Appletell | Apple, Mac, iPhone, iPod | News, Rumors, Reviews, How-Tos

Google added support for CalDAV back in July.  But now they’ve improved that feature, which means syncing between iCal and Google Calendars is easier than ever.

To set up syncing between iCal and Google, first make sure you actually have a calendar set up with Google. All you really have to do is log in to Google Calendar.

Now start by downloading Google’s tool, Calaboration. After unzipping the tool and launching it, sign in to your Google account.

The window now displays all calendars that are set up with your account. Check the calendars that you want access to in iCal and click Add to iCal.

Calaboration now makes sure that iCal isn’t running and does all of the hard work setting up CalDAV accounts in iCal. When you next launch iCal, your Google calendars will be fully synced and editable.

If you’re scratching your head as to why you’d want to sync to a Google Calendar, then consider this. You can keep track of your personal (public) schedule and let friends, family or anybody, really, have access to that information on their computer. Now you’ll never have to tell them (again and again and again) when you’re working; just update your Google calendar and save yourself from the headaches. And thankfully, setting this up is pretty painless as well.

First, log in to Google Calendar and go to Settings.  Click the Calendars tab and find the calendar that you want to share and click on it’s label. Towards the bottom of this page are a few calendar addresses.

Now you have to choose between a public or private calendar. Public calendars are searchable through Google, so it’s your call as to whether you want strangers finding your calendar with a search. You can make your calendar public in the Share This Calendar tab and use the first set of addresses.

If you choose to stay private, just use the private address. This will give you control over who has access to the calendar. You can share your calendar with people by clicking the HTML button and sending them this link.

If they have a Mac (and thus iCal) it can automatically be synced to their computer. Copy the iCal link and send it, along with the following instructions, to anyone you wish. Feel free to use my generic template if you like.

I’ve set up my schedule so you can view it on the internet. If you’d like to have my schedule available and constantly updated on your Mac, it’s pretty easy. Just copy the following address and do the following.

[Insert your iCal link here]

1. Open iCal
2. Click Calendar in the menu bar followed by Subscribe
3. Paste the link that I sent to you here
4. Click Subscribe and OK
5. All done

This process will add a new calendar under the Subscriptions section in the sidebar. After clicking Subscribe, you can change some values, such as the calendar name or label color, but the default values will work fine.

This is a great way to share a schedule with friends and family.  And best of all, it’s not that hard.

Product [Calaboration]