll be able to view and edit your Google Calendar events directly in iCal. Any changes you make in iCal will automatically appear in Google Calendar the next time you sign in (and vice versa). If you use iCal while offline, changes you make will be saved and updated in Google Calendar when you get back online."

Rick Vugteveen tested the new feature and found that the 2 way synchronization works well, but there are some problems. "The largest issue that I had is that I needed to create a new CalDav server account for every calendar in Google Calendar. Not only did this make further setup cumbersome, it degraded the iCal UI as a 1-1 relationship between each folder (server) and calendar is created. Normal re-ordering and organization of calendars does not work with this setup so be careful with the order you enter your calendars. This multiple server setup also removed the ability to move events between different calendars within iCal."

This page provides instructions for adding your calendars in iCal and you should also read the known issues.


Google Calendar also provides basic applications for synchronizing data with Blackberry devices and Outlook, but there are many third-party applications that use Google's API to add more advanced functionality: Spanning Sync (iCal - $25/year), BusySync (iCal - $25), Calgoo (iCal/Outlook - free), SyncMyCal (Outlook - $25), gSyncit (Outlook - $10), GCALDaemon (cross-platform/open source), Plaxo (cross-platform/free), GCalSync (Java mobile app - open source), GooSync (SyncML service/mobile app - £20/year), GMobileSync (Windows Mobile - open source), OggSync (Windows Mobile/Outlook - $30/year).
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30 comments:

  1. Alex RodriguezJuly 28, 2008 at 7:03 AM

    This is great, sure wish Google would release a "cleaner" interface but for now this will work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. E.T.CookJuly 28, 2008 at 7:30 AM

    How do you use this with Google Apps?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alex ChituJuly 28, 2008 at 7:33 AM

    @E.T.Cook:

    Read the instructions. They are in English.

    ReplyDelete
  4. MihaiJuly 28, 2008 at 10:25 AM

    Just configured and it works ok for me. Tested only basic stuff but it's enough for me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownJuly 28, 2008 at 10:26 AM

    I hope there will be a possibility to sync google-Calendar with the iPhone soon :-/

    ReplyDelete
  6. MickeyJuly 28, 2008 at 11:21 AM

    Mario - I agree!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousJuly 28, 2008 at 12:39 PM

    Hi,

    Just so you know we at Calgoo also released our CalDAV support today. The documentation won’t be ready for a few days but you can still check it out.

    Here is some more info from out Chief Owls blog

    http://calgoo.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/caldav-support-is-here-for-calgoo-hub/

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousJuly 28, 2008 at 12:46 PM

    Anyone know how to set this up for Google Apps for your domain? The default instructions are working, so I assume the account URL differs slightly, such as https://www.google.com/a/calendar/*** - Yet I've not be able to get it to work regardless of what I try??

    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated... Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Alex ChituJuly 28, 2008 at 12:56 PM

    @Anonymous:
    I don't have a Mac, but I suspect that the URL is
    https://www.google.com/calendar/hosted/DOMAIN.COM/dav/EMAIL@DOMAIN.COM/user

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousJuly 28, 2008 at 1:02 PM

    Google Apps for my domain worked fine for me with the standard instructions
    (http://www.marc-seeger.de/2008/07/28/google-calendar-supports-caldav/)

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousJuly 28, 2008 at 1:48 PM

    www.nuevasync.com works incredibly well in syncing Google contacts and Google Calendar to the iPhone. It is a free (for now, at least) hosted exchange service. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  12. UnknownJuly 28, 2008 at 7:47 PM

    Somewhere on the pages for this (like a system requirements box on the project's main page!) there needs to be mention that this will only work on Leopard. I tried to get this to work on my Tiger system with no luck.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousJuly 28, 2008 at 8:07 PM

    It didn't work with Google Apps, with or without the domain/hosted in the URL. Interestingly enough, I get an error message with a spelling error!

    Calendar https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/[email@company.com]/user bould not be found.

