6 Tips to Make MobileMe Yours

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6 Tips to Make MobileMe Yours

Posted 03/09/2009 at 5:50:00am | by MacLife Staff

mobile me icon

Apple announced MobileMe in June 2008 with big promises that it would become the data-sync service “for the rest of us.” But when it launched on June 30, those promises quickly turned hollow when problems plagued the service. In an uncharacteristic mea culpa, Apple admitted in mid-July that it had released MobileMe before it was ready, automatically extending all paid subscriptions by 30 days.

Not quite a year later, the service works as smoothly as advertised. Still, there are several handy ways to customize MobileMe so it behaves exactly how you want it to. Though Apple continues to improve MobileMe’s Help functions, we dug around to come up with a shortlist of easy customization tricks you won’t easily find within MobileMe’s built-in Help or in Apple’s support knowledge base.

Modify The Sync Frequency From The 15-Minute Default

The only issue we wish Apple would address is the frequency of automatic syncs, which defaults to every 15 minutes--it’s just not often enough. However, if you’re willing to spend $25 and put on your true Mac geek hat for a few minutes, there is a way to change the 15-minute sync interval so MobileMe syncs more often.
screen shot of mobileme options page
If you assume choosing automatic syncing for MobileMe in your System Preferences will enable instantaneous data exchange among your Mac(s), iPhone, and “the cloud,” you’d be wrong. Auto sync only happens every 15 minutes.

A caveat: This tip involves editing a .plist file, which isn’t something average Mac users are generally encouraged to do--or interested in bothering with. A .plist file is a property list, essentially a list of user settings for certain apps or functions on your Mac. Property lists are different for different user accounts (more on that below).

Start by installing PList Edit Pro ($24.95, www.fatcatsoftware.com/plisteditpro). Locate the .plist file for MobileMe syncing frequency, located on your Mac here: ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple .DotMacSync.your_MAC_address.plist.

screen shot of Plist edit pro app for mobileme
It takes a little wrangling--and a $25 cash outlay for PList Edit Pro--but the app lets you easily change the MobileMe sync frequency from 15 minutes to an interval of your choosing.

Since you want to edit the property list for yourself (and any other user account on your Mac), start in the folder on your hard drive most likely named with your first initial and last name (or the first initial and last name of each user on your Mac).

Once you’ve opened com.apple.DotMacSync.your_MAC_address.plist in PList Edit Pro, you’ll see an item under Root called AutoSyncInterval. If you’ve set up MobileMe to sync automatically in System Preferences, the number that will show up is 15. Double-click 15 and change it to the sync frequency you prefer. We changed ours to 5, for example, so MobileMe would sync every 5 minutes. Save the file (Command-S) and close it. Your MobileMe data should now sync at the interval you’ve selected.

Trick MobileMe Into Syncing Your iCal Subscriptions

MobileMe doesn’t automatically add iCal calendar subscriptions to your calendar in MobileMe, but there is a workaround that allows you to get the info into your calendar across multiple computers and your iPhone or iPod touch.

screen shot ical app
If your needs are as simple as ours, you may just want your home country’s 2009 holidays added to iCal. If you live in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong, or Romania, you can get the iCal subscription you need from www.calendarlabs.com. Apple offers hundreds more free on its site.

Start by subscribing to the iCal calendar(s) you want: On your Mac, launch your Web browser and visit www.calendarlabs.com/ical-calendar-holidays.php. You’re presented with a number of choices for 2009 federal holiday calendars. (While you’d think it would be simple enough to grab the 2009 U.S. holiday calendar from Apple’s site, we found it faster to get the file from CalendarLabs, www.calendarlabs .com/). In addition to federal holidays, Apple’s site has calendars for the moon phases, sports team schedules, and many more. Click on the calendar you want to subscribe to. A window appears asking what app to use to open the file. Find iCal in your Applications folder. When you select iCal and click Open, you’re shifted to an iCal window with the URL to that calendar subscription. To add it to iCal, click Subscribe.

To save a few clicks, in iCal, choose Calendar > Subscribe, type in the URL shown in the screenshot, and click Subscribe.

