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Which is preferred on iPhone CalDAV or Exchange?
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The new iPhone 3.0 firmware will support CalDAV and Exchange sync, so does Google Calendar. Details at http://www.apple.com/iphone/ softwareupdate/
Which is the preferred method?
Thank you.
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I'm wondering this too... With the 3.0 software and Google Sync, I still don't have the ability to create meetings with invitees thru the iPhone calendar app... I'm wondering if using calDAV instead will allow me to do so... anyone know?
Wondering the same thing. I have also read reports that Google Sync is worse for the battery life than MobileMe, I wonder if there is a difference between CalDAV and Exchange Sync? Form an ideological standpoint I prefer an open standard over a closed one by the way, so I hope CalDAV will turn out to be the better option.
I'm testing both. So far notice that CalDAV doesn't seem to show my multiple Google calendars, however it does allow you to set/edit multiple alerts.
Curious if multiple calendars are supported.
For the secondary calendars you probably just have to use the calendar ID for the secondary calendar (this is how it works in the Calendar API) instead of your main e-mail. You find out the calendar ID by looking at the Calendar details, it looks something like teuappgh9sdojlpb79v180s@group.calendar.google.com
I haven't tried it yet, I was just remarking that that's how you get the secondary calendars in the API feed. In the API atom feed I simply made the calendar public so it didn't need verification. But I haven't had a chance to try this on the iPhone out yet. I did get the public holiday secondary calendar to work on the iPhone, not using caldav but by simply subscribing to it. (Which is only one-way, but that's OK for the holiday schedule) (you can find the appropriate subscription link by googling around)
For hosted secondary calendars I did as Fjan suggested, except as follows.
For URL I used the following (happy to use cut and paste)
https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/CALENDARID@group.calendar.google.com/user
replace the CALENDARID@group.calendar.google.com with the full calendar ID
(see settings under the calendar, like teuappgh9sdojlpb79v180s@group.calendar.google.com)
then use YOUREMAIL@DOMAIN.COM for username
and your password
if this doesn't take you can go to go to advanced settings and paste the url into account url
using SSL and port 443
Seems like a pain to support multiple calendars. Any particular advantage of using CalDAV over ActiveSync/Exchange now that Google supports up to 25 calendars?
@satchdaddy: According to Ars Technica you can now create meeting invitations with the Exchange sync (http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2009/06/hands-on-review-iphone-os-30-chock-full-of-changes.ars/3)
Got all 4 of my CalDAV calendars and my 2 subscribed calendars in. It took a while, even with cut and paste. Seems to work fine. The big bonus, is that the color of the CalDAV calendars finally matches the colors in iCal and Google Calendar! Subscribed calendars, do not match and are seemingly randomly assigned as in the past.
No one has really answered the question. Is CalDAV better than ActiveSync/Exchange for Google Calendars on the iPhone?
Would someone please chime in..not on the how-to but pros/cons for the choices. Thanks!
Well the problem I'm having with Exchange is that when creating events on the web site the alarm does not sync over to the iPhone. This has been a problem since I started using it in 2.21. For this reason I was using Nuevasync. The only problem now with Nuevasync is they got hammered pretty hard today with all the syncs taking place at one time. I switched over to Google today because they have more rescources but generally Nuevasync runs much smoother when it's running.
sda0831 wants to know which is better; CalDav or ActiveSync/Exchange:
It appears that exchange is easier to set up and more easily supports multiple calendars (I changed my colors to match what the iphone applied). However, since only 1 exchange server is supported, using CalDav AND exchange allows you to sync all of your personal stuff (google in my case) and use the exchange setup for work (if your employer uses an exchange server).
I'm also considering which's better, but here's my concern:-
Exchange + can set up 1 account for all your calendars + support push contact/calendar (means more heavy battery usage?) - worse invitees implementation (only tick besides name, but cannot launch the person's contact) - although Apple said its exchange support allows user to accept/reject events, but I cannot see from gSync / NuevaSync yet.... - cannot sync calendar color code
Caldav + can sync calendar color code (which's very important to me!) + better invitees implementation (u can see who invites, status of all invitees, and launch the person's contact right the way) + can see new invited events differently, u can see it's grey with dotted line around - need to set up calendar by calendar - cannot support push, so only fetch - but u still cannot accept / reject the new invited events yet
but u can make use of both anyway because of the new iPhone 3.0 (no more exchange or nothing approach, yeah!!) ?
One more point, I cannot create meetings through neither Exchange nor Caldav yet.....
@ kimhoman Great list of pro's and con's.
The fact that CalDAV isn't push is the deciding factor for me to stick with ActiveSync
Also, it should be noted that CalDAV definitely supports more than one alert per event - something I wish ActiveSync supported, but I suspect is a Microsoft limitation.
