The iPhone is a fantastic phone, but if you're a heavy user of Google services, it can be a little confusing to set up your Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Contacts to sync with iOS. The default method's no good. Here's the better way to do it.
This article is the easiest way to get everything up and running quickly. If you want a more detailed, more effective method for your calendars (not to mention options for Google Voice, Google Maps, and more), check out our guide to getting Google and iOS living in perfect harmony.
You can get all your Google services syncing (complete with push sync—that is, messages push to your phone as soon as you receive them) with iOS by setting up just one account. The trick is to choose Microsoft Exchange at the prompt instead of Gmail. This will give you access not only to your Gmail, but your calendars and contacts, and they will all sync directly to your phone—when you add a contact in Gmail or edit an event on Google Calendar, you'll see it show up on your phone without having to sync anything. To set it up:
Open up the Settings app on your iOS device and go to the "Mail, Contacts, Calendars" section. Hit "Add Account".
From there, choose Microsoft Exchange as the type of account (again, don't choose Gmail).
Type in your Gmail address under Email. Leave the Domain field blank and enter your full Gmail address under Username (including the @gmail.com, @googlemail.com, or other suffix). Type in your password and give it any description you like. Mine's just called "Gmail".
Press the Next button at the top of the screen. It should pop up a message saying Unable to Verify Certificate—if it does, just hit cancel. Then, type
m.google.comin the new "Server" box that shows up at the top of the screen. Then tap Next.
From there, you should be all set. You can turn on Mail, Contact, and Calendar syncing from the account settings page that shows up. Note that pressing the trash can icon in the Mail app will archive a message, not delete it completely. If you want to delete it, you can hit the folder icon and choose Trash from the menu to move it to the trash. For more information on setting up Gmail with iOS, check out Google's help page on the subject.
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