Sync your calendars with BusySync, win a free license!
Last May at ConnectReviews, we reviewed SpanningSync, an application that keeps Google Calendar and iCal in constant synchronization. This time around, we’re looking at BusySync.
At first glance, BusySync has just as cool of a logo as SpanningSync, so we’re doing well so far. Also, a quick glance at the price tag won’t make you cringe like SpanningSync will. For a lifetime license to BusySync, it’s a mere $25 dollars as opposed to SpanningSync’s $65 price tag. Quite frankly, $65 is ridiculous for this sort of program and BusySync’s price tag definitely makes it a great value.
Now, as far as features go, BusySync provides all of those from SpanningSync plus a few more. The highlight of BusySync is being able to constantly sync Google Calendar and iCal. Two-way changes are supported, so changes made in Google Calendar (almost) instantly appear in iCal and vice versa. Your event notes, reminders, and alarms also carry over between services which is a plus.
Another feature of BusySync is its ability to share calendars over a LAN using Bonjour. This makes for instant calendar meshing throughout an office or workgroup without the hassle of dedicated calendar servers. Finding other computers using BusySync is a breeze and calendar setup is simply flawless. Also, you can password protect certain calendars so only people you trust can access them. You can also add remote servers if you do want to go with a more traditional approach.
As far as registration is concerned, you simply visit the BusySync site and purchase however many licenses you need. They will give you a single serial number that allows you to activate and sync however many registrations you purchased. This makes for keeping track of too many serials unnecessary. Once registered, you won’t be bothered ever again about registration. No yearly commitment. You simply own the product.
In my usage, I haven’t hit a single snag. I haven’t really hoped for extra features. Ultimately, BusySync is the best product for this purpose in my mind.
Win a free copy of BusySync!
Just like we did with Spanning Sync, we’re giving away a 5-computer license of BusySync to one lucky person. Want to enter? Leave a comment below and we’ll pick a winner at random! Contest ends next Thursday, July 3rd.
Pros
- Flawlessly syncs your iCal to Google Calendar
- Easily syncs calendars on your LAN
- Very easy to use
- Cheap
Cons
- You have to remember a serial instead of having it linked to your Google account like SpanningSync.
Final Verdict
5 out of 5.
comments
53 Responses to “Sync your calendars with BusySync, win a free license!”
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This product looks pretty cool. Since I have a heck of a time trying to keep all my calendars in order as it is. I hope it keeps all of my iCal calendars synced over multiple macs as well as google.
As someone whose trial version of BusySync just expired, I can say this program is great and does exactly what it says it will do. I prefer using iCal over Google Calendar, but everyone in the office uses the latter. It was great to make my changes in iCal and know they’ll be sync’d up instantly with the gCal. I am sad that my trial period is over!
Looks like a fantastic solution for calendar syncing. Much more straightforward than Spanning Sync…and cheaper!
Calendar syncing with a busy family would be nirvana!
I have been looking into these solutions recently. Thanks for the review. If I don’t win, I just might be purchasing a copy anyway.
Awesome, I’ve been looking for a way to Sync my Google Calendar and iCal!
This is, by all accounts, a great program. I wish it would work the same magic for contacts between Address Book and Gmail.
Wow, this looks great ! Also very interesting is the feature which let you share calendars in a office space.
Definitely worth a try !
This program seems like a very good value! Considering that spanning sync is much more expensive for such a simple program.
As the saying goes… Sync. Is. Tough.
As a programmer I can understand this.
Anything to make it easier and more transparent is welcome.
I hate to bring up a reference I hate, because I never had a problem setting the clock on my VCR, but a blinking “12:00″ wouldn’t be such a universal joke if it weren’t so true.
The difficulties in syncing are the kind of problem that keep technophobes away from devices… I mean, in their view: “It’s a calendar. What’s so hard about copying a calendar? I can copy my paper calendar for 15 cents down at the drugstore.”
Until companies embrace some open standards and stop trying to luck into the next killer app by making everything proprietary, they’re scaring off a very lucrative and as-yet-untapped market… the technophobic baby-boomer.
I’m still in my evaluation period bu I’m already addicted to it.
Great way to synchronize my calendars with no brainstorming.
I love busy sync i just have way more computers then id like to buy for this 5 user license would be awesome!!! me and my wife love being able to see eachothers events and know whats going on.
I have been looking for a program to do just this for a long time. I just found the macspark.net website, and am very excited to look thru your pages and see what other mac news I find. Very Exciting!!!
Very nice app to share calendars!
This should be free functionality.
I’ll have to give this a try. I’ve been using gSync and it’s still has some flaky bugs in it.
I have gSync and that seemingly pales in comparison to this program, I would love a free license to have it!
Tried SpanningSync when it was in beta and loved it. However, when they started charging, I just dropped it.
The best feature that I could use is the google calendar sync.
Hope the price will be more realistic like $19.99. I will definitely
get one.
LAN iCal syncing is a great capability that should be recognized by many small work groups and small companies.
I looked at this product a while back. Seems very useful.
Add me to the list of people who think SpanningSync is overpriced. If BusySync can deliver the goods, I’m sold. Here’s hoping they add the ability to sync with multiple Google accounts soon, though - I’ve got a Google Apps account through work and a personal account I’d like to sync.
I’m nearing the end of my BusySync demo period, during which I’ve been locally sync’ing my calendar with my wife’s schedule… and I’ve also tested syncing with google. Everything was easy to set up and… it just works (the highest of mac world praises).
