iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition

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10.2 iSync Meets iPod

Part of iSync's charm is its ability to keep your iPod in perfect harmony with iCal and Address Book—and you don't have to export, drag, or drop a thing.

To use the dynamic duo of iSync and iPod, you need version 1.2 or later of the iPod system software. (You can download the most current version at http://www.apple.com/ipod/download).

Once you've installed iSync, connect your iPod to the Mac with the FireWire cable and then start up iSync. In iSync, choose DevicesAdd New Device. The iSync program looks around to see what compatible items are connected to the Mac.

When iSync has located your iPod, it invites you to drag the icon into the iSync window to add it to the team (Figure 10-2).

Figure 10-2. When you first open iSync (top), it doesn't "see" the iPod. But once iSync has looked around and found your iPod (bottom), you can add it to the brushed-metal toolbar by dragging its icon—or by simply double-clicking it.

Now the iSync window expands so that you can set up the synchronization process (Figure 10-3). (You can also expand the iSync window by clicking any of the device icons.)

Figure 10-3. Click an icon to expand the iSync window. In this panel, tell the program exactly which contacts and calendars you'd like to synchronize.

In the expanded iSync window, turn on the synchronization function. This is also your opportunity to decide whether or not you want iSync to update your iPod automatically each time you connect it to the Mac. You can also pick the specific calendars (that is, subsets of appointments; see Section 8.2) and contact groups you wish to add to the iPod.

UP TO SPEED Dot Mac, Dot Com Apple's .Mac service is a members-only society that costs $100 a year. While membership may not get you a preferred tee time, it gives you a bucket of goodies for your Macintosh. Some of the perks include a http://mac.com email address, a place for your own Web page, antivirus and backup software, and 100 MB of space to back up your files (or upload documents that are too big to email). You can also store your Address Book, Safari bookmarks, and iCal calendars on .Mac, making them available to co-workers, friends, and relatives from any Web-connected computer. The annual fee may seem steep, but Apple offers a free 60-day trial. Go to http://www.mac.com to see if membership really does have its privileges.

Once you've made your selections, click the round Sync Now button. If this is your first syncing session, iSync may take a few minutes to copy all of the data down to the iPod. You might also see the Safeguard box, like the one at bottom in Figure 10-1, warning you of iSync's activities.

After iSync finishes up, your iPod will be in sync with iCal and your Address Book. You can check the date of your last synchronization for any device by clicking its icon in the iSync window; the first line tells you when you last synced. As shown in Figure 10-4, you can also check your iSync log in WindowView Logs to see what just happened.

Figure 10-4. iSync gives you a progress report as it works (top), but in case you're curious, the program also keeps a log of what it did and when it did it (bottom). You can visit the log at WindowShow Logs or by pressing L on the keyboard.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION Converting Information for iSync I want to use iSync, but I have never used the Address Book; all my contacts are in another program. How do I move them into the Address Book so I can sync? If your other address book program can export contacts as vCards, you should be able to get them into the Mac Address Book easily. For example: Palm Desktop: Choose FileExport and export your entire Rolodex as one big vCard file. Save the exported file to your desktop, open Address Book, and then drag the vCard file into the Address Book window to add all of your addresses. The next time you run iSync, it'll copy the new contacts in the Address Book over to the iPod's Contacts folder. Microsoft Entourage: Select all contacts, or individual contacts, and drag them, en masse, completely out of the Entourage window and onto a new folder on your desktop. You've just created a vCard file for each name. Now open your Mac OS X Address Book. Switch to the Finder, open the folder you created, choose EditSelect All, and drag the vCard files into the open Address Book window. Eudora, Now Contact: See Chapter 7 for details. iSync's other talent is transferring your calendar information into the iPod. Once again, though, it only talks to Apple's own calendar program: iCal. To get your data from any other calendar program into iCal, the trick is to export it to the iCalendar or vCalendar format (Section 8.2). Then, in iCal, choose FileImport to bring in the new file. (iCal can also import Entourage calendars from the Import dialog box.) At this point, syncing your gadgets with iSync blesses them with your whole agenda, too.

If you have several devices in your iSync list but don't have them all connected each time you run iSync, the program throws up a pessimistic alert box saying that the synchronization failed. Remain calm. This doesn't mean your iPod didn't get synced. It just means iSync has failed to synchronize all the devices on its list—because they weren't all connected or configured properly.

10.2.1 Removing the iPod from the iSync List

If you decide that iSync isn't for you, you can sever the connection between it and your iPod by choosing iSyncDevicesRemove Device.

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