Spanning Sync - 3.0.3

I've only been using Spanning Sync v3 for a short time. Tested it, and then bought it. I use it to sync my MacPro and my MacBook Pro and my Blackberry (SO much more reliable and less time consuming than troubleshooting Missing Sync!)

During the testing process I had several questions for the developer that received responses within 24 hours - maximum. I got a couple of responses within a couple of hours! After my purchase, I had one more issue - a corruption of my internal files (not a fault of Spanning Sync, but rather, Apple's Sync Services). The next day, I got a response from the developer with specific resolution instructions, and a request to contact him back, if the problem persisted. The first suggested resolution did solve the problem.

I can't completely attest to Spanning Sync yet - I don't use it for contacts yet, only iCal, but I've found that so far it's reliable. BUT, the customer support is superb, IMO.

I just had to make sure people saw the other side of the story.

Did not work all that well. The big problem came when I wanted to remove it. The uninstaller leaves the Spanning Sync icon in the system preferences. When you click on it, you get Preferences Error: "You cannot open Spanning Sync preferences because it doesn't work on an Intel-based Mac". Searching on Spanning finds no files to delete.

And the final straw, there is no email link to ask questions at the site. Just useless FAQs.

Now that Google Calendar supports CalDAV - a calendar sharing protocol that iCal supports out of the box - these sorts of programs are probably unnecessary for most people. You can just use iCal to directly access your Google calendar, including adding, modifying, and deleting events.

Before spending money on a synchronization program, take a look at Google's how-to regarding setting up iCal for use with Google Calendar. That may be all you need.

If you are seeking a program that just simply works as advertised, you cannot get any better than Spanning Sync. I was very skeptical when I downloaded this software a few years ago, but it has yet to let me down.

In my office, calendar syncing is crucial. We used to rely on Exchange's public folder calendar until some of our users switched to Mac. There is nothing that compares to public calendars in Exchange - it is real time and works flawlessly - but it does not support Mac (nor does it sync with the iPhone). Our windows users began using Google Calendar to share their events, and the Mac users used Spanning Sync to use with iCal.

Today, I am syncing between 4 Macs and 2 windows computers using both Spanning Sync (Mac to Google) Calgoo (windows to Google) and Mobile Me (Mac to Mac to iPhone). Surprisingly, it has worked flawlessly. Of all the apps we use to make our calendar syncing work, Spanning Sync is the easiest to setup and use.

I've used Spanning Sync without a problem for a couple months now. I swear by it and think it's definitely worth the price of admission -- at least until Google supports native iCal syncing!