2.0 Gmail Activesync Instructions
Edit: As noted below, the default GMail setup will sync Calendar and Contacts - just configure under the advance settings.
I love my Gmail yes I do, and this is how to configure it to work with Activesync on the playbook with 2.0. This pulls Mail, Contacts and Calendar.
Tap Settings on the Home screen
Tap on the Accounts
Tap Add New Account
Tap eMail, Contacts, Calendars
Tap Advance Setup
Choose Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync
Enter "m.google.com" under Doman
Enter your Gmail address under Email and Username
Enter "m.google.com" (not including the quotation marks) under Domain
Tap your full Gmail address under Username
Enter your Google Calendar password under Password
Enter "m.google.com" under Server
Tap Continue
Select what to sync and how often and time-frame.
Done! :D
Creating Gmail accounts is flawed and unpredictabe
Yes, pinkert11, that's the way it is supposed to work, and actually does work for some people. The reason you will get interesting feedback is that it doesn't work that way for Gmail, but always works that way for hotmail. Why? Who knows.
I have 2 Playbooks. It took me around 11 tries to get a Gmail account to add with Contacts and Calendar included. The first 10 times it only gave me email. There was no pattern and no combination of "simple" and "advanced" attempts to set it up.
I also spent about 90 minutes on 4 separate calls to Playbook Support. They answered the phone quickly but had only the skills to ask if the Playbook was attached to the internet !! And their second level support was so swamped they couldn't connect me with an expert. Also, their phone system was overloaded, terminating 2 of the 4 calls in the middle.
I've tried adding a Gmail account to my second Playbook, but I guess I'm not up to 11 tries yet.
My hypothesis is that when the Playbook goes to Gmail to find out what features are supported (via m.google.com or whatever), it either times out or has a bug resulting in setting up only email. After many tries, the Playbook actually determines that Calendar and Contacts are also supported and then the Playbook displays the screen showing the 3 sliders for Sync. Otherwise, no screen is displayed and you get email only.
It is unfortunate that RIM in trying to make it super-easy for someone to create an account have, for now, got a flawed mechanism to automate it, and I have found no detailed mechanism or instructions (yet) to enter everything manually to force the Playbook to enable Calendar and Contact sync.
A
Trying again ... Will update later
I've tried the 14 steps.
After Step 13 i got back to the VERY familiar "Your login information for account ([email protected]) has changed or is incorrect. update your login information and try again."
I had this problem many times and had to do hard resets between each attempt to add each Gmail and my other accounts, LinkedIn and Facebook while on the Playbook Support call. I tried the hard resett this time and got the same result the second time.
So I'm back to calling RIM Playbook Support for a fifth time. My curiosity exceeds my frustration, for now....
Stay tuned....
Problem identified and solved!
Originally Posted by
Allan-Vancouver Yes, pinkert11, that's the way it is supposed to work, and actually does work for some people. The reason you will get interesting feedback is that it doesn't work that way for Gmail, but always works that way for hotmail. Why? Who knows.
I have 2 Playbooks. It took me around 11 tries to get a Gmail account to add with Contacts and Calendar included. The first 10 times it only gave me email. There was no pattern and no combination of "simple" and "advanced" attempts to set it up.
I also spent about 90 minutes on 4 separate calls to Playbook Support. They answered the phone quickly but had only the skills to ask if the Playbook was attached to the internet !! And their second level support was so swamped they couldn't connect me with an expert. Also, their phone system was overloaded, terminating 2 of the 4 calls in the middle.
I've tried adding a Gmail account to my second Playbook, but I guess I'm not up to 11 tries yet.
My hypothesis is that when the Playbook goes to Gmail to find out what features are supported (via m.google.com or whatever), it either times out or has a bug resulting in setting up only email. After many tries, the Playbook actually determines that Calendar and Contacts are also supported and then the Playbook displays the screen showing the 3 sliders for Sync. Otherwise, no screen is displayed and you get email only.
It is unfortunate that RIM in trying to make it super-easy for someone to create an account have, for now, got a flawed mechanism to automate it, and I have found no detailed mechanism or instructions (yet) to enter everything manually to force the Playbook to enable Calendar and Contact sync.
A
I found the cause of my missing Gmail Calendar and Contacts problem on my own. It is an interesting quirk of Gmail IDs. I have always used either of the two methods of signing onto Gmail interchangeably: One is to use the full Gmail account ID, I.e., "[email protected]". Notice the "dot" between the parts. Gmail access via a browser also accepts "[email protected]" WITHOUT the "dot". The Playbook, however, assumes you want ALL the capability of Gmail including Contacts and Calendar, and I think these functions run on different Google servers and that the Calendar and Contacts function only accepts the "real" Gmail account ID. Apparently the Email function at Google is OK with the alternate form of the ID but the other functions are not, so for me, all I could ever get is email activated on the Playbook when using the "no-dot" ID. I have tested adding Gmail accounts using both methods alternatively, and the ID with the dot always gives me all three functions, and creating without the dot always enables only email. I will be confirming the details of my assumptions with Playbook Support after they review the new logs of the two types of account setup for Gmail that I have sent them. Hopefully this helps others who have had the same "no calendar or contacts" problem.