Migrate to iCloud contacts from Google

Do you "plan to continue using Gmail" exclusively? Or, in addition to iCloud mail?

When I made the switch from Android to Apple, it was due to my developing disdain for Google products spying and data mining my info in order to sell me as their product. As such, I abandoned every product of theirs.

Things get cleaner when you pick one or the other. In your iPhone and Mac settings, you can allow Contact info to be pulled from both Gmail and iCloud, but you have to select one or the other as the default preference. Any new contacts added will be created in the default contact manager, unless you manually say different.

You sound as if you are inclined toward the Apple camp, so I would say put both feet in the Apple boat rather than trying to keep one on the dock with Google! Easy to setup Gmail to forward all incoming mail to your iCloud email. Then transition people and online accounts over to your iCloud address, as you see fit.

To get to the point of your question:

• Go into your Google Contacts
• In the menu down the left side, there is an option to Export Contacts
• Choose the option: vCard (for iOS Contacts)

Now, go to iCloud Contacts and do an Import Contacts to pull in the data file you created. Most likely, you will have to do some manual cleanup on the results. Once you get everything tidy, start using your iCloud contacts exclusively.

It is best to think about Contacts, Mail, and Calendar in the same manner regarding fully getting on board. Things work cleaner if you go full in Apple. As you probably know, you can uninstall all Google apps from you iPhone, Mac, etc. yet still use the Apple mail app to get, read, and reply to you Gmail emails, if you don't want to setup Gmail to just forward to iCloud.

Presuming you have reason for keeping a Gmail identity separate from your iCloud, it works quite like this:

• Open your Apple Mail settings
• Under "Accounts", add your Gmail account
• Under the account options, switch on Mail only
• Leave Contacts, Calendars, and Reminders switched off (You can mix the worlds, but convoluted if not careful)

This allows you to read and reply to email in your GMail account, but you save, manage, and pull all contact info from your iCloud Contacts.

Hopefully that all makes a bit of sense!

No offense taken! I wavered in and out myself, a number of times. In past IT roles, I have been deeply ingrained in both the Google GSuite of apps as well as Microsoft Office 365. For mail, I learned to greatly appreciate Outlook in the business environment due to how well it integrated across all their apps, active directory, Teams, SharePoint, etc.

As my distaste for all things Google progressed, I carried the use of Outlook over into my personal life long after my switch over to the iPhone & iPad. Exploring the different ways to make Outlook work best with my Apple devices is the only reason I had some insight into the questions you were asking about contacts and such.

Several many times I would make the switch over to full on Apple tools. However, since I did not own an Apple computer, my desktop experience was relegated to what I could do on a Windows PC. My earlier comment regarding the Apple mail experience, via iCloud.com and a web browser was born out of this experience. I realize that Apple would much rather you use their products, but the Mail experience for a Windows user is so horrid that I would give up and return to using Outlook. By the way, the Outlook (mail, contacts, and calendar) experience on Apple devices if friggin' awesome!

At any rate, I did the switch back and forth from Outlook to Apple Mail several times because I wanted it to work so badly. Each time I was so deeply disappointed by Apple Mail in the browser that I would switch back to Outlook. I couldn't help but wonder whether this embarrassing (for Apple) Mail experience was by intent, or oversight. And likewise, I could not help but wonder whether the same disappointing experiences would carry over if I were to finally buy an Apple computer.

Ever in wonder, once the M1 Mac mini showed up, that was the trigger I needed to find out for myself. So, despite what might have come across as Apple fanboy, my zeal is only as new as the M1 computers! Once it populated my desktop, I again made the switch to all-in on the Apple ecosystem. So far, I am greatly impressed and feel like it just might stick this time!

Obviously, my "one foot in the boat and one foot on the dock" analogy stemmed from personal experience. Good luck exploring the options!

To answer the question in you final paragraph, yes. Your Gmail will be pulling from your iCloud Contacts list.

Reading your response, I am certainly confused. If you are intending to use Gmail exclusively, and also have concern with Apple's "walled garden", what is your motivation for moving your contacts to iCloud as opposed to just leaving them in Gmail?

Using Apple products, but remaining a devout Gmail user, it would seem that the cleanest approach would be to use the Gmail app on your iPhone, keeping all mail, contacts, calendar, etc. intact within the Google ecosystem, and then on your Mac just use the browser version of Gmail. Without question, Apple's mail, used in a browser via iCloud.com, stinks something awful. It is embarrassing really in comparison to how great both Gmail and Outlook are via web access.

Anyway, since you greatly value the Gmail/Google search functionality, I would be inclined to keep everything in their world.

The only other thing I meant to mention was from early in this thread, and the was regrind Google photos. Like you, I had tons of stuff there and relied on it. However, one of the benefits of an Amazon Prime account is their photo storage. Not that Amazon is to be trusted any more than Google, but it is an alternative.

My setup today is to have my photos go to both iCloud Photos and Amazon photos. This gives me a safety net. Later, as I curate the photo collection, I can move items I want to keep into local backup storage and clear out my large but limited iCloud storage yet leaving a copy in the as yet unlimited Amazon repository. Fortunately, the Amazon Photos tools and organization are on par with, if not better than, Google Photos.

Interesting turn of events! I certainly did the flip-flop a number of times. Everything you detailed sounds like a good plan, but I am not following your thought on one item. Specifically "monitoring both mailboxes until the transition is complete". Since you have setup your Gmail to forward all incoming mail to your iCloud email address, you don't have to monitor the Gmail account. All new inbound Gmail will be seen in your Apple Mail. Maybe I am missing something in your concern.