Best answer
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Charlie
(Google Employee)
Hey folks,
Thanks for bringing this up -- it's a great discussion, and one that I know a lot of people are curious about. Right now, the best place for advice about Calendar on the iPhone (or other mobile devices) is the Mobile Help Forum, which you can check out here:
The people in there have some great recommendations about how to use Google Calendar with your iPhone. kimhoman, thanks for providing that list of pros and cons for each -- it's really helpful. We're encouraging people to sync their calendars with ActiveSync, unless they already have an existing Exchange relationship, in which case they can sync their calendars using CalDAV. To read more about both, check out this article in the Help Center:
Thanks guys -- hope this clears things up some :)
Cheers, Charlie
What I notice is that CalDAV DO NOT have PUSH function, CalDAV uses FETCH to sync with Google Calendar Server. I have done a test --> open both Calendar Web and iPhone Calendar, after I added a new event on the web, my iPhone DO NOT update instantly, unless I refresh or restart the iPhone Calendar.
Contrastingly, if I use Google Sync, even without running iPhone Calendar, when I make changes on the web, it updates INSTANTLY, just like an SMS alert sending new events to my phone. I found that critically important for me, because I sync with friend's calendar, and often events are with short notice.
The limitation of Google Sync is that it can sync maximum 5 calendars, while CalDAV can have 25. Besides, Google Sync uses Outlook service which someone might want to reserve it to sync with company's server, but this doesn't bother me.
So, all up, I found that Google Sync is more suitable for my usage. Hope this help.
I have mine set up with CalDav, here's why:
My goal is to have a shared calendar that has the family and kid schedules that can be synced to and modified by multiple iPhones. I already use an Exchange server for my work email/calendar, so I cannot set up an Exchange account for this calendar. I could use Google Sync to sync the shared calendar to Outlook, and then have the work server handle syncing, but there are a couple drawbacks: 1) my computer must be on to catch the updates, so this is not a completely over the air solution, and 2) Google Sync currently only syncs your primary Outlook calendar with your primary Google calendar, so I would have to merge my calendars (in Outlook and Google), or change my primary calendar to my personal one.
So far the only drawback I have seen is fetch vs push, but the only time I see this as an issue is when opening the calendar app when I don't have wireless service, all other times it will fetch new/changed appointments when I check the calendar. I'll wait and see if battery life is impacted.
Our other iPhones have the shared calendar set up as an Exchange account.
For those interested: Summary of pros and cons using Google Sync (Exchange ActiveSync) vs. CalDAV.
Google Sync (ActiveSync)
—————————————
Pros
-Supports Push to devices
-Supported by iPhone
-Supports multiple calendars within one account
Cons
-Can only have one ActiveSync account set up on iPhone at one time
-Can’t choose calendar colour
-Not currently supported by iCal (will be in Snow Leopard)*
CalDAV
—————————————
Pros
-Supported by iPhone, iCal and other clients
-Supports multiple calendars within one account (use /user on iPhone)
-Allows control over calendar color, and color syncs across accounts
Cons
-Doesn’t push updates. Fetch only
-Setting up multiple accounts is a bit clumsy compared with ActiveSync,
and they appear as separate services in the iPhone settings and ‘choose
calendar’ views. No biggie.
*You can set up devices using different protocols. For example, for
the same Google Calendar account, you can have your iPhone connect via
ActiveSync, whereas your iCal connects via CalDAV. Both methods work
simultaneously, so this is a good solution for iCal or Sunbird which do
not support Exchange ActiveSync.
I have all my calendars set up through CalDAV. Colors match finally.
The one thing I am noticing is that the battery life drains much faster now with my 5 CalDAV accounts set up. When I had PUSH google calendar/contacts set up, the colors weren't right but the battery life was noticeably better.
anyone else notice battery life issues with caldav set up versus exchange?
reply to buddasasc666:
I notice the same issue with battery drain using multiple (5+) CalDAV accounts -- I've also found a good way around it. With the iPhone you can set different fetch schedules (manual/fetch) for each account. Since CalDAV can't push, and I'm not getting any urgent meeting invites, I've chosen to update the calendar manually when I open calendar app.
This has had a dramatic affect on saving battery life. I thought initially since I fetch my gmail every 15 minutes, that getting calendar stuff wouldn't be worse, but it really was. Now my battery seems just as good as it ever was. My calendar also syncs nicely when I open it with no apparent delay.
Hope this helps,
Mike
There is a thread on the Google help forum "Which is preferred to sync with the iPhone, CalDAV or Exchange?" http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Calendar/thread?fid=12db6adf12a1427900046eb187ef57b5&hl=en
The consensus is that, apart from the matching colors, Exchange does a far better job since it's push (CalDAV is not at the moment) so it's quicker and saves battery life.
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