Now you have to trick iCal and MobileMe into adding the iCal subscription(s) to MobileMe by exporting each one, then importing it back in to iCal, then syncing. In the case of our 2009 U.S. holidays, in the iCal sidebar, select the calendar subscription you want to sync to MobileMe, then choose File > Export and save it someplace easy, like your Desktop. Next, in iCal, uncheck the calendar you just exported to avoid duplication on the local iCal Mac, choose File > Import, select the Import An iCal File radio button, click Import, and select the file you just saved to your Desktop (it should have a file extension of .ics). To avoid confusion, in your iCal calendars list, rename the calendar so it’s different from the name of the calendar listed under Subscriptions; we changed the name U.S. Holidays to just holidays, for example.

Sync this new calendar to other Macs via MobileMe: On the Mac on which you just subscribed to the new calendar, sync to MobileMe by choosing System Preferences > MobileMe > Sync > Sync Now (or click the Sync icon in your taskbar and select SyncNow from the drop-down). You can also let it do its thing on its regular auto-sync schedule. Your newly subscribed calendar data should appear on your calendar in MobileMe, and now, when you go to another Mac and sync it with MobileMe, everything should match.

screen shot of ical app calendar
Thank goodness we won’t miss out on Groundhog Day and Lincoln’s Birthday, now that we tricked iCal and MobileMe into syncing an ’09 holiday calendar subscription.

Finally, you’ll want to sync your iPhone or iPod touch devices to MobileMe too. On your iPhone or iPod touch, press the Home button, tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Your MobileMe account. Slide or tap the on/off slider next to calendars to On. You’ll see a warning that informs you that your calendar info will be removed from your iPhone. This shouldn’t be a problem because it will all reappear after you sync with MobileMe, but if you’re unsure, sync your iPhone with your computer in iTunes before completing this step, so you’ll have a backup.

Just as we did with the publicly available U.S. holidays calendar,  you can follow similar steps to get your Google calendar data synced to MobileMe by exporting it as its own file then importing it back  into iCal.

COMMENTS: 22

TAGS: MobileMe

COMMENTS

Modify The Sync Frequency?
Submitted by frankly on Mon, 2009-03-09 10:54

Is it really a good idea to update the sync frequency since the most recent updates to OS X have MobileMe updating almost instantaneously? Also, why are you recommending the purchase of a $25 shareware item when the FREE Property List Editor will allow the changes to be made just as easily? Frank

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ICAL Shared Calendar
Submitted by MikeUnderwood on Mon, 2009-03-09 17:15

Now if only I could find something to sync a shared calendar that gets changed. Any help on this please let me know

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MobileMe from Mac
Submitted by Cell Phones on Thu, 2009-03-26 13:17

It is good to know about MobileMe the great data synchronizer from Mac. The article is very informative and shares all the details.

Cell Phones

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Here is another trick I figured out
Submitted by racassady on Mon, 2009-04-06 10:04

Rich Cassadywww.cass69.comrich_cassady69@mac.com It seems if you have MobileMe and an iPhone, if you sync your phone to your Mac, it erases all of your ringtones. There is no reason to do this other than to back it up, but without a good backup, you are vunerable if you lose your phone. The fix is really easy. All you have to do is log out of MobileMe before you sync your phone.

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holiday subscription
Submitted by barb on Mon, 2009-04-13 18:00

barb

i downloaded a holiday subscription (and a birthday one) but neither one of the info transfers to my iphone calendar? i would really like to view them in my phone, any answers?

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Calendar Sync
Submitted by thightower on Sun, 2009-04-19 12:08

Sorry if this is a duplicate, My last post hasn't shown upCheck out Busymac's product Busysync

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Great post! Get a Free iPod,
Submitted by JJFlemming on Sun, 2009-11-08 13:18

Great post!
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Great tips.
Submitted by seekers on Wed, 2009-12-30 10:54

Thanks for sharing..
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29 Dec 2009 ... When you
Submitted by edithmckeon on Wed, 2010-01-06 02:57

