A few Questions

[ProwlingTiger]

I have a few questions.

1.) My brother switched to iPhone from a Droid and had his contacts synced to Google. The easiest way for him to get his contacts on iPhone was to setup his Gmail as an exchange account. He also uses this Gmail as his iCloud account. Is there any need for him to continue using his Gmail as an exchange account? Will his contacts now sync normally through iCloud? He doesn't care if they are synced with his Gmail anymore.

2.) Does an exchange account consume more battery life, or is it effectively the same as push email through iCloud?

3.) With iCloud backup enabled, I can no longer backup to iTunes, correct? It's one or the other?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[tuyentalent]

I have a few questions.

1.) My brother switched to iPhone from a Droid and had his contacts synced to Google. The easiest way for him to get his contacts on iPhone was to setup his Gmail as an exchange account. He also uses this Gmail as his iCloud account. Is there any need for him to continue using his Gmail as an exchange account? Will his contacts now sync normally through iCloud? He doesn't care if they are synced with his Gmail anymore.

2.) Does an exchange account consume more battery life, or is it effectively the same as push email through iCloud?

3.) With iCloud backup enabled, I can no longer backup to iTunes, correct? It's one or the other?

Thanks,
Dan

1. For contacts in Gmail, he can export all and import into his new iPhone. From now on, these contacts will be synced to iCloud. For gmail, he can continue to use gmail as normal in iPhone.
2. I think iCloud pushing mechanism is built into iOS5 by Apple, so it must work at least as good as exchange.
3. You can use iTunes backup or iCloud backup but only one can be used at a time. in iTunes, you enable this in iTunes.

Hope this helps

 

[ProwlingTiger]

1. For contacts in Gmail, he can export all and import into his new iPhone. From now on, these contacts will be synced to iCloud. For gmail, he can continue to use gmail as normal in iPhone.
2. I think iCloud pushing mechanism is built into iOS5 by Apple, so it must work at least as good as exchange.
Hope this helps

Well, he no longer has his old phone. He has all the contacts on his iPhone now, but he did it through syncing with gmail via exchange. Can he remove the exchange part of it now though? Will his contacts stay on - could they be synced with iCloud and gmail at the same time, hence removing gmail will not remove the contacts?

He uses Gmail, so his mail doesn't actually go through iCloud, so I was wondering if he should continue using the exchange option or switch back to the gmail option.

 

[DefBref]

He always has the option of just leaving his contacts on google, and still syncing via exchange, you don't have to use icloud. Both services offer pretty much the same thing, icloud is better at handling groups and custom labels, but personally I haven't felt the need a to move my contacts from google to icloud.

 

[Don Kosak]

I have a few questions.

1.) My brother switched to iPhone from a Droid and had his contacts synced to Google. The easiest way for him to get his contacts on iPhone was to setup his Gmail as an exchange account. He also uses this Gmail as his iCloud account. Is there any need for him to continue using his Gmail as an exchange account? Will his contacts now sync normally through iCloud? He doesn't care if they are synced with his Gmail anymore.

2.) Does an exchange account consume more battery life, or is it effectively the same as push email through iCloud?

3.) With iCloud backup enabled, I can no longer backup to iTunes, correct? It's one or the other?

Thanks,
Dan

Here are my takes on your questions:

1 - He can just leave his gmail account setup as an Exchange account in his iPhone if he wants. If he uses gmail through the web at times, it might be handy to keep the address book in sync.

2 - Google's Exchange service and Apple's iCloud appear to use the same style of Push mechanism, so it shouldn't make any difference as far as battery life goes.

3 - I recommend that people us iCloud to backup their devices. You can also backup to your computer through iTunes at any time. Here is how to do that:

* Plug your phone into your computer via the USB cable
* Right Click on the name of your phone in iTunes (left side, under "Devices")
* Click "Backup". iTunes will backup your phone to your hard disk

You don't need to change any settings or anything. When you unplug your phone, it will go back to making backups in iCloud.