I’ve taken advantage of a *very* useful BusySync feature not mentioned in your article too: While my wife has only one “calendar” (category)… I actively use five (business, personal, etc.). Rather than pepper her single calendar with my flurry of separate categories… I gathered mine under a single “Dan” group and sync that (one way) to my wife’s mac. So I still see my multi-colored organization, and she sees a simplified (single-color) summary of my day.
Even better: Remembering that iTunes allows us to choose what calendars get sync’d to our respective iPhones, we’ve chosen to sync just our own info to the phones… while our macs continue to display the full picture. (I’m looking forward to the iPhone 2.0 software… where calendar categories are supported… so we can even sync our spouse’s info to the phones and choose to display it or not, on the fly.)
We owned Palm’s for many years… and, as capable as they were, BusySync allows us to integrate our calendars far more “transparently” than we were ever able to do before.
I have no affiliation with the product — I’ve just been very pleased with my past month of testing.
I have been using the 30 day trial and have LOVED it
Flawless sync with my google calendars and keeps all my friends and family updated about my life.
Can’t believe that I have paid for a license for spanning sync and then a new app comes out that does it all and better!
It’s the “haven’t hit a single snag” claim that piqued my interest. I know that there were some serious data loss or duplication issues with Spanning Sync, as there always seem to be with any sync app, so to hear that BusySync worked out of the box is a real selling point.
So far I’ve been trying to maintain my Google calendars from iCal by entering the data in iCal and then publishing the calendar feed. It’s a real pain, especially when I want to enter an appointment immediately while I’m away from home. Until Apple and Google team up to offer a seamless sync (or the price of .Mac/MobileMe drops to something more enticing), apps like BusySync will have to tide us over in the meantime. Good to hear that it’s more affordable than SS, too — I near hit the floor when I saw the cost of SS after it came out of beta.
This is definitely useful!
sounds very useful
I am currently using the trial version of BusySync and it is working flawlessly between two iMacs at my home. This software answered the problem I had with iCal publish-subscribe not allowing my wife to edit or add stuff to my calendars and vice versa. Great product!
Great program, just a little pricey for what it does.
Have enjoyed the 30 day trial, just sad it’s linked to # of copies and not # of gmail accounts
I have been looking for a good sync since I changed to Mac couple of months ago. Gcaldaemon is open source, but it is Java and I don’t have the time to setup things that much any more. Busysync is cheap and if it fulfills the job needed, it is the perfect solution, have to give a try since I have 3 google accounts (1 gmail and 2 google apps)…
This would definitely solve all my calendar syncing problems, as well as helping keep my family up-to-date with each others calendars! I’m crossing my fingers that I can somehow win that 5-computer license. =)
Definitely a great application.
I need this sync tool very urgent. It is a really great product.
Really hoping that this will completely fill in the gaps in Calendar management.
Does BusySync sync contacts as well?
I have been looking for a solution to sync our local iCal to Google. BusySync looks to be the solution.
Thanks for the giveaway. I have a PC at work that I’m not allowed to sync to my iPhone, and a Mac at home. This program is just what I need to use Google to keep everything in sync.
I’m changing roles at my job and need to keep things going as my assistant and I tag-team vacations and travel this summer. What better way to do this than to use BusySync to jointly update a common calendar!
Hm, this sounds like something that would help keep calendars in sync.
The tool works as advertised. You can tell the authors created NUTD. Like the Classic OS version of NUTD, the product just works.
sounds like a great program!
hope I win the giveaway!
Cool app, wish it was built in to iCal though.
I think I’d give BusySync a chance to demonstrate its superiority over other Cal-products. I’m hard to convince with words, I’d rather see results, just as BusySync can show them. Hope to win this free copy of BusySinc so I can proof its performance and recommend it to anyone!
Would love this to use with my work, home, and mobile office computers.
Awesome program. It just works.
I had been using the gcaldaemon but have run into some troubles since upgrading to OSX Leopard.
I use my google calendar for all my scheduling and keep it synchronised with my N95 using Goosync. While the google calendar web interface does the job, it is not as good as iCal. Busysync has so far filled the gap with all the functionality I need.
Hello,
really nice tool. I tried Spanning Sync and now I’m using BusySync with the trial license. Hope to win this free copy
Regards,
foxx
I installed BusySync, configured it to sync specific calendars are then promptly forgot about it until it bugged me for a software update some weeks later.
This is precisely how data synchronization should work: set it and forget it.
Has anyone tried Mac OS X Leopard Server yet? I heard it has built-in iCal server something. But of course without the “traditional” server approach, BusySync seems to be the best solution.
Wow! A way to keep my iPhone, iCal, and google calendars all put together! This would also allow me a single site to see shared calendars against my own schedule. Sounds like a winner I would love to win, but if not I may just have to break down and buy a few licenses after the contest.
This sounds like a winner program. Finally a way to keep my iCal, shared google calendars, and my iPhone on the same page. No more guessing if a shared calendar has me committed even though my personal calendar doesn’t show it.
Wow, this is exactly what I have been looking for. Having just had a baby, my wife and I have found our time has become even more valuable. I’ve set up different iCal calendars for each of us and for the baby, as well as other things and now they sync back and forth from her MacBook to my PowerBook and our respective Google calendars which we can access from work. This is a prime example of a way in which technology can make our lives easier. I am definitely buying the full version once my demo expires. I haven’t had any sync issues or duplicate events so I am quite pleased.