(slaps-self-in-forehead-in-amazement)
I can’t believe – with the modern day cross platform distribution of data – that Microsoft’s latest Outlook 2016 does not support synchronising with Google Calendar or Google Contacts!
It does provide some kind of crummy ‘view only’ sync with Google Calendar, but forget changing anything as it will only appear in your local calendar on that device – that’s great ‘cloud data’ that is!
But wait! What’s this? Windows 10 ‘Mail’ and ‘Calendar’ and ‘People’ apps do support Google Mail, Google Calendar and Google Contacts!
??????
So the crappy (but free) ‘get you by’ apps support what I want.
But the professional ‘I pay a lot of money each year to subscribe to Office 365’ software, does not?
??????
Am I missing something here? Clearly I am, it’s called ‘common sense’. Get off your high horse Microsoft, and fix this!
Out of (let’s face it, less than ‘desperate’ desperation) I configured Mail, Calendar and People just so I could at least see my Google data. It worked!
Until the first sync that is. ‘Account settings are out of date.’ Eh? Ok… ‘Fix account’… Yes.
No.
Repeatedly.
No.
It seems it cannot handle Google 2FA even though it did ask to set it up. Every time I ‘Fix Account’ I get hit with 2FA again, despite clicking ‘Do not ask again on this computer’. Every. Single. Time. Turning off 2FA is not IMHO an option. I am not going ‘less secure’ because Microsoft are shite.
I then turn to ‘Open Protocol Connector’ which adds CardDAV and CalDAV support to Outlook. After all, both have only been widely accepted standards for what, a decade? Why should Microsoft bother with them?
Fortunately, my domain host provides CardDAV and CalDAV. So, once configured, all I have to do is migrate my Google stuff to my domain host. Annoying, slightly, but not really that big an issue.
Except of course, that after configuring Outlook using the OPC for my domain server, it can’t confirm all the services Outlook needs to use, so basically won’t set up.
I then uninstall the ‘Open Protocol Connector’.
Another option is ‘Google App Sync’ which – apparently – does work. And why? Because you have to pay for ‘Google for Work’ in order to use it.
Ah. Now I see. Microsoft do not support Google API’s, and Google charge you for the privilege of being able to add support.
A joint Microsoft / Google conspiracy to generate more money for Google?
Whatever next?