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnonymousJuly 28, 2008 at 9:07 PM

    YES!! It does work with Google Apps...It honest to God did not when I first tried it earlier today shortly after the post was posted, but it does now!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Philipp KewischJuly 28, 2008 at 10:33 PM

    Too bad the Provider for Google Calendar was not metioned in the third party applications...

    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/sunbird/addon/4631

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ernesto RevillaJuly 29, 2008 at 2:12 AM

    Although a good initiative to enable sync Google Calendar with iCal 3.x, the announcement should be just that and not "CalDAV" support. I just tested with a browser, cadaver and Mozilla Thunderbird + Lightning, and it does not work. So we still have no "CalDAV" support, as what I understand about CalDAV. Anyway, a big step. Would be nice to see full CalDAV supoort. Thanx.

    ReplyDelete
  17. AnonymousJuly 29, 2008 at 2:49 AM

    Well I guess the horribly expensive SpanningSync and co have no reasons to exist anymore.... good!

    ReplyDelete
  18. AnonymousJuly 29, 2008 at 1:54 PM

    "no reason for Spanning Sync to exist"? Don't jump the gun yet, pal. I've been using Spanning Sync since the initial beta and their support staff is quick and super helpful.

    And take a look at the "known issues" page for GCal's CalDAV:

    * Event reminders/alarms don't sync

    * Notification emails/SMS not sent

    * iCal errors when changing the calendar name/color

    * Unable to create iCal To Dos for Google Calendar

    * Unable to create new iCal calendars for Google Calendar

    * Google Apps: Room scheduler is not supported

    * Google Calendar events don't appear in iCal

    So, yeah, I'll be sticking with Spanning Sync. I'd rather spend $25 than hours and hours wrestling with tech issues. I value my time higher than that, thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  19. RicPacJuly 30, 2008 at 9:42 AM

    Thanks for this!

    ReplyDelete
  20. srkochJuly 30, 2008 at 10:56 AM

    if you copied and pasted the URL, make sure you take the empty space off the end of the URL... otherwise, it won't work. i found this thread looking for a solution, but then noticed that i had an extra space on the end... it works just fine now.

    ReplyDelete
  21. sinoeeJuly 30, 2008 at 7:13 PM

    i only use web-based gcalendar
    that's cool

    ReplyDelete
  22. Philipp KewischJuly 31, 2008 at 12:31 AM

    Erny, there is a mozilla bug that will patch the caldav provider to support Google Calendar, review is requested and it will probably make 0.9.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ben.August 13, 2008 at 4:55 PM

    I can confirm that it looks to be working just fine for me with Google Apps For Your Domain and iCal.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Brad BerensAugust 18, 2008 at 11:02 AM

    Does it work with the Palm calendar app?

    ReplyDelete
  25. UnknownAugust 20, 2008 at 8:12 AM

    Connection CalDAV with Lightning still isn't working properly. Do you know how to solve it? Up to this time I used GCalDeamon to synchronize both calendars, now it screwed up...

    regards,
    Paul

    ReplyDelete
  26. AnonymousFebruary 4, 2009 at 6:23 PM

    How would one get this to work with iCal 2.x? Shouldn't this also work? iCal has always used WebDav protocols...

    ReplyDelete
  27. UnknownApril 7, 2009 at 7:33 AM

    For lightening try using provider for google calendar add on.

    ReplyDelete
  28. xienerJuly 13, 2009 at 2:06 AM

    it is very wonderful news.but How do you use this with Google Apps?

    ReplyDelete
  29. AnonymousSeptember 25, 2009 at 5:58 PM

    use the instructions from google. if you're getting an error, it's likely b/c you're just entering your user name as you would on your login page. the username for the calendar settings must be your full Google Apps email "user@domain.com"

    ReplyDelete
  30. toplistApril 30, 2010 at 11:20 AM

    I can confirm that it looks to be working just fine for me with Google Apps For Your Domain and iCal.
    http://msnforum.tk

    ReplyDelete

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