Help Gmail contacts one way snyc only?

[rsa]

Just finished configuring my wife's EVO and noticed a problem. She only had 25 or 30 contacts from her old phone and so I just typed them in via her gmail account on the computer. Those synced just fine down to the phone. But those contacts that she has since added directly into her phone have not shown up in her gmail account contacts list in the "cloud" when she logs into her gmail account. Sync gmail contacts is checked on the phone and they do come down they just don't go up!

I've never noticed on my EVO because I have over 800 contacts, it's much easier with only a couple dozen contacts to see a problem. I need to create a test contact on my phone and see if it ever gets synced up to my gmail account too.

Any clue as to what I'm doing wrong.

 

[Shofar]

I'm new to both Android and Gmail.
Imported my Palm contacts to Gmail contacts.
Went to settings Gmail on my HTC Desire and don't see anyway to sync the contacts.

I was able to import my Windows address book (email addresses) to my contacts but Gmail contacts has all the phone numbers.
Any help appreciated.

Thanks

 

[TheFov]

Here is my understanding of how it works. There are ""google" contacts and "phone" contacts. Phone contacts are any contacts that have been added or imported to your phone. Android takes your phone contacts and suggests to "link" to your "google" contacts which are your contacts in Gmail. (assuming you have your google sync set up)

Once they are linked the contact shows up only once in your contact list on your phone and the contact information is meshed together as best as it can with the different fields.

The "google" contacts are the ones that sync with Gmail, and it is a 2-way sync. (You have to leave the gmail webpage to see the pushed changes, but it does work.) That part is nice.

The part that isn't so nice is that the "phone" contacts and the "google" contacts do not share information. They are only "linked" on your phone, so in other words anything you do with your "phone" contacts will not show up on GMail.

It begs the question that if you keep a comprehensive Gmail contact list than why use "phone" contacts at all? Maybe there is a reason.

This has been my experience. I may be doing something wrong, and if I am please let me know.

 

[rsa]

Here is my understanding of how it works. There are ""google" contacts and "phone" contacts. Phone contacts are any contacts that have been added or imported to your phone. Android takes your phone contacts and suggests to "link" to your "google" contacts which are your contacts in Gmail. (assuming you have your google sync set up)

Once they are linked the contact shows up only once in your contact list on your phone and the contact information is meshed together as best as it can with the different fields.

The "google" contacts are the ones that sync with Gmail, and it is a 2-way sync. (You have to leave the gmail webpage to see the pushed changes, but it does work.) That part is nice.

The part that isn't so nice is that the "phone" contacts and the "google" contacts do not share information. They are only "linked" on your phone, so in other words anything you do with your "phone" contacts will not show up on GMail.

It begs the question that if you keep a comprehensive Gmail contact list than why use "phone" contacts at all? Maybe there is a reason.

This has been my experience. I may be doing something wrong, and if I am please let me know.

Forgive me but not all off what you said "soaked in" yet. But the short question is simply this, "If I create a contact record (not some record linked to from some social network source) on an android phone will it or will it not be synced up to my contact list in my gmail account in the cloud?"

Thanks for any clarification you might provide.

 

[TheFov]

Forgive me but not all off what you said "soaked in" yet. But the short question is simply this, "If I create a contact record (not some record linked to from some social network source) on an android phone will it or will it not be synced up to my contact list in my gmail account in the cloud?"

Thanks for any clarification you might provide.

Unless you consider Gmail a social network source I didn't mention anything about linking to a social network site.

Your question does not lend itself to a yes/no answer. The shortest answer I can give you is if the contact record you create contains the same names as your gmail contacts then your phone will suggest link to these gmail contacts. When they are linked they'll appear as one contact on your phone. The linked google contact will sync to your gmail account contact in the cloud.

Its easier to understand if you just try it. Create John Doe in your phone and then in your Gmail contacts and see how it works.

If you want your all of your gmail contacts synced up, export them, then import them to your phone as "google" contacts and you'll have a 2-way sync with all of them and you won't have to worry about links.

It is confusing until you start really using it.

 

[rsa]

Unless you consider Gmail a social network source I didn't mention anything about linking to a social network site.

