Syncing IPad Pro with Iphone 6 and MacBook, without ICloud

[seevee7]

Is there a way to sync the IPad, MacBook and Iphone with just NOTES and CALENDARS, without using ICloud.

I spoke with an Apple Tech for about an hour, and while she said it could be done, it never worked.

Solutions?

 

[J. A.]

If you have OS X v10.9.5 or later installed on your Mac, the only information you can sync are contacts and calendar events. For notes, you'd have to use iCloud.

To sync Calendars between your devices, follow these instructions:
iTunes for Mac: Sync contacts, calendars, and other info with iPod, iPhone, or iPad

 

[twerppoet]

Mail, Notes, Contacts and Calendars can all be synced using a Gmail account. Yahoo adds Reminders. I'm not sure what you can do with a hotmail or other exchange account.

All of this is on the iOS side. What you can do on the Mac side depends on the corresponding app you use. There are apps for most of these services (excepet Notes) that will sync with your online account.

So yes, but it may be piecemeal, and you'll have to use third party apps for some things.

The exception is Notes. I don't know of any 'good' way to sync Notes on the Mac that does not use iCloud. You can read your notes in Gmail and/or Yahoo by looking into the special email folder, but you can not edit them (without breakng the note).

However, if you are willing to settle for a different note taking app, there are several that can sync through Dropbox and/or other cloud file services.

 

[seevee7]

twerppoet

Thanks for the info. Can you recommend a good app that will sync some sort of notes between the Iphone and the MacBook Pro. iPad is really not needed, but would be nice. I take note on the fly with the phone and act on them when back to the office, with the MacBook. Sometimes I'll have 100 notes and transferring them manually is painful.

Sounds like the calendar will be easy, with the first response above.

 

[seevee7]

I spoke too soon, the link above does not provide for and automatic sync. Doing it manually won't work. Is there a way I can sync whenever the Iphone and MackBook are simply connect to the same internet provider, with Apple extreme?

PS, How does one get instant email notification of these posts?

 

[J. A.]

...PS, How does one get instant email notification of these posts?

At the top of your thread, you'll find "Watch Thread" or "Unwatch Thread" in Safari. Tap it. If you already watch it, unwatch it, then tap it again to watch it. This time, you will get this:

Make sure the first option is selected.

 

[twerppoet]

twerppoet

Thanks for the info. Can you recommend a good app that will sync some sort of notes between the Iphone and the MacBook Pro. iPad is really not needed, but would be nice. I take note on the fly with the phone and act on them when back to the office, with the MacBook. Sometimes I'll have 100 notes and transferring them manually is painful. . .

Bear is popular with a lot of blogs/podcasts I follow, and has both an iOS and Mac version. It does reaquire an in-app subscription to sync everywhere. I've never used it myself, but I'm told it is similar to Notes with more organization, but no drawing.

Evernote is a powerhouse. I used to use it. You'll need a subscription to use it on multiple devices/computers as well. Most of the really good apps are like that.

Microsoft OneNote can be used with a free Microsoft account (or a paid Office 365 account). It syncs through the OndDrive account that comes with either of those.

That's about all I know off the top of my head, other than the fact there are 'lots' of notes apps.

 

[twerppoet]

I spoke too soon, the link above does not provide for and automatic sync. Doing it manually won't work. Is there a way I can sync whenever the Iphone and MackBook are simply connect to the same internet provider, with Apple extreme? . . .

Correct. Using iTunes is a local sync with your computer, not through the internet. So it only works on your local network. More importantly, it's not a very good sync method, mostly being a legacy feature left over from when connecting your device directly to a computer for sync/updates was common.

To sync over the internet (anywhere you have a connection) you need to use a cloud based account. If you don't want to use an Apple account then you need to choose another service like Google, Yahoo, or Hotmail.

Hold in mind that Apple's sync is a pretty secure service, at least as secure as the others. Syncing the things you want to sync does not require that you have an actual iCloud account with storage space. Email, Calendars, Reminders, Notes, etc all sync through your Apple ID, the same one you use to sign into the App Store.

Note: Apple ID and iCloud accounts are usually linked. When you get an iCloud account the default option is to link it to your Apple ID using the same email and password; but it is not required. This can cause confusion when people believe that they need iCloud for basic email services and syncing. You don't.