This blog post is probably out of date. If you want to set up Exchange ActiveSync, you should instead consult one my guides:
	iPhone Exchange ActiveSync Setup		iPad Exchange ActiveSync Setup
	iPhone ActiveSync Troubleshooting		iPad ActiveSync Troubleshooting

That's right: I now have five Exchange ActiveSync accounts on my iPhone!

Among the many exciting features of Apple’s version-4 iPhone OS is the long-awaited ability to sync to multiple Exchange ActiveSync servers. The new software, now dubbed iOS 4, can synchronize mail, contacts, and calendars between many different services that use Microsoft’s Exchange ActiveSync protocol, including Microsoft Exchange 2003, 2007, and 2010 and Google’s Gmail service.

Who Needs Multiple Exchange Servers?

You may be wondering if you need this capability. After all, only business people commonly use Microsoft’s corporate Exchange email server, and they tend to only have a single account. But Microsoft’s Exchange ActiveSync protocol is widespread: It is supported by Google Gmail, Microsoft Live Hotmail, and many other services. Contrary to expectations, most people actually do have an Exchange ActiveSync account, and many have more than one!

I currently use no less than five Exchange ActiveSync accounts, and I’m very pleased to have all of them successfully synchronized with my iPhone. I use Google’s Gmail service for personal mail as well as two Google Apps domains (GestaltIT.com and Fosketts.net). I also have two genuine Microsoft Exchange server accounts belonging to corporate clients. It’s amazing to have all of these up and running on the iPhone!

How To Set Up Multiple Exchange ActiveSync Accounts

Setting up a Google account as Exchange instead of IMAP brings additional functionality

It’s really quite simple to set up multiple Exchange ActiveSync accounts in iOS 4: You just do it. Where the old iPhone OS would complain if you tried to enter a second Exchange ActiveSync account, iOS 4 happily accepts them. It’s not clear what the limit is: I set up five Exchange accounts and see no limit in sight!

Refer to my iPhone Exchange ActiveSync Guide for step-by-step instructions on setting up Exchange ActiveSync on the iPhone. I’ve also put together an iPad Exchange ActiveSync Guide.

Note that many folks, like me, had already added their extra Gmail and Exchange accounts as IMAP, since the old iPhone OS had no trouble with these. In this case, you should disable these accounts first to avoid trouble. I decided to turn off my old IMAP accounts rather than deleting them, just in case I needed to fall back to this method in the future.

Look at that! A unified inbox! But why all those other inboxes?

Note that iOS 4 also includes two long-awaited features: A unified inbox and threaded message view. These work great with multiple Exchange ActiveSync accounts, allowing quick access to all your messages.

Quirks and Bugs

Apple seems to have used an incorrect (too short) Exchange server timeout. If you are running iOS 4.0, you should install the Exchange timeout profile (per Apple TS3398) by clicking here from the iPhone and rebooting.

Although iOS 4 mail is much nicer, it’s far from perfect. Most importantly, all this only works on iOS 4 compatible hardware: The iPhone 3G, 3GS, and 4. The original iPhone has to stick with 3.0 and its single-Exchange limit.

Apple may have added a unified inbox, but they made the mail app list even more cluttered by listing everything three times: Once in the unified inbox, again with a line-item per account inbox, and a third time per-account. Odd.

By default, every Exchange account added is named “Exchange” rather than using the email address like other account types. This is ugly, and requires the user to manually change the account name in Settings->Mail to avoid confusion.

It took a while for the Calendar app to synchronize, and it used incorrect calendar names for a while. Also, it seems to only synchronize the default calendar, not any others you might have.

iOS 4 will happily maintain duplicate contacts in one or more lists. I synchronized Address Book with Gmail and Entourage, so all of my contacts were listed four times. It’s probably best to synchronize only one contact list to avoid this situation.

Pay no mind: You won't lose all your Exchange contacts, just those from this account!

When you turn off contact synchronization, iOS 4 pops up a disturbing warning that “all Exchange contacts will be removed.” They won’t. It will only delete the contacts from that one Exchange ActiveSync account.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2010. | How To Set Up Multiple Exchange ActiveSync Accounts in iPhone iOS 4
This post was categorized as Apple, Everything, Features, Personal. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

This blog post is probably out of date. If you want to set up Exchange ActiveSync, you should instead consult one my guides:
	iPhone Exchange ActiveSync Setup		iPad Exchange ActiveSync Setup
	iPhone ActiveSync Troubleshooting		iPad ActiveSync Troubleshooting

Is your non-3GS iPhone locked out of your Exchange 2007 ActiveSync server after upgrading to iPhone OS 3.1? It’s a feature, not a bug! Here’s how to get older iPhones up and running with Exchange Server 2007 SP1!

What’s The Problem?

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1 added a feature to require mobile ActiveSync devices to encrypt data, enhancing security. Before iPhone OS 3.1, all iPhones incorrectly told the Exchange server that they supported on-device encryption. This allowed all iPhone hardware to function with Exchange 2007 SP1 servers that required device encryption. But original and 3G iPhones do not support device encryption, undermining corporate security policies.

The iPhone 3GS hardware actually does support device encryption, and iPhone OS 3.1 correctly reports this capability. But iPhone OS 3.1 also (correctly) reports that earlier hardware (the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G) does not support device encryption, so some Exchange 2007 SP1 servers refuse to allow them to connect. Oops!

