If you don’t hit the sync manually, it will NOT do anything, you just set it up. The menu bar icon is the SAME as the MobileMe sync icon (because it also uses iSync). You need to manually sync from the menu bar OR use iSync. Update: If you’re having trouble with older versions of OS X, one of our helpful readers, Steve Guttbinder, suggests the following:

Your Gmail contacts are now the same as on iPhone, Mail.app, and everything else that uses the Mac Address Book! Synchronization makes everyone’s life easier. This latter walkthrough is set in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, but the ability to sync Google Contacts to Address Book is also within 10.5 (users have mixed results, I don’t have Leopard 10.5, so I can’t help much). * Launch the Address Book * Click the “Address Book” menu and select “Settings” * Click the “Accounts” tab * Under the accounts on the left, select “My Mac” * Select the “Sync with Google” checkbox under “Configure …” * Enter Google your account login, click “OK” * Then click “Sync Now” from the menu bar * Your address book is now synced with your Google Contacts!

Sync your Mac Address Book with Google Contacts in OS X Snow Leopard This applies to all modern versions of OS X, including Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion, Lion, all others where the contacts app is labeled “Contacts.” Google-Mac sync capability is also available in earlier versions of OS X, but it’s only slightly different from installation and a little less automated.

Select Google and enter your Google Account login information, complete the setup process, and choose to sync your contacts with Google.

Select the Accounts tab and click the plus button.

Open the Contacts app in OS X and go to the File menu and then Settings.

How to sync a Mac Contacts app with Google Contacts on OS X. First, the new versions of OS X are discussed with the Contacts application, the new versions of OS X automate the process quite well, which makes it remarkably simple.

Mac address book application