Wi-Fi / iCloud sync with Outlook

Question

Wi-Fi / iCloud sync with Outlook

I'm confused about my Wi-Fi sync situation.

I have iCloud enabled, have latest version of iTunes, and latest version of iOS.

But I have Outlook 2002, and iCloud control panel says it supports Outlook 2007 or later. The control panel does not give me options to check sync for e-mail, notes, contacts, and calendars.

But in iTunes, under the Info tab, it says that my notes, contacts, and calendars are already being synced with my iPad with iCloud over the air. It says that if I check the option to sync these (i.e. during a standard USB sync) there could be duplicate entries.

So, in the end, is it syncing my notes/calendars/contacts or not?

Should I check the boxes to tell it to sync via USB?

Desktop: Windows Vista Home edition

iPad 2

Dell Inspiron 530S, Windows Vista

Posted on Oct 26, 2011 9:09 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

nick101

Level 5

5,132 points

Oct 26, 2011 9:22 AM in response to Julian Bashir

It's syncing your information to the cloud, but that won't sync to Outlook. If you need the information on your PC you need to either update to Outlook 2007 or later OR change syncing to iTunes, and lose cloud sync. With O2002, you can't have both

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Answer 2

Skydiver119

Level 9

53,399 points

Oct 26, 2011 9:58 AM in response to Julian Bashir

Personally? given the issues people have had with iCloud deleting their stuff, I'd stick with computer sync for the time being. You should still be able to sync via wifi to your iPad, or with a cable. Just not iCloud syncing.

There is a difference between backing it up to the cloud and then having the cloud sync all your devices and doing a 'local' sync between your computer and device (basically like you've always done it. but the wifi sync just means you don't have to plug in the cable to sync)

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Answer 3

Oct 27, 2011 6:13 PM in response to Skydiver119

Thank you for your reponses.

Perhaps I misunderstood something, but isn't the point of iCloud to enable Wi-Fi sync? How does one sync without iCloud? Prior to iOS5 I remember seeing something in iTunes about "syncing over the air" (wrt contacts, calendars, etc) but I wasn't clear if that was actually happening.

So just to clarify my confusion, with current version of iTunes and iOS, how does one enable Wi-Fi sync without iCloud? And will this sync everything just like a USB sync or only certain things?

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Answer 4

nick101

Level 5

5,132 points

Oct 27, 2011 11:53 PM in response to Julian Bashir

iCloud and Wi-Fi sync are 2 different things.

iCloud keeps some of your data in the "cloud" (i.e. on an Apple server) and amintains an internet conenction to your various desktop and i-devices to keep that data synchronised. It works for Calendar, Contacts, Bookmarks, Backup (dependent on browser), photos (if you use PhotoStream, iWork documents). It will also handle iOS updates starting with the next one

Wi-fi sync is a connection to your desktop iTunes and oes everything that the USB iTunes connection does, except for full iOS restores. It handles content syncing (music, movies, photos, podcasts etc). You can choose whether to have contacts etc (i.e the stuff that iCloud can handle) synced via iCloud or via iTunes. You can choose whether your iTunes sync is via wi-fi or not.

In my case I have iCloud and wi-fi sync enabled. So:

If I change Calendar, Contacts, Bookmarks, the change is propagated via iCloud

When I'm in wi-fi range of my desktop, iTunes will sync music etc and do a backup

When I connect via the USB cable to recharge, iTunes will sync content and do a backup.

Hope that makes sense

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Answer 5

Oct 28, 2011 10:37 PM in response to nick101

OK, I get that sync by Wi-Fi is different from sync via iCloud. But what I want to know now is, how do I set things up to merely sync by Wi-Fi? When I look under the info tab, it only gives me the option to sync via USB, which I believe is what it does when I check the checkbox. Is Wi-Fi sync then simply on by default? Or is there a switch somewhere that one can use to turn it on and off? Didn't find anything in preferences...

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Answer 6

nick101

Level 5

5,132 points

Oct 28, 2011 11:03 PM in response to Julian Bashir

Under Options, when the iPhone is connected, you should see the following checkboxes:

Open iTunes when this iPhone is connected

Sync with this iPhone over Wi_Fi

Sync only checked songs and videos

Prefer standard defintion videos

Convewrt higher bit rate songs to 128 kbps

Manually manage music and videos

Then, on the phone, look under Settings, General, Wi-Fi sync.

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Answer 7

Oct 29, 2011 8:08 AM in response to nick101

Ahh, got it! Thanks!

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Answer 8

Oct 29, 2011 8:16 AM in response to nick101

OK one last clarification:

So, I have Outlook 2002, which means I can't sync notes/calendars/contacts via iCloud although I can via Wi-Fi

In iCloud control panel, syncing with notes/calendars/contacts is grayed out, so it's not happening presumably.

In the summary screen in iTunes when the device is connected, I have the sync via Wi-Fi option checked.

Now, when I go to the info tab which controls syncing of Calendars/Contacts/Notes, should I leave these boxes checked or unchecked? I want to sync them with my device. But I get a message here to the effect that calendars/contacts/notes are already syncing via iCloud, and that if I check these boxes it may result in duplicated data.

I'm guessing these messages are wrong, and I do have to check these boxes in order to enable syncing via Wi-Fi, correct?

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Answer 9

nick101

Level 5

5,132 points

Oct 29, 2011 9:51 AM in response to Julian Bashir

If your iPad is set up to sync with iCloud, you'll see that message, I think.

I suppose that iCloud and iTunes on your PC have some communication going, and this is iCloud saying that it already has a sync relationship with the iPad. If you have other iDevices (e.g. iPhone), this would matter because iCloud would be what's keeping them synced. If you don't, then it doesn't.

Either way, to sync with O2002, you need to check those boxes. I'd advise a backup of the iPad first, just in case.

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