Mac --> phone , simple (not easy) question on iSync

The synchronizing of data amongst all registered devices is the standard (and only) way iSync works.

If it were just copying and overwriting data from Mac to Phone, in one direction - it wouldn't be synchronizing the data.

When syncing a device for the first time, you do get the option to overwrite the phone contents, but from then on changes made on the phone are propagated to the Mac and vice-versa.

Why would you only want data to go from Mac > Phone? What happens if you have added or amended Contacts or Calendar events on the phone? If it didn't sync those changes back to the Mac, you would have to re-do them all manually on the Mac.

For me is not acceptable to have the risk where a wrong phone entry can change any address/calendar in my mac and on corporate zimbra.

The only way you could have a wrong phone entry is if you enter or amend it wrongly on the phone.

But surely this also applies if you entered or amended an entry wrongly on the Mac? So is the risk not the same?

If you don't make any changes to data on the phone, there would be nothing to sync back to the Mac anyway.

Julian Wright wrote:
Why would you only want data to go from Mac > Phone?

Because I don't make any changes on my phone. iCal/Address Book are my master records, and editing stuff on my razr v3 is a real pain. I have to 'Reset All Devices...' every time I sync, otherwise I notice additions I made in Address Book are not added to the phone.

I guess its time to get an iPhone... I hear those things integrate pretty seamlessly with Macs.

I guess its time to get an iPhone... I hear those things integrate pretty seamlessly with Macs.

But syncing works in the exactly the same way i.e. in both directions. Even with an iPhone it's not possible to sync in only one direction.

Yes, I've used the Plugin maker considerably. But since iSync's main function is to sync in both directions it won't allow you create a one-way plugin. It basically just sets phone identity and fields mapping options, although is much more complicated than that. You also can't load existing plugins into it for customising, so you'd have to start from scratch.

I have to agree with socheesome. There has to be an option for which device you want to be correct. You should be given an option for the phone the Mac or let you choose when a conflict comes up. I've tried syncing my V3 Razor with my PowerBook. I built my database from scratch, trying to match all of my contacts in Outlook. On my PC, I could set a preference for my phone to be right, or my PC to be right. I've given up trying to sync with my Mac because all I get is duplicate entries in both Address Book and on my phone. Address Book also does a VERY poor job of importing Contacts from Outlook (which I tried). If Apple wants people to switch from PC's to Macs, they're going to have to do a better job at this sort of thing.