Can I sync contacts and calendars with iTunes Match enabled?

Brij011 wrote:

I have a Macbook for personal use and a PC for work, being able to sync both computers to the phone will be essential for me. I know that I wouldn’t be able to sync music with iTunes match enabled but if I can sync contacts and calendars and drag Office documents to the phone from both computers that would be OK.

Please could someone tell me whether this would be possible?

Yes, it will be possible.

Brij011 wrote:

I’m getting an iPhone in a couple of weeks and really want iTunes match but the more I read about it the more I’m wondering whether it’ll be worth the hassle. I’ve loads of old CD rips at 128 kbps and protected iTunes files, also at 128 kbps, and what really attracts me is the idea of upgrading all these to unprotected 256 kbps.

Bear in mind that many of your iTunes Store purchases will be identified as "purchased" and may not be able to be upgraded to the DRM-free versions. I'm not saying it won't happen, but you won't get 100% of the older files "matched."

Brij011 wrote:

Just one more question you might be able to help with on the syncing.

I want my work contacts on my phone but don't want personal contacts on my work PC.

Therefore, I'd like to sync the phone with my Mac using iCloud and sync contacts via USB one way from the PC to the phone.

Do you know wheter this would be possible?

It is not possible to sync an iPhone with more than one instance of iTunes.

No, this can't be done. Since iTunes is the intermediary between the iPhone and Outlook on the PC once you sync with iTunes on one computer when you plug into another computer iTunes will tell you it will erase all the content on the iPhone if you continue. Plus, syncing is never one-way.

Brij011 wrote:

Re the one way sync, that's exactly what I do now with my contacts: one way from a PC to a Blackberry and two way with contacts on my Macbook. Are you saying that this won't be possible with an iPhone?

No, it is not possible with an iPhone. iTunes is the intermediary between the iOS device and everything else on either a Mac or PC and an iOS device can only be synced with one instance of iTunes at a time. Which, BTW, has nothing to do with iTunes Match.

Brij011 wrote:

I think I understand now, it's nothing to do with syncing music - everything is synced through iTunes. Have I understood properly?

Yes. Including music.

Brij011 wrote:

This could be a major blow for me as I'll be using the iPhone mainly for work so I will have to Sync with the PC. If I understand this correctly, once I decide to sync with Outlook on the PC as the main priority I can no longer sync with the Macbook?

What if I ditch iCloud and sync everything through USB?

If it is possible for you to do so you might want to consider signing up for an iCloud account <http://www.apple.com/icloud/setup/pc.html>. Keep in mind that iCloud and iTunes Match are seperate services. One does not require the other. However iCloud will work with Outlook 2007 and up so you can keep all your contacts in sync across the devices. You can also sign up for iTunes Match if you want. Or you might even consider using Google to do what you want. It is not necessary for you to keep syncing via USB, unless that is just what you are comfortable doing.

Heh. Sorry... I didn't mean to confuse you. To accomplish what you want to do you may need to change the way you do things. This is why I suggested an iCloud or Google syncing solution. So let's recap:

You want to buy an iPhone to replace your Blackberry. You want to sync the calendars and contacts from your Macbook to the iPhone, and also sync (one way) your work contacts to Outlook on a PC. Correct? Since this isn't really possible with an iPhone and iTunes perhaps you want to look at a cloud syncing solution for everything. It might work like this...

On the Macbook you sign up for an iCloud account and start syncing Calendar and Contacts. You enable the iCloud account on the iPhone and now have your calendars and contacts on the iPhone. Next you install the software on the PC and enable iCloud for that computer and let Outlook sync it's contacts up to the cloud. Now, you have everything available to all your "devices" all the time with no physical syncing involved. Make sense? I realize this may not be exactly what you want but it is one way you can accomplish your goal.

Yep. That's correct. With iTunes Match and iCloud you could be almost completely wireless, so to speak. You would probably have to also keep personal contacts in Outlook but I believe you could segregate them using Groups or something like that.

Read over the marketing material on this page before you do anything, though: http://www.apple.com/icloud/