29 Dec 2009 ... When you define your Gmail account in Mail.app, make sure you do the following: ... Tested only on 10.5.6 and 10.5.8 install; untested in 10.4 and 10.6. .... Back to My Mac (MobileMe), screen and file sharing, and more, ... 15 Jun 2008 ... Make Use Of Podcast #6: Launcher, MobileMe and Awesome Highliter ... If your comment is interesting, I may even play it on the next podcast. ... PhotoshopThe Idiot's Guide · TwitterBest Tips & Tricks · More Guides ... life Over the past few months, we have been working hard to make MobileMe the best service it can be. ... To get the best MobileMe experience on your iPhone or iPod touch, you should be running ... by s.ge March 1, 2009 6:21 PM PST: Good application. .... iPhone Atlas, MacFixIt, Tips & tricks, Version Tracker, Webware ... 6 Tips to Make MobileMe Yours. Select an album in the Gallery and click the icon that looks like a switch, then check the box that allows you to upload ... finance When you first publish to MobileMe, the URL for your Welcome page will look ... See Tips below. Step 4. *REMEMBER: You may have to repeat these steps any .... on 6/1/2009 This iWeb solution does work. I use godaddy.com with my own url ... 6 Nov 2009 ... Make sure your iPhone or iPod touch is up-to-date with the latest software. ... during step 6, delete and re-enter your MobileMe password, ... people 17 Dec 2009 ... 6 Tips to Make MobileMe Yours. mobileme. Apple announced MobileMe in June 2008 with big promises that it would become the data-sync service ... 12 Nov 2008 ... When I said get a cup of coffee in pt 6 above, that should really .... As far as mobileme-like functions beyond web hosting or your own ftp ... 9 Mar 2009 ... If you assume choosing automatic syncing for MobileMe in your System Preferences will enable instantaneous data exchange among your Mac(s), ... 827947058

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Modify The Sync Frequency From The 15-Minute Default
Submitted by applemacpie on Wed, 2010-01-13 14:50

Just joined, have been reading this site for some time.
I was amazed to see a plist app being recommended for $25 just to change the sync frequency of MobileMe. If like me you have Xcode + SDK (free download) you will find a plist editor app in with the numerous other apps. I use the plist editor often.

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if you’re indecisive,
Submitted by beautyitems on Thu, 2010-01-21 20:02

if you’re indecisive, sync your iPhone with your computer in iTunes in the past closing this step BeautyItems

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Enter the frequency that you
Submitted by julieana on Fri, 2010-01-22 03:38

Enter the frequency that you would like the synchronization to occur. Perform a manual sync to get things rolling.You can make modifications on the Iphone or in Outlook and they will now be in Sync!
norwegen

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User information from the
Submitted by julieana on Thu, 2010-01-28 01:21

User information from the subscriber connections is transmitted in time slots in accordance with a frame structure. The transmission is performed in blocks.Got a clear idea with snapshots. Thanks!
Billeje

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User information from the
Submitted by julieana on Thu, 2010-01-28 01:44

User information from the subscriber connections is transmitted in time slots in accordance with a frame structure. The transmission is performed in blocks.Thanks!
Billeje

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6 Tips to Make MobileMe Yours
Submitted by Natalie Foley on Sun, 2010-01-31 22:50

Apple has people ready to discuss this with you on live chat. Go to the source URL and follow the instructions for MobileMe

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The service works as
Submitted by harsh7 on Sat, 2010-02-06 10:10

The service works as smoothly as advertised. Still, there are several handy ways to customize MobileMe so it behaves exactly how you want it to. Though Apple continues to improve MobileMe’s Help functions, we dug around to come up with a shortlist of easy customization tricks you won’t easily find within MobileMe’s built-in Help or in Apple’s support knowledge base.,,.Thank you,,.Horse Guy

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You have to trick iCal and
Submitted by harsh7 on Sat, 2010-02-06 10:12

You have to trick iCal and MobileMe into adding the iCal subscription(s) to MobileMe by exporting each one, then importing it back in to iCal, then syncing. In the case of our 2009 U.S. holidays, in the iCal sidebar, select the calendar subscription you want to sync to MobileMe, then choose File > Export and save it someplace easy, like your Desktop,,..Thank you,,..security monitoring

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