If you’ve been waiting for push Gmail to your iPhone, then you need wait no more. Google has updated their Sync client to work with all iPhone’s running on firmware 3.x or above. So, let’s get into the setup. [Note: This tutorial has been adapted from the information freely available from Google.]

First, some requirements

  • Your iPhone must be running on firmware 3.0 or higher. If you don’t know which version of the mobile OS your iPhone is on, you can check your current version by going to Settings > General > About > Version. If you need to upgrade, follow the instructions at Software Update
  • Connect your iPhone to iTunes using the cable provided, and allow the iPhone to fully backup and sync. This will allow you to securely store your existing contacts, incase something goes awry.
  • If you have access to a WiFi hub, it’s recommended that you connect your iPhone to a wireless internet connection, as the initial push may take considerably longer on a mobile data connection.

Getting Started

1. Open the Settings application on your device’s home screen.

2. Open Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

3. Tap Add Account….

4. Select Microsoft Exchange. [Note: Currently, the iPhone can only maintain ONE Exchange account.]

Enable Gmail Push, Step One

Enter Account Info

5. In the Email field, enter your full Google Account email address. If you use an @googlemail.com address, you may see an “Unable to verify certificate” warning when you proceed to the next step.

6. Leave the Domain field blank.

7. Enter your full Google Account email address as the Username.

8. Enter your Google Account password as the Password.

9. Tap Next at the top right of your screen.

9a. Choose Accept if the Unable to Verify Certificate dialog appears.

10. A new Server field will appear. Enter m.google.com.

11. Press Next at the top right of your screen again.

Enable Gmail Push, Step Two

12. Select the Google services you want to sync.

13. IMPORTANT: Unless you want to delete all the existing Contacts and Calendars on your phone, select the Keep on my iPhone option when prompted. This will also allow you to keep syncing with your computer via iTunes.

If you want to sync only the My Contacts group, you must choose to Delete Existing Contacts during the Google Sync install when prompted. If you choose to keep existing contacts, it will sync the contents of the “All Contacts” group instead.

Enable Gmail Push, Step Three

You’ve set up Google Sync for your iPhone. Synchronization will begin automatically if you have Push enabled on your phone. You can also open the Mail, Calendar or Contacts app and wait a few seconds to start a sync.

iPod touch Owners

This tutorial should in theory also work exactly the same for on iPod touch (same requirements apply), though in reality, this implementation isn’t as useful or manageable.

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