Getting an IMAP client to use Gmail contacts

A lot of people prefer using a thick client for their e-mail instead of the Gmail web interface. I thought I’d give it a try - there are numerous things I like about Gmail, and having used it for a while now, my contacts list is humungous. If you start using a thick client, that means you have to somehow get a new contact list going, or import from somewhere else… no! Thanks to the creator of GCalDaemon - this OS-independent Java program will allow you to set up an LDAP server on your local machine, that acts as a middle man between your client and “Google Data”. The instructions on the page are quite detailed and you should be up and running in approximately 10 minutes. Now you should be able to auto-complete the addresses in your thick client, just like you can in Gmail. Enjoy!

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Comments (5)

  1. Athar wrote::
    This sounds great. I was actually searching for a 2-way sync for Gmail & Outlook. Does this sync? Or is it only making Gmail contacts available over LDAP?
    Friday, June 20, 2008 at 2:30 am #
  2. Athar wrote::
    By the way, whats the Aun-dict (verdict) on Firefox3? Install/Ignore?
    Friday, June 20, 2008 at 2:32 am #
  3. Aun wrote::
    Does not sync. Only makes Gmail contacts available over LDAP. Ideally, I think when you send an e-mail out, Gmail should use the recipient’s address (from the sent mail) and put it in the contacts list - it does that when you do it through the web interface, but not when you do it through Thunderbird. Maybe submit an enhancement request to Google?
    Friday, June 20, 2008 at 8:51 am #
  4. Aun wrote::
    As for FF3, I haven’t noticed much of a difference. I’ve been using FF3 since it was beta 5, and haven’t had any problems thus far. There are certain things that are different, but you can customize the FF config to suit your needs. It does seem quicker. Have you tried Opera? Its small, and fast.
    Friday, June 20, 2008 at 8:55 am #
  5. Dulce wrote::
    Well said.
    Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 12:35 pm #