Google now supports CardDAV making it easier than ever to import contacts

Jeff Ellingson, Product Manager at Google, announced this week that the search giant is adding CardDAV to its list of supported protocols. For iOS and OS X owners, this means you can now sync your Google contacts to Apple's built-in contacts app using this open protocol, instead of Exchange.

You can add a CardDAV account to your iOS device using the instructions on Google's website, which are included below for your convenience. Google notes that syncing via CardDAV is only available for devices running iOS version 5.0 or greater. You can also use your Google account information to setup a CardDAV account in OS X via the System Preferences > Mail, Contacts & Calendars > Add Other Account > Add a CardDAV account.

To Setup a CardDAV account on your iOS device, you will need to:

1. Open the Settings application on your iOS device.

2. Select Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

3. Select Add Account > Other > Add CardDAV Account.

4. Fill out your account information by entering "google.com" as the server name and your Google username and password. (If you've enabled two-step verification, you'll need to generate and enter an application-specific password.) You'll also need to add a description like "Google contacts" to identify the account in iOS.

5. Select Next at the top of your screen and then make sure that the "Contacts" option is turned to ON.

6. After you've completed setup, open the Contacts app on your device, and syncing will automatically begin.