What’s The Solution?

There are four possible solutions, three of which require IT assistance. Your Exchange administrator can research the meaning and implications of these options:

1. Disabling device encryption allows all iPhones to connect, but does not force any Exchange ActiveSync device to encrypt data. This is not a great solution from a security perspective, so don’t bother trying to convince IT to implement it!
2. Allowing non-provisionable devices enables all iPhones to connect but weakens security in general, allowing each device to enforce or ignore policies. This is a slightly better solution, since encrypting devices like the iPhone 3GS will encrypt, but it’s still not a great idea.
3. Creating a special policy for “old” iPhones and applying it selectively is probably more acceptable. Administrators can allow certain users to ignore the device encryption policy but still apply it to all others. This commandlet (from Krypted) will create such a policy:
   New-ActiveSyncMailboxPolicy -Name iPhone -AllowNonProvisionableDevices $true
4. Upgrading to an iPhone 3GS is probably the best answer. IT doesn’t need to get involved (as long as you know how to configure Exchange ActiveSync) and no security policies need to be weakened to make it work.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2009. | How iPhone OS 3.1 Locked Some Out Of Exchange, And How To Fix It
This post was categorized as Apple. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" deliveries begin on August 28!

Although Apple’s web site clearly states that Snow Leopard “Delivers on August 28th,” it is unclear if other sources will be so punctual. We definitely expect Apple Stores to have plenty of stock on Friday morning, but what of Amazon.com pre-orders? Will they also deliver on Friday, or will those of us who pre-ordered there have to wait a few days for this undercover upgrade?

Who Gets What

Snow Leopard is really a major jump forward in terms of advanced hardware and software integration. It brings Grand Central, OpenCL, full 64-bit mode, and QuickTime X along with Exchange support and many tweaks. But many of these features are highly hardware-dependent, so not all Mac users will get everything.

Here’s a cheat sheet I put together based on Apple’s documentation:

This table is based on the following facts:

1. Snow Leopard only supports Intel-based Macs. PowerPC Macs need not apply.
2. Booting Snow Leopard in 64-bit mode requires 64-bit EFI, and many pre-2007 Macs have only a 32-bit EFI. You can check your Mac (and help me fix my table) by typing “ioreg -l -p IODeviceTree | grep firmware-abi” in a Terminal window. If it says “EFI64″, your system is capable of running 64-bit Snow Leopard (though it can still run 64-bit apps). But Snow Leopard defaults to 32-bit mode on ALL Macs other than the Xserve at this point, and no one is sure why!
3. Grand Central Dispatch requires a multi-core CPU. This eliminates the original base-model 2006 Mac Mini, since it used a single-core CPU.
4. OpenCL requires newer Nvidia or the ATI graphics chips. This leaves out many pre-2008 models and some iMac and Mac Pro configurations. Check Apple’s list if you’re not sure.
5. QuickTime H.264 Hardware Acceleration only works with the Nvidia 9400M chipset. This leaves out many pre-2008 machines and even the latest Mac Pros, though they probably have enough horsepower on their own.

Finally, if you’re excited about the new Microsoft Exchange support in Mail.app, iCal, and the Address Book be warned! In order for any of this to work, your server must be running Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 Update Rollup 4. And most companies still aren’t updated that far!

Update: Check my follow-up post on 64-bit Snow Leopard for more about this controversial aspect!

I’m Updating!

I held off on Amazon and placed my own order this morning with Apple. I’m with Mark Twomey:Upgrading to Snow Leopard is a safe day-1 activity. Most of the updates amount to new under-the-hood features and the OS has been through round after round of testing. Unlike the massive shift from Tiger to Leopard (which I missed, being a late switcher), Snow Leopard ought to be a lesser upgrade.

Why make the update at all? Here are a few of my reasons:

1. It’s cheap: Just $29 to update a single Mac, or $49 for up to five. Compared to Microsoft’s (expired) “limited-time-only” (and incredibly complicated) Windows 7 upgrade, Apple sets out a red velvet carpet.
2. It’s easy: There’s just one version of Mac OS X, and any system running OS X 10.5 “Leopard” can update to full-on Snow Leopard. There are no editions and no conflicts updating from 32-bit to 64-bit (like Windows 7).
3. It future-proofs your (Intel) Mac: Mac developers have a long history of quickly leveraging new OS X features since Mac users have a long history of quickly upgrading. Snow Leopard adds cool stuff like Grand Central and OpenCL that my Intel- and Nvidia-based Macs ought to be able to leverage. See below if your Mac can use these, too!

Sure, there aren’t any amazing features like Time Machine to set the world on fire. But the Snow Leopard update is still a slam-dunk for any Intel-based Mac user! My Late-2007 MacBook Pro will get everything but H.264 acceleration and my 2009 Mac Mini is all set to go!

Updated with Mac Mini and Xserve information. Keep the suggestions coming and test that EFI! Picked up, colorized, and reused (with permission) by the excellent Ed Bott in his ZDNet column!

Note: Some of these links include affiliate codes that help pay for this blog. For example, buying an Amazon Kindle with this link sends a few bucks my way! But I don't write this blog to make money, and am happy to link to sites and stores that don't pay anything. I like Amazon and buy tons from them, but you're free to buy whatever and wherever you want.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2009. | Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard”: In Our Hands August 28!
This post was categorized as Apple, Personal. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.