sync icloud and yahoo contacts

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Level 1

7 points

sync icloud and yahoo contacts

I had the contacts on my Mac synced with my yahoo email account. I also synced with MobileMe (and with my phone). This all worked relatively well.

Now, I moved my MobileMe to iCloud. When I did this, I looked in my Contacts on my Mac and saw an iCloud account. The was also an "On My Mac" account. This second account could be synced with Yahoo, but not the iCloud account. I synced the second account and now have two copies of each entry in my address book (one "On My Mac" and one iCloud). This isn't a very good solution.

Seems that iCloud wants to be the main source of my data and it will only sync with my devices, not with Yahoo, Google, etc. Or, I use the local, "On My Mac" account as the main source (like I did in the past). I can sync these with Yahoo, Google, etc, but not with iCloud (even though it used to sync with MobileMe).

Is there a solution that I am overlooking here?

Posted on Dec 12, 2011 12:35 AM

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Answer 1

dkari

Level 1

0 points

Dec 14, 2011 9:25 PM in response to jiceman

You just asked the question I am looking for!

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Answer 2

jiceman Author

Level 1

7 points

Dec 14, 2011 10:52 PM in response to dkari

Unless and until I move my email to iCloud (and not doing that for other reasons), I have turned off syncing my contacts with iCloud.

I have turned on iCloud for my calendar which is nice for my iPhone, iMac and web based iCloud. But found that when another service is in the mix, iCloud doesn't interact well, so don't sync my desktop or phone with iCloud contacts.

Perhaps someone out there does have a solution.

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Answer 3

Dec 14, 2011 11:30 PM in response to jiceman

Basically you've described the situation as it is. iCloud contacts and calendars live on the server and are viewed from there by your Mac(s) and devices - it's not actually syncing: think of it like webmail and it makes sense. The iCloud contacts cannot be synced with Yahoo.

Calendars and contacts under 'On My Mac' are just that, and therefore cannot be read by other devices: the contacts can be synced with Yahoo but iCloud is not involved.

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Answer 4

Jan 3, 2012 6:25 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Hi Roger and Jiceman, I have noticed the same thing.

Roger, can you clarify this for me?

I have noticed that since upgrading to Lion, ios 5, and switching over from Mobile Me to iCloud, I now have duplicates in my Address Book contacts. I am assuming it is due to the switch to iCloud. Previously, I had my Address Book set to sync with Yahoo and Google as well as Mobile Me. This seemed to keep all 3 accounts in sync. Now, I have 2 accounts: On My Mac and iCloud. In Preferences, I have On My Mac set to sync with Google and Yahoo. Is there any way to keep On My Mac and iCloud in sync? Is my perception that the change occured when I switched to iCloud accurate? Am I accurate in observing that all my contacts were, in fact, 3-way syncing prior to iCloud and that now they are not? Is there any way to get them all syncing again? And can you or anyone provide insight as to why this very un-helpful change would have been implemented by Apple? Thank you!

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Answer 5

jice0

Level 1

10 points

Jan 3, 2012 7:09 PM in response to ilearn.jr

Seems that Apple wants you to use iCloud exclusivly. If you want to sync with another service, it appears that you need to turn off iCloud (for that type of service).

As long as you don't need your contacts on iCloud, you can turn them off and continue to manually sync between your mac, your phone and Yahoo/Google (I suppose both, I only sync with Yahoo). Seems that iCloud won't sync with thos other services.

If you turn off iCloud, you may notice that the entries on your mac now come from Google/Yahoo and are missing some data. I restarted with the entries as the existed on iCloud (all my info ... you could also use a backup), turned iCloud off and saved these entries locally on my mac. Then, I synced again with my external providers.

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Answer 6

Jan 3, 2012 7:12 PM in response to jice0

Thanks Jice0!

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Answer 7

Jan 4, 2012 11:38 AM in response to ilearn.jr

For more info, check out Zacharias Beckman's response to this discussion thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3374387?answerId=17196787022#17196787022

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