HOW TO: Real-Time Sync your Google Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Pictures, and Docs with iPhone for free.

Yes there are paid solutions for real-time synchronizing your iPhone to the major google services – mail, contact, calendar, notes and pictures on picasa. A notable one of such services is subscriptions based GooSync. Why pay when you can use freely available tools to do this, and get access to far more features than paid services. Free is always affordable. Let me show you how easy it is:

Google Mail (GMail): Use your iphone IMAP email feature to keep your google email synched. IMAP doesn’t download any email to your iphone, instead it allows your iPhone Mail program to access your email live from GMail servers. Another biggest advantage of IMAP email is that you when you read / send an email from your iPhone the same is reflected instateneously if you access from a computer. See this video step-by-step directions on how to setup your iPhone to use Google mail (GMail) using IMAP. You will not need to install any additional programs on your iPhone. The IMAP feature is built-in and you only have to configure it.

Google Calendar & Contacts: Use the fabulous service Nuevasync(free registration required) to synchronize your iPhone Calendar with Google Calendar & Google Contacts with your iPhone Contacts over IMAP. This services allows you to synch multiple calendars, contacts, and also email between your iPhone and your google account. The best part of this services it is synchronous, as in, if you make a change to your contacts or calendar on your iPhone, your google calendar and contacts are updated almost instantaneously. The process works the same the other way. This services rolled out a new feature, also avaiable free, that color codes calendars on your iPhone calendar program. See here(sign-in required) for official step-by-step direction on how to setup your iPhone to use Nuevasynch. You will not need to install any additional programs on your iPhone. The IMAP feature is built-in and you only have to configure it.

Google Notes: For those of you not in the know, your google account allows you to have an online notebook as part of your account. You can access this online notebook on the web at www.google.com/notebook. Now you can access and keep your notebook synchronized between your iPhone and the web interface. You do this by downloading the free gNotes application from the Apple App Store. The application allows you to create new folders, new notes, and even delete notes and folders. The changes are instantaneously synced between your iPhone and google’s servers that host the online notebook. See here (free in iTuens app store even-though the web site quotes a $1.99 price) for details on gNotes and how to set it up on your iPhone.

Google Pictures (Picasa): Akin to all of the major google services, the Picasa photo sharing and storage services is also made available for your iPhone. There is no additional program to download, you simply create a Safari on iPhone bookmark and add the bookmark to your screen (using the + icon at the bottom of your screen when you are browsing using Safari on iPhone). Google has specifilcally programmed the picasa site to detect if you are accessing from iPhone. If you are it presents an iPhone friendly interface that has also been optimized for fast navigation and loading both on iPhone edge and 3g speeeds. You can add pictures to your Picasa album using the email method. Read here for details on how to do this. There is word that safari upload feature is coming. Simply navigate tohttp://picasaweb.google.com using your iPhone Safari and add the bookmark to your screen.

Google Docs: Just like the Google Pictures (Picasa) iPhone interface, Google now allows you to access your google docs using iPhone Safari. The iPhone Google Docs interface even allows you to read, & modifiy existing docs (spreadsheets only at this time). Just like Picasa bookmark, you simply create a bookmark using Safari on iPhone and add the bookmark to your home screen. You have to first browse to http://docs.google.com.

Alternatively, you can also download the Google mobile application for iPhone from the Apple App Store. This application provides an easy access to the web sites for these services that load in you iPhone Safari. Although this can be fine for Docs and Pictures, using the native IMAP feature for GMail, Contacts, and Calendar; and Native application for GNotes gives your significant speed boost as you are not going through iPhone Safari and using the mobile web access. For Pictures and Docs, at this point, you have no other choice but to access using the mobile web interface using your iPhone.

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