How do you sync Outlook tasks with iOS 5 Reminders? (PC)

UPDATE:

Uninstalling the iCloud Control Panel and opting to delete iCloud data from Outlook seems to have worked with no ill effects. I did have to manually delete the empty "iCloud" groups from Tasks and Calendars in Outlook, but it looks like none of my original data was lost (though I can't guarantee your results will be the same should you try this).

Apple, I am still waiting for USB syncing of Tasks/Reminders... I don't use Exchange and I don't want to sync into your cloud. And I'm not the only business user who could use this functionality.

(And the "best" part of these boards? Nobody from Apple will ever read them.)

iCloud turned off but "Find my iPhone"

I find the iCloud applet you have to install on a PC a pain.

I'm using Outlook notes and those can be easily and reliably synced via USB>iTunes.

I tried iCloud Photo Stream on my Vista PC, only uploads working but no downloads...

Also wireless sync not always working....

I like Google Calendar, contacts...works great via IMAP (Exchange) on iPhone, no need for iCloud here.

Dropbox is great for documents.

This is the first time I had major issues with Apple stuff not working and quite frankly I don't see the

innovation from my iPhone 4 to my wife's new 4S, same thing to me, well, one is white so I can

distinguish between the two.

Everything else is Google. Calendar, contacts...works great via IMAP, no need for iCloud here.

Dropbox is great for documents.

Except that all these things require that your data be stored in someone else's cloud...

That's true but there's a benefit to it when using iPad, Desktop PC, iPhone at work when using the

same contact list and calendar. I couldn't live withour Google contacts, before my contacts were

different on all devices...

What the heck was Apple thinking when it left iTunes as a USB sync for Outlook calenders, contacts and notes, but did not add programming to sync Outlook tasks in reminders. iCloud is a disaster with Outlook; it seems to scramble the .pst. And good luck if you install iCloud and you have not backed up your .pst so you can uninstall icloud and restore Outlook.

APPLE -- GIVE US USB SYNC FOR OUTLOOK TASKS/REMINDERS!

I answered this in another discussion

I have noticed that my tasks and reminders are not syncing via USB either. I have had a ton of problems with iCloud, so I am not having it sync with my outlook. I looked in my settings to see if it says "sync with" anywhere, but I couldn't find anything.

That was my problem. 😟 My outlook is now totally screwed up. I tried uninstalling iCloud, but it erased my calendars completely and I had to restore back to an old .pst. But now one of my e-mail accounts won't send from outlook, and it's my WORK account! Makes working very difficult.

Same here, I wish not to go over cloud to synchronize my data. I'd like to do it the old way prior getting IOS 5. Since upgrading to IOS 5 I cannot sync data to Outlook.

I had the same problem last night. I installed the icloud control panel which would not allow a merge of reminder items in any shape or form so is not worth it. So i uninstalled as i didnt really want to be using the icloud in the first place. Then noticed my calender items had been removed fully from Outlook.

Please Apple... there is no excuse for this! how long have we waited for this kind of functionality it does not work as promised. The tasks should sync as normal like the calenders not the icloud, is this a ploy to force people onto the icloud?

Phew ... I'm glad I didn't turn the iCloud stuff on yet. Think I'll just keep using DropBox.

I do wish, though, that they would fix this and make it work the same way synchronizing notes and calendar items does. Could it be that hard?

-Max

I also have this issue currently using Outlook, all I can see synchronised are my completed tasks (not much use)

The lack of response from Apple on this thread is very poor indeed, virtually an admission that there is a problem.

Come on Apple sort it out!

Well, as a new Apple user (iPhone), I have found syncing Tasks and Calendar via iCloud with Outlook to be a lousy experience. To clarify, I don't use Exchange, just a standalone copy of Outlook on one of my PCs. When I first went for the iCloud solution, all of my appointments were duplicated as I know many have found. After hours of removing the duplicates, then found the Outlook ToDo bar wasn't usable any more since iCloud sync-ed with a new Outlook Calendar instead of the default one. Went back to iTunes sync which at least works (but in the move back from iCloud ALL of my appointments had lost their reminder (alarm) settings.

So, enough is enough. The iPhone calendar isn't very good in any case as it lacks loads of functionality, as does Reminders. I have now moved fully to using Google Calendar which can be perfectly synced with the wonderful iPhone App Calengoo. and the Google Tasks are also synchronised with Calengoo. Calengoo can also set recurring Tasks, which is something I could always do in Outlook. Now, I can just have Google Calendar Sync load up my Outlook calendar (but of course that doesn't deal with tasks) if I want to continue using Outlook calendar. but, in fact, Google calendar is just as good if not better so I shall be using that in the future.

Sorry Apple, your Calendar, Tasks and synchronising are just not good enough.

I'm still synching my Contacts via iCloud for the time being as that seems to work ok.

Wilf

Like you, I use Outlook extensively, but I do not use an Exchange server. My experience after a few years is this:

Syncing via iTunes/USB worked/works great for Calendars, Contacts, and Notes. Plug your phone into you PC via USB, click the checkboxes in iTunes to indicate you want to sync those three things with Outlook, and everything just works. Great!

My brief experience with iCloud, however, was the exact opposite. The *only* reason I even tried it was to sync Tasks to Reminders (a long-missing feature on the iPhone). I had been using "2Do" for Tasks, and was very excited about Reminders until I realized that USB syncing is not supported.

As you stated, iCloud (without ever asking me) created a new Calendar and a new Task list - both named "iCloud" - and then duplicated everything. The really annoying part is that I only selected syncing of Reminders/Tasks in iCloud yet it still created a new Calendar. Why?

And to top it off, the iCloud Tasks group does not show up in your Tasks sidebar in Outlook, so it's not really a "sync" -- more of a parellel copy-to-Oulook operation. VERY disappointing.

The only good thing I could say was that uninstalling iCloud seemed to work OK, though I had to manually remove the new calendar and task group.

Good luck!

I am so disappointed in the iCloud and a little disappointed in Apple. I set up the Cloud pretty much right away with the expectation that it would work. I only set it up on the iPad, not on the two iPhones that sync to the are Outlook information. It turned out to be junk and only took me a week to get rid of, have my phones sync properly again and restore the data I lost. Now...Reminders will not sync to Tasks which is just icing on the cake. Apple has to fix this and for goodness sake, employ some people that can help testing on PC; not everyone uses Mac. WARNING: DO NOT USE THE CLOUD. If you do, be prepared to spend about 30 hours fixing your device/computer after.