As I chronicled earlier in the month, there are certain times when you just have to start deleting apps on your device. In order to solve a backlight issue, I went back and deleted every third party app I could spare. (It worked, by the way, though I’ve been told it’s really a hardware issue. Still, almost three weeks and no relapse.) Of course, this meant some inconveniences, since I had to re-download many of my apps, hoping that they wouldn’t cause the problem to resurface. One app I didn’t re-download was Google Sync. It was a great friend over the years, but it’s no longer necessary for those who have OS 5.0 or above. If you have that, you can sync natively. 
The process runs along the lines of setting up an email account. Just go to Setup, and then to Email Settings. Select your account type, and you’ll see the Gmail address you set up. Highlight it, press menu, and select Edit. This should be a relatively familiar screen, as it contains information such as your display name and your email signature. If you scroll down you’ll see a plus sign next to Synchronization options. Click that, and you’ll see options that look similar to the ones in the screenshot. (It’s a bit more stripped down in OS 6.) Check the options you want to sync, and you’re set. You’ll have to re-enter your password when you save up, and then you’ll get the initial sync. Supposedly your calendar will sync every 30 minutes, while the contacts will do so every four hours. I’d like to believe that, but my Gmail email doesn’t sync more frequently than every four hours. Is there anyone who still prefers the Google Sync app to this? I’d like to hear why. Via BlackBerry Help Blog.
7 comments… read them below or add one
I always prefered the google sync app. One of the main reasons is that I like to see whats happening in the background. The other reason was that the google app allowed you to sync multiple calendars. I have a number of google calendars that I subscribe too such as sports schedules, holidays and birthdays. However I found the google sync app makes the phone sluggish at times.
I’d love this feature however this assumes that you can access the email setup application on your BB!
My brand new 9780 updated to 6.0.0.600 (Platform 6.6.0.223) on first setup in desktop manager and I have not been able to access the email setup since and have had to use mobile.blackberry.com which has no sync option.
Do you sync your contacts? I’ve had lots of issues not being able to define which contacts to sync from google. have you found a solution to this?
I use the Gmail app instead of linking Gmail natively to my 9700 on OS6 because the e-mail that I have bypassing the inbox by Google filters was still showing up in the BB All Messages and the Blackberry filters kept erroring out when I tried to set them up. Also, I like the Google mail icon.
Since Google sync lets me use the Google App for mail and works just fine for me I’m going to continue to use it. It’s also nice on the rare occasions I want to force a sync.
Ehy man, thanks for this advice. I think that I have already seen this option, but I didn’t activate that.
Now I’m tryin it and I hope that works as good as you say.
Bye!
I use google sync for one main reason…i can sync multiple calanders. My wife and I use google to plan our week. I can see her calander and she can see and sync to mine. The native BB app can’t do this.
I don’t have those synch options on mine for calendar and contacts. Just deleted items. Any advice?