[IllmasterMathematics]

Hi all, I'm sure I'm not the only person here who is pretty heavily invested in the iCloud platform. There have been some discrepancies in the results posted on this forum by people attempting to use iCloud on their new BlackBerry devices. Unfortunately, I don't have access to a device myself to answer some pretty specific questions I have. I've lived with pretty much self-contained platforms in my BlackBerry and my MacBook and iPad. It would be really nice to just get emails, contacts and CALENDARS (!!!!!1!!) working since these should all be based on the open-source WebDAV protocol which BlackBerry 10 supports.

I'd really appreciate if anyone with experience could let the rest of us know how their attempts have succeeded (or not).

• Are contact and calendar syncing truly bidirectional? Are changes on the device reflected in iCloud or vice versa? Additionally, were these changes on the iCloud end made from the web interface or an iOS device or Mac?
• Do shared (where multiple users can access and change) calendars create any syncing conflicts? I imagine BlackBerry, Apple and Google have implemented proprietary methods of calendar sharing.
• Where rules have been applied to your incoming iCloud mail to move them to different mailboxes, do they come through to your device? This is not so on my 9900.
• Are messages sent to iCloud aliases delivered to your BlackBerry?
• Do you have full access to the sub-mailboxes like you would on an iOS device or Mac? Are changes made to these folders and mail moved between them reflected in iCloud?

Tl;Dr iCloud thread

[Omnitech]

iCloud appears to use standard protocols for communication/syncing, in particular the following which are all supported by Blackberry 10:

• IMAP (for email)
• CardDAV (for contacts)
• CalDAV (for calendar)

There are some idiosyncracies in how different devices/platforms implement those things, but basic connectivity between iCloud and BB10 should work. BB10 devices are not available here yet so I'm in no position to test it myself yet.

That said, it looks like there is a Blackberry knowledgebase article that suggests some potential issue with iCloud and BB10, I don't know if this only happens under rare circumstances or what:

KB33729-iCloud calendar account fails to integrate on BlackBerry 10

[big samm]

Bought a Z10 yesterday setup a new account with my me.com email, all my contacts,calendar events, and emails was on my new Z10 with no problem at all... Don't know if the sync is bidirectional for calendars and contacts, most of my events are recurring events so i don't use calendars that often... One thing for sure it synced all what i needed which is contact,s emails, and calendars!


Sent from my iPhone 5

[IllmasterMathematics]

Thanks guys. I'm aware that they support CalDAV and CardDAV, that's actually what got me most excited about the new platform. Unfortunately, it's been my experience that Apple services don't play nice outside the orchard. While they should be supported in theory, I don't expect it to work flawlessly. My 9900 supports IMAP, for example, but emails sent to my iCloud aliases or where there are rules applied to the mail to send them to sub-mailboxes, they don't come through to my phone. As you mentioned, I'm also without a device to test it on as I'm pretty insistent on having a hardware keyboard. I even went as far as to try to test it on the Dev Alpha simulator but I don't think you can simulate a network connection (if someone can correct me on that, I'd be happy to hear).

I'm glad to hear you've been having some luck getting stuff onto your BlackBerry from iCloud, Samm. I've heard of issues with the calendar but BlackBerry has recognized this and is calling it a bug, apparently.

[Omnitech]

My 9900 supports IMAP, for example, but emails sent to my iCloud aliases or where there are rules applied to the mail to send them to sub-mailboxes, they don't come through to my phone.

That's a common issue (perhaps even a universal issue) when you have server-side rules/filters. And Apple's own devices will not notify you of new messages in any IMAP folder other than the inbox, according to documents I've read. (Whereas IIRC, BB10 can actually "subscribe" to folders other than "inbox".)

[big samm]

I just added a contact via my z10 and it appeared on my iphone ipad and macbook, so it is bidirectional for contacts!


Sent from my iPhone 5

[torpesco]

Just added my iCloud account, hoping to use its calendar since Gmail is giving me no love. Ran into the issue described in the KB article.

[denisdepalatis]

I added my icloud account and it all works perfectly. I confirm it syncs both ways for calendar and contacts.

Posted via CB10

[torpesco]

I'm just one of the unlucky ones, with both Gmail and iCloud. At least it's widespread enough to be acknowledged in knowledge base articles. The worst would be being the only one with calendar issues.

Posted via CB10

[ennx]

I can't set SMPT to authenticate on the Z10.

[torpesco]

I just did the simple account add using the icloud.com address. In my settings now, I see 'smtp.mail.me.com', port 587.

Posted via CB10

[anon(1858973)]

All works for me with Contacts and Calendar in all directions and combinations of adding on Z10, Web, iMac, Macbook Pro and Macbook Air.

Only minor issue I've experienced has been Z10 repeatedly asking for iCloud password for Contacts syncing. This goes in cycles of asking for the password say 6 times in quick succession and then not at all for a couple of days.

[dejongj]

My email and contacts are working absolutely fine. However I have the calendar issue with iCloud.

It is odd as it is working fine on my PlayBook.

Posted via CB10

[big samm]

All works for me with Contacts and Calendar in all directions and combinations of adding on Z10, Web, iMac, Macbook Pro and Macbook Air.

Only minor issue I've experienced has been Z10 repeatedly asking for iCloud password for Contacts syncing. This goes in cycles of asking for the password say 6 times in quick succession and then not at all for a couple of days.

I had the same problem, the last software update seems to fix the problem at least for me...


Sent from my iPhone 5

[Omnitech]

I can't set SMPT to authenticate on the Z10.

What software version are you on? It appears some of the recent updates broke some aspects of outgoing SMTP. See this thread.

[dejongj]

Funny my iCloud calendar all of a sudden came alive with my three calendars and my reminders as well.

I changed the URL to be different than on my mac, so now I used simply caldav.icloud.com with the normal iCloud login details. Very happy.

Posted via CB10

[IllmasterMathematics]

I assumed notes wouldn't work, but I just had a thought. On my computer with OS X Lion (no dedicated notes app), the notes show up in Mail as an email folder. Is that true in BlackBerry 10 as well?

[Omnitech]

I assumed notes wouldn't work, but I just had a thought. On my computer with OS X Lion (no dedicated notes app), the notes show up in Mail as an email folder. Is that true in BlackBerry 10 as well?

I can't get a Z10 yet (soon, soon) so I can't speak from personal experience yet, but I would imagine this might work similiarly.

The IMAP email protocol supports the concept of generic folders, many server vendors use those for a variety of special functions. There is, for example, an app for Blackberry 10 that uses such IMAP folders as a backup repository for SMS messages.