Mini-review: BusySync 2.0 brings Google Calendar to iCal

BusyMac's BusySync debuted as a 1.0 utility that offered not just effortless syncing of iCal calendars between Macs on a local network, but multiuser collaboration and password protection. For anyone who needed a little more than .Mac's straightforward-but-limited iCal syncing, BusySync was a breath of fresh air.

We spoke with BusyMac's John Chaffee at Macworld '08 about BusySync 2.0 and found that, among other features, the major upgrade would bring Google Calendar syncing. BusySync 2.0 hit public beta in February, and now that the official version is shipping, we've had some time to take BusySync 2.0 for a spin to see if it lives up to the hype.

BusySync 2.0's configuration screen for iCal <-> Google Calendar

The main (but not only) attraction in BusySync 2.0 is Google Calendar sync, so we took a look at this feature first. Setup is dead-simple, and BusyMac included a clever way to manage event alarms. To get started, you simply need to enter your Google Account credentials, then pick a time interval for BusySync to check for changes. BusyMac's help files recommend every five minutes, but we think that may be a tad often for most users to run a syncing service. It could eat away at battery life, and most users probably aren't adding and changing calendar appointments that often. This preference, of course, is up to the user, and intervals between "every minute" and "every day" should keep just about everyone happy. The only interval we would like to see added is "manually" for those who want that level of control.

Google Calendar offers a few different alarm options, and BusySync caters to each of them

A clever piece of special sauce here, however, is the ability to sync iCal message alarms into one of Google Calendar's three notification options: pop-ups, SMSes, or e-mails (or, of course, not at all). Requiring syncs to use SSL is also an option for those with privacy and security on their agenda.

As far as actual Google Calendar syncing performance is concerned, we're pretty happy, though there are some quirks. Generally speaking, syncing with Google Calendar works well, and we didn't run into any conflicts or duplicates (though BusySync 2.0 does boast improved conflict resolution and auto-reparation of damaged iCal databases). There is a drawback, though, to the way BusySync integrates iCal with Google Calendar.

Whereas BusySync's competitor Spanning Sync defaults to merging iCal calendars with a Google Calendar by requiring you to relate one to the other, BusySync doesn't have a UI for doing this. If you want to merge an iCal calendar and a Google Calendar together, BusyMac recommends you export the iCal calendar to a file, delete it from iCal, sync down the corresponding Google Calendar, then import the save file you created to said calendar. It isn't the friendliest process in the world, but it did work in our testing. If you have a lot of calendars you want to merge between these services, though, pencil in some time to get all this busywork done. Hey, maybe you can set an appointment in iCal... or Google Calendar.

For those who believe calendar appointments should be cataloged, but not seen or heard

Another new BusySync 2.0 feature is the ability to filter out alarms and to-do items when syncing over your LAN. Anyone who has subscribed to public calendars from Apple or communities like iCalShare is familiar with this ability, and it's definitely welcome when working with private calendars like this.

BusySync offers a straightforward way to publish your calendars locally, and yet sill apply passwords for collaborators to read, write, or both

Last but not least, BusySync 2.0 is backwards compatible with version 1.5, so you don't have to upgrade all your machines just to give the new version a try (unless you're looking for Google Calendar to play a major role in your calendar workflow). We don't have a copy of 1.5 lying around to test this, however, so you'll just have to take BusyMac's word on that one.

Overall, BusySync 2.0 is a solid solution for syncing calendars between multiple Macs on your LAN (and even multiple users on each Mac), and now also with Google Calendar. Both Tiger and Leopard are supported, and until May 1 you can still purchase a license (good for one single Mac) for $19.95. After that, BusySync 2.0's price will rise to $24.95. At this price, however, users with many Macs they would like to sync with Google Calendar could also consider Spanning Sync for their needs. While Spanning Sync only does Google Calendar syncing, both of its $25/year or $65 full price licenses are good for an unlimited number of Macs.

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