Sync OS X Address Book with GMail contacts

I have pieced this item together from a few forums on the web, so kudos to those involved.

In OS X 10.5, the Address Book application has a “Synchronize with Google” option that is only enabled if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch. To use this option regardless requires a few steps to set up a dummy iPod Touch.

First you have to register a dummy iPod with the correct family ID into your com.apple.iPod.plist.

1. cd ~/Library/Preferences
2. plutil -convert xml1 com.apple.iPod.plist
3. vi com.apple.iPod.plist and add a new key for your dummy iPod with the family ID of 10001 (copy the following XML if you don’t have a com.apple.iPod.plist file). Note: if you do have an existing iPod you must change the key ID number (twice) for the dummy entry.

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN"
   "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
    <plist version="1.0">
    <dict>
    	<key>Devices</key>
    	<dict>
    		<key>000A27001000D03E</key>
    		<dict>
    			<key>Connected</key>
    			<date>2009-05-17T06:57:29Z</date>
    			<key>Device Class</key>
    			<string>iPod</string>
    			<key>Family ID</key>
    			<integer>10001</integer>
    			<key>Firmware Version</key>
    			<integer>582</integer>
    			<key>Firmware Version String</key>
    			<string>1.1.5</string>
    			<key>ID</key>
    			<string>000A27001000D03E</string>
    			<key>Serial Number</key>
    			<string>XXXXXXXXXXX</string>
    			<key>Software Version</key>
    			<integer>18186240</integer>
    			<key>Updater Family ID</key>
    			<integer>128</integer>
    			<key>Use Count</key>
    			<integer>14</integer>
    		</dict>
    	</dict>
    	<key>com.apple.PreferenceSync.ExcludeAllSyncKeys</key>
    	<true/>
    	<key>conn:128:Last Connect</key>
    	<data>
    	xkCjIQ==
    	</data>
    </dict>
    </plist>

4. plutil -convert binary1 com.apple.iPod.plist

Now open Address Book and enter the preferences. You can now select the option to sync with Google.

To get the Address Book to sync you have to use the iSync menu bar icon (Sync Now). If you have no devices defined in iSync you may have to do the following to enable the Sync Now menu item.

sudo defaults write /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/GoogleContactSync.framework/Resources/ClientDescription Type 'server'

sudo chmod 644 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/GoogleContactSync.framework/Resources/ClientDescription.plist