Thinking of getting an iPhone and currently have a HTC on Android.

Is it possible to get the iPhone to sync with my Google account and download all of my contacts automatically?

Yes it is

Http://www.google.com/mobile/sync/

Thanks Dave

One problem I had with Dave's method was that my custom fields (ie. iPhone rather than Mobile to signify the number type) were not synced properly, nor were my contact pictures.

I found the better option was to switch on Google contacts sync via iTunes and each time I sync iPhone the contacts also sync. Only downside to this is that you don't get instant updates but iOS 5 syncs over WiFi so don't think this will be a problem for you.

Another issue with Google sync is that it doesn't sync your drafts folder properly. No problem - I just switched back to IMAP. It was nice getting emails pushed to my phone though.

I do use it for Calendar syncing though, and it is great.

Edit: Just found a page with known issues which explains more - http://www.google.com/support/mobile...&answer=139635. Also don't worry that the Google Sync method doesn't work - you can do each thing manually as I said above.

With the rise of iCloud I've actually stopped using google sync for everything but email due to some of the minor annoyances mentioned by Johnny. Used google to export my contacts and then imported them into iCloud and used google calendar sync to bring my calendar into outlook and then synced outlook with iCloud in iCloud control panel

Obviously you'll only be able to use iCloud if you are running iOS 5 like me but it is days away now

I've ordered the iPhone 4S so presume this will be installed with iOS5?

Syncing of my contacts is my No1 priority as I have over 800 so couldn't face manually entering each one.

Bit confused with the use of iCloud as mentioned here. Does this supersede use of my Google account or can I still use this and have my diary and contacts automatically synced?

Yes.

You wont have to do this.

iCloud is a new Apple service to replace MobileMe. It has some pretty good features, one of which is contacts/calendar sync (it stores contacts etc. in cloud like google and then syncs them to different devices).

You can open an iCloud account but be selective with the features you use. Eg. you can use Google Sync or the method I mentioned above for calendar/contacts syncing if you don't want to switch to iCloud for this but do want to use its auto backup feature.

Yeah you can still use iCloud and google sync choosing which services you can sync with each one. As I mentioned above I'm still using google sync for mail although I do have iCloud mail turned on as well.

If you want to make the full switch to iCloud the method I described above is how I did it relatively painlessly. The downside of making the full switch though is it will be harder for you should you ever switch back to an Android based device. So you may be best using either google sync or the methods described by Johnny and leaving mail/contacts/calendars on google and just turning iCloud on for things like documents/notes/reminders/backup

Thanks for the advice