The straw that broke the camel’s back was watching my colleague effortlessly synchronize her iCal software with her iPhone, anything she put into either device was immediately delivered. Of course, she was using a Mac to talk to her iPhone. So, it made sense. I, on the other hand, am using Windows 8 to talk to my iPhone. It seems like an oil/vinegar situation, but I’m learning that it’s not.
I bought an iPhone 5 knowing full well that the Apple Maps application was to the Jobs-adoring hipsters what Jarjar Binks was to the Star Wars geeks: it didn’t break the phone, it just made the nostalgia of using an Android device more attractive. My iPhone was suddenly The Phantom Menace, and my friends’ Androids were Empire Strikes Back–and none of us were wearing plaid and “getting over” Bell’s latest seasonal beer. In fact, I’m drinking one right now. Have you tried Hopslam? Two of those and you’ll be nudging your old lady for a roll in the hay (or a snowbank if you live in Minnesota).
Wait, where was I? Ah, yes. So, when Google finally released their updated version of Google Maps for the iPhone, we were saved, and I was inspired. You see, I’m a Google fanatic–but not when it comes to their Android platform. I want all of the neat stuff that Google does, but on my iPhone, and this is what I’ve discovered you can do so far:
You can sync your Google Calendar with your iPhone Calendar.
I like Google Calendar more than I like Apple’s iCal software, simply because I can type any kind of crazy message into Google Calendar and it will make complete sense when it shows up in my Calendar. It’s crazy how intuitive and graceful that software is. So, why can’t we have that on our iPhone without having to use a separate web-app? Right, exactly, so I figured out how to sync the two. Here’s an article from Google about how to do it, but if you want a quick summary, I’ll give you that, too:
- Go to Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendar
- Add an Account via Gmail
- Fill in all of the stuff they want. If you have 2-step verification on, create an application specific password and put it in the password field here.
- In the Description Field, just type Calendar.
- Hit next and turn the Calendars sync option “On.”
- Bam, you’re done.
You can use Google Maps on your iPhone 5 now.
In case you missed it, Google released a new version of their map application for the new iOS (that’s the operating system on your phone). What I usually do is make a folder for my useless iPhone apps by dragging the most useless app over the second-to-most useless app and naming it something like “Bloatware.” Now, take Apple Maps and drag it into that folder and then go to the App Store and search for “Google.” The first or second result is usually the Google Maps application. Click install. Enter your password for your Apple Account if you need to, and enjoy the bliss that is Google’s new Maps application. It’s pretty great.
This is old news, but Google Search is available on your iPhone.
If you’re anything like me (see: smarty-pants-know-it-all), you don’t want to have to open Apple’s lackluster Safari browser and use the search function there to find what you know is right, but your friends just won’t admit to being wrong about. Instead, go back to the App Store and grab the Google Search application and put it on your main navigation bar (the one on the very bottom of your phone). It’ll save you a lot of time, and your friends will learn to love your pedantic nature over time. So, just roll with it.
Google’s Chrome browser is available, too.
If you don’t like the feel of the Safari experience, you should search for “Chrome” in the App Store while you’re at it. It’s a fantastically fast browser that can also sync with your bookmarks and settings from other devices that you have Chrome installed on. Again, you’ll probably have to use the application-specific password to get all of your devices talking, but once you figure it out, it’s worth every minute it took you to set those things up. No more searching for bookmarks that aren’t there or telling your friends about “this super cool site that [you] can’t think of at the moment,” because it’s all there in your Chrome browser on your iPhone.
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