Spanning Sync Public Beta (Re)Opens

On February 4 at 14:35 GMT (9:35a ET/6:35a PT) we quietly reopened the public beta of Spanning Sync. The new server infrastructure seems to be handling the load well so far, but we're keeping a close eye on it. Hundreds ThousandsOver 17,000 new beta testers have started using the system and we're already getting some very valuable bug reports and feedback.

To participate in the beta, just download Spanning Sync v1.0b16 (if you haven't already), install it, and log in using your Google Calendar account name. If you haven't yet set up Google Calendar, you'll need to do that first.

Beta Means Bugs

We're thrilled at the level of interest and enthusiam we've seen around Spanning Sync, but we want to make it perfectly clear that this is a beta release, meaning it has bugs. Some of those bugs could do things like:

• Destroy your iCal and Google calendar data
• Silently move events from one time to another, or delete them altogether
• Silently fail to apply changes made in one calendar to the other
• Make duplicates of your calendar events
• Send duplicate email invitations to the attendees of all of your events
• Ruin your whole morning

So while we want as many people as possible to help us test, we don't want to be anyone's reason for missing an anniversary, flight, or meeting. Please back up your calendars before using Spanning Sync. Directions are included in the ReadMe file in the download package. And please don't rely on the Spanning Sync Beta to handle information that hasn't been backed up.

Once we're confident that the major bugs have been fixed, we'll release v1.0. Until then, please consider Spanning Sync a beta service. Please send all bug reports to beta@spanningsync.com and include a detailed description of what you did, what you expected to happen, and what actually happened.

For those of you whom I haven't managed to scare away, thanks for helping us test our service!

Comments

[jc]

Charlie,

Congratulations on the relaunch. I am synching as I type this. As many have already said, this is type of service was high on my wish list. Thanks and looking forward to 1.0.

One modest suggestion -- I notice that sychning is taking a bit of time, and I realize that there really isn't any need to synch events between calendars that are in the past. What's most important is those events in the future. An optional setting for "only future events" may also help with your initial spikes in server load.

Thanks again!

Joe

[Dan]

Wow! This is a service I've been wanting for a while. You've done a great job with it. One very minor (and silly) suggestion... the menu bar status icon doesn't turn blue when it is clicked on, unlike every other menu bar item I've encountered. Obviously this has no effect on functionality, but it makes the Spanning Sync item feel a little out of place. I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to fix this.

Other than that, no complaints! It's been working flawlessly for me so far.

[arne]

great tool,
thanks for reopening the public beta.
this tool is the one, which i'm looking for since i'm a mac user. :)

thanks.
arne

[Charlie Wood]

Dan,

Good eye! We had never noticed that. We'll fix that in the next release. In fact, there will be a brand new icon in the next release. It's caused quite a bit of controversy in the (virtual) halls of Spanning Sync, Inc., but I think you'll like it.

Joe,

We've considered offering an option to only sync future events, but decided to take a more "purist" approach, a decision for which our servers are paying dearly. :-) But that's their lot in life--they were made to suffer.

Regards,
Charlie

[Steven Wilshire]

Thanks for reopening your product, MANY Apple users are going to love this and like us, don't mind paying for a quality product. Again thanks, your hardwork will pay off. :)

[Eric]

Just a question, but why does information processed by your servers? Why cant it all be done on the client side? It seams odd to me that it sends my information to you first.

[Julius Firl]

Hello!
Thanks for this app! Two days i've searched such an application! thanks, thanks, thanks!

http://blog.auri-media.de/?p=48

Greetings from Germany!
Julius

[oneman]

If I create a new Google Calender I have to delete my password and then put it back again. Otherwise the new calender doesn't appear in Spanning Sync.

[Charlie Wood]

Oneman,

You can also quit System Preferences and reopen it. Maybe we should have a "refresh calendars" button?

Thanks,
Charlie

[mM]

great !!

but I am not able to obtain in my local ical new events in the google calendar...

tried to quit everything to refresh... but still not working

thanks again

[Oskar]

Great software! It was worth waiting for!

How about using Growl for notifications such as 'sync successful' etc?

[Peder]

Can´t seem to get it to work. I tried syncronizing several calendars but it doesn´t work at all

[lincoln Rozelle]

this is amazing! Thanks so much. Do you know of anything like this for windows as well?

[James Birchfield]

Growl support would be cool...

BTW, I love the candid description of beta software in your post. Hopefully people will understand it and not rip into you if anything happens to their data.

Great stuff!

Birch

[Sergio]

I cant sync my google calendar wit iCal. Tried everything but it doesnt work :(

[Alex]

Hi everyone-

For those of you having problems, see if you can get it to work by creating a new calendar in Google Calendar and a new calendar in iCal - to test of course -
I've noticed that when I started with my existing calendar that things weren't syncing... but after I created a new one on both ends and getting it to work, it then worked on my old one. (Maybe it was just me, but it is worth a shot).
I've noticed that sometimes it is easier to start "fresh" -
just a tip from one tester to another...

[ndtwc]

So good to have it back!
And your possible bugs scared me!

[Sergio]

im afraid its something related with power pc. It doesnt sync with my g5 but it does correctly with the macbook pro. Im just guessing :)

[dervau]

great program!

works great, no beta-ness detectable here..

[Ben]

PuterSaurus: I had that error. Turned out that the timezone wasn't set correctly. Try setting the global timezone and also the timezone in your calendars and this should allow you to login. Charlie is working on a more descriptive error message.

[mani]

Wow, it's great! Thank you guys for your work. It works with no errors.

[Markus]

Here on a G4 Powerbook I've installed the b12. However, when I press SYNC nothing happens at all, even though I have logged into google account and selected the items to sync. No error message.

[FooBear]

calendar syncing that requires a server. Yawn. Next.

[ptc]

Nothing better happen to my stuff, man...

: )

Enjoying the new program, thanks. Any idea when the fully reliable, non-beta version will be ready, and how much will it cost? Since it's on a server, is it going to be an annual fee?

Any plans for Google address book/ Mac Addressbook syncing?

Can't this guy just shut up and enjoy it as it is?

[Psychicboom]

Great new program, found the article rather amusing!