OS X Lion Address book alternative?
September 7, 2011 1:13 PM Subscribe
What is the best replacement for the terrible Mac OS X Lion Address Book? I was fine with the previous version, but it is now completely different.
It is beyond me why Apple disabled a 3-pane view (necessary to see the group, contact, and details at once) in favor of an over-stylized book with pages, leather and ribbons.
I want support for CardDAV, Google contacts sync, and ideally MobileMe / iCloud sync. Does this exist?
Apparently the "classic view" was available in the Debug menu, but that no longer holds true.
It is beyond me why Apple disabled a 3-pane view (necessary to see the group, contact, and details at once) in favor of an over-stylized book with pages, leather and ribbons.
I want support for CardDAV, Google contacts sync, and ideally MobileMe / iCloud sync. Does this exist?
Apparently the "classic view" was available in the Debug menu, but that no longer holds true.
Here's a link to a reskinning app that automates that tutorial. I've used it and it works.
Mind you, this undoes most of the eyeball-scratching skeuomorphism, but doesn't fix the dumbed-down functionality of the interface. It's almost as if Apple is encouraging third-party developers to come out with an improved app—but if there is one, I haven't found it yet.
posted by adamrice at 2:03 PM on September 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
Mind you, this undoes most of the eyeball-scratching skeuomorphism, but doesn't fix the dumbed-down functionality of the interface. It's almost as if Apple is encouraging third-party developers to come out with an improved app—but if there is one, I haven't found it yet.
posted by adamrice at 2:03 PM on September 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for the re-skinning links. I've done that to iCal and it hurts less now. But I think anything short of restoring the old functionality just won't cut it for me.
I used to be able to see how many contacts were in a given group (especially helpful when determining if I had a problem syncing to another device or service). No longer.
I just emailed the developers of BusyCal and asked if they are considering a contacts app. I sure hope someone does.
posted by reeddavid at 2:20 PM on September 7, 2011
I used to be able to see how many contacts were in a given group (especially helpful when determining if I had a problem syncing to another device or service). No longer.
I just emailed the developers of BusyCal and asked if they are considering a contacts app. I sure hope someone does.
posted by reeddavid at 2:20 PM on September 7, 2011
Great idea, reeddavid. An address book to integrate with BusyCal would be swell.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 3:20 PM on September 7, 2011
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 3:20 PM on September 7, 2011
I used to be able to see how many contacts were in a given group (especially helpful when determining if I had a problem syncing to another device or service). No longer.
Actually a single click on the red ribbon at the top of the book gives you view by groups with the functionality that you indicate above
posted by Poet_Lariat at 3:49 PM on September 7, 2011
Actually a single click on the red ribbon at the top of the book gives you view by groups with the functionality that you indicate above
posted by Poet_Lariat at 3:49 PM on September 7, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks Poet_Lariat. Unfortunately clicking on the ribbon only shows the count for the "All Contacts" and "All on My Mac" groups, with no total for any of the groups I created or any of my MobileMe, Google or CardDAV accounts. And it only shows it when I scroll all the way to the bottom of the list.
posted by reeddavid at 6:17 PM on September 7, 2011
posted by reeddavid at 6:17 PM on September 7, 2011
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posted by bcwinters at 1:37 PM on September 7, 2011