Our friends at Lifehacker shared a heck of a tip today. Setting up Google’s Gmail, Calendar, and Contacts on your iOS device can be a multi-step process. This tip makes it all one step.

Thank goodness for this, because we know that the official Google Gmail App for iOS was a flop.

It’s a bit of a hack, but it definitely works:

The key is when setting up a new Email account, choose Microsoft Exchange instead of Gmail. It gives you access to contacts and calendars, and everything will sync on your iOS device seamlessly. Whenever you add a new contact or calendar invite, everything will move over in real-time.

• Open up the Settings app on your iOS device and go to the “Mail, Contacts, Calendars” section. Hit “Add Account”.
• From there, choose Microsoft Exchange as the type of account (again, don’t choose Gmail).
• Type in your Gmail address under Email. Leave the Domain field blank and enter your full Gmail address under Username (including the @gmail.com, @googlemail.com, or other suffix). Type in your password and give it any description you like. Mine’s just called “Gmail”.
• Press the Next button at the top of the screen. It should pop up a message saying Unable to Verify Certificate—if it does, just hit cancel. Then, type m.google.com in the new “Server” box that shows up at the top of the screen. Then tap Next.

After that, you should be ready to rock with no headaches. Everything will update in real-time so there’s no need to do manual syncs or worry about push notifications. Thank you Lifehacker!

Some of you may have been able to download iOS 5 and the latest Lion update, so we’re sure you’re wondering how to get started with iCloud, the new backup service in the sky from Apple. If you’re still getting errors, just be patient.

Apple had those same thoughts, so the company has published its own guide on how to get iCloud set up on your iOS 5 devices and Apple or PC computers.

First, you’ll want to make sure that your computer has the latest iTunes version, which is 10.5. Once you’ve updated your device to iOS 5 you’re shown a screen which will let you turn iCloud on and sign in with your Apple ID.

Apple’s iCloud set up guide will take you through the rest of the way.

I have personally been using iCloud on the developers version of iOS 5 for quite a while now, and the service is amazing. Being able to automatically back-up all of your information without even thinking about it is a time-saver and a life-preserver. I upgraded to 15 GB of storage which runs about twenty dollars a year. The only iCloud feature I didn’t turn on was automatic App updates. I personally like to see what’s new in an update, and choose when to download them, especially if I’m without WiFi.

Setting up iCloud for Lion is also simple. As soon as you update, you’re prompted for your Apple ID, and given a new settings pane to sync all of your information to your account.

Hopefully, you’ll all be able to set up your iCloud syncing soon enough.