PC to phone syncing

androidnewbie5 · January 12th, 2012, 02:59 PM

Hi everyone,
although I know my way around Windows computers I am a complete novice when it comes to Android and Smart Phones. I have a 4 days old LG L55c Android 2.3.4 smart phone and am working my way through it.

Lists and Notes:
I have installed EverNote, Astrid, etc. and am not totally satisfied. I am looking for an app that I can sync to some equivalent on my own Windows PC (or import a comma sep file) without needing to go through the web or Google. That is by direct usb cable. Is that possible? Does everything I use on the phone have to also be in the cloud? I am still leery of intrusting my stuff to the cloud.

Calendar:
Same question, Would like a calendar for my phone that I could sync with my PC via usb cable without passing first through the cloud. Most calendars on the PC import and export to standard ics files but I cannot find an Android calendar app that can import ics files.

There must be many others who would like something like this. Does it exist?

Thank you.

RazzMaTazz · January 12th, 2012, 11:05 PM

Personally, I think your fears of the cloud are unfounded because it's about ten million times more likely that your personal data will get compromised because your phone gets lost or stolen or because your house gets robbed, than because Google's or Microsoft's cloud gets hacked, and then your data (among all the millions of users) gets abused. However, if clouds are really against your religion or something...

Consider using MyPhoneExplorer (free) from FJSoftware. It requires you to download a (free) program on your PC and a (free) app on your Android device. It's particularly good if you use Outlook or (free) Thunderbird on your PC (for email, contacts, & calendar) and/or Outlook for Tasks & Notes, and you want to sync that stuff with your Android device. MyPhoneExplorer will also sync folders, send text messages from your PC, etc. It works over WiFi or USB. It's written by a German dev team, but they have an English forum and they're good about answering questions. The software has been around a long time and is trustworthy.

Otherwise, go with the cloud, baby. If you use Outlook, consider syncing Calendar & contacts through Hotmail/Live Mail. I also use the free Windows Live Mesh (and the free app, Sorami) to sync files betwen my PCs & Android devices. Otherwise use Gmail for email, contacts, & calendar, and something like DropBox or SugarSync for files.

chanchan05 · January 12th, 2012, 11:57 PM

I don't know if LG has any equivalent, but Samsung, Sony and HTC do have programs to sync to Outlook via USB. The abovementioned MyPhoneExplorer also does that, but I prefer going through cloud.

dvhttn · January 13th, 2012, 03:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by androidnewbie5

Hi everyone,
although I know my way around Windows computers I am a complete novice when it comes to Android and Smart Phones. I have a 4 days old LG L55c Android 2.3.4 smart phone and am working my way through it.

Lists and Notes:
I have installed EverNote, Astrid, etc. and am not totally satisfied. I am looking for an app that I can sync to some equivalent on my own Windows PC (or import a comma sep file) without needing to go through the web or Google. That is by direct usb cable. Is that possible? Does everything I use on the phone have to also be in the cloud? I am still leery of intrusting my stuff to the cloud.

Calendar:
Same question, Would like a calendar for my phone that I could sync with my PC via usb cable without passing first through the cloud. Most calendars on the PC import and export to standard ics files but I cannot find an Android calendar app that can import ics files.

There must be many others who would like something like this. Does it exist?

Thank you.

I'm with you and don't "want" to go "through the cloud". Reasons are not relevant to others who are quite happy to, it's up to individuals.

I use Outlook for email, contacts and calendar on my PC and use MyPhoneExplorer (as mentioned above) to sync contacts and calendar with my phone. I actually use wifi rather than a cable as I find it more convenient. I don't use tasks or notes but MPE also syncs these as well. As also mentioned, you can use Thunderbird (free) rather than Outlook.

For notes I use NoteEverything Pro on my phone and just have a bunch of checklists. Again, you can export these and use MPE to sync them to your PC. I also use MPE to sync my 22GB+ of music between my PC and phone ...

HTH

Dave

androidnewbie5 · January 20th, 2012, 06:08 PM

Thanks to everyone who replied. I will definitely look at MyPhoneExplore.
I keep very little on my phone. And it is not fear of hacking that bothers me about the Android phone. It is primarily about Google having all my data in a Google account to mine. I rarely use Google to search. I prefer Ixquick.
But has been said, to each his own. Many do not care much about their privacy. I happen to.

Slug · January 21st, 2012, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by androidnewbie5

Many do not care much about their privacy. I happen to.

I believe that's true of most people. What differs is the level of the perceived threat to that privacy.

Your unwillingness to make use of Google's cloud services is perfectly valid, just as is others' decision to do the opposite. Everyone makes their own decision based on their own judgement.

androidnewbie5 · January 21st, 2012, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slug

I believe that's true of most people. What differs is the level of the perceived threat to that privacy.

Your unwillingness to make use of Google's cloud services is perfectly valid, just as is others' decision to do the opposite. Everyone makes their own decision based on their own judgement.

You are an excellent moderator. Wise statement.