Your question does not lend itself to a yes/no answer. The shortest answer I can give you is if the contact record you create contains the same names as your gmail contacts then your phone will suggest link to these gmail contacts. When they are linked they'll appear as one contact on your phone. The linked google contact will sync to your gmail account contact in the cloud.

Its easier to understand if you just try it. Create John Doe in your phone and then in your Gmail contacts and see how it works.

If you want your all of your gmail contacts synced up, export them, then import them to your phone as "google" contacts and you'll have a 2-way sync with all of them and you won't have to worry about links.

It is confusing until you start really using it.

Well I guess I'm "old school". I've used Palm devices from the beginning and several winmob based cell phones and both environments were simple and straight forward, they synced both ways and updated based on the newest record.

I exported all my records out of outlook and inported the file into gmail's contact list in anticaption of getting the EVO then when I got the EVO it magically downloaded all the contacts and I was "fat, dumb and happy". But with my wife's phone she never synced to anything and so I manually input all her contacts into her gmail account contact list and it too synced to her EVO but any new records she creates in the phone DO NOT get synced back up to her gmail account contact list. It was easier to see when a new record on the phone didn't get synced up to her gmail account. Where as I've got 800 plus entries and I never thought to look and see if the new contacts I was putting in my phone were not being synced up to my gmail account contact list. Now if that is normal, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. And no I'm NOT saying you're stupid, I'm saying that the function would be stupid.

So I have to assume that I'm doing something wrong to not have the new/created records in the phone not get synced up to the gmail account contact list.

God help us if you're telling me that my wife has to create the record twice, once on the phone and then log in to her gmail account and create it a second time in that contact list also! Again that would be the stupidest thing I'd ever heard! So I'm going to re-read your posts again to see what it is that I'm mis-understanding.

Thanks again for at least taking the time to reply to me. I just an not understanding yet, it's just me.

 

[TheFov]

Well I guess I'm "old school". I've used Palm devices from the beginning and several winmob based cell phones and both environments were simple and straight forward, they synced both ways and updated based on the newest record.

I exported all my records out of outlook and inported the file into gmail's contact list in anticaption of getting the EVO then when I got the EVO it magically downloaded all the contacts and I was "fat, dumb and happy". But with my wife's phone she never synced to anything and so I manually input all her contacts into her gmail account contact list and it too synced to her EVO but any new records she creates in the phone DO NOT get synced back up to her gmail account contact list. It was easier to see when a new record on the phone didn't get synced up to her gmail account. Where as I've got 800 plus entries and I never thought to look and see if the new contacts I was putting in my phone were not being synced up to my gmail account contact list. Now if that is normal, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. And no I'm NOT saying you're stupid, I'm saying that the function would be stupid.

So I have to assume that I'm doing something wrong to not have the new/created records in the phone not get synced up to the gmail account contact list.

God help us if you're telling me that my wife has to create the record twice, once on the phone and then log in to her gmail account and create it a second time in that contact list also! Again that would be the stupidest thing I'd ever heard! So I'm going to re-read your posts again to see what it is that I'm mis-understanding.

Thanks again for at least taking the time to reply to me. I just an not understanding yet, it's just me.

When you create a new contact in your phone you have to make the "Contact Type" a "google" contact not a "phone" contact. The google contact type will sync up, the "phone" contact will not.

Unfortunately if you've made all of your changes to "phone" contacts then you'll have to duplicate them to "google" contacts to get them in sync. Or you could export all of your phone contacts, import them to gmail, merge them in gmail, and that should do it too.

It is very hard to understand without actually doing it. It took me awhile to figure out how it was operating, and in the process I accidentally deleted all my Gmail contacts. I did get most of them back, but I about sh*t a brick why I saw "my contacts (0)" in Gmail.

 

[sitlet]

This is the same problem I had with the Calendar. I would enter information into the phone's calendar, and i would never sync with the gmail calendar on my computer. I could enter an event on the computer and it would sync with the phone, but not the other way around.

I found out the problem was, when you create a calendar event, it asks you if you want to add to "My Calendar" or "Google Calendar." Apparantly you have to add it to the google calendar to get it to sync. This is really confusing to me as well, but hopefully it makes sense to you now.

 

[rsa]

This is the same problem I had with the Calendar. I would enter information into the phone's calendar, and i would never sync with the gmail calendar on my computer. I could enter an event on the computer and it would sync with the phone, but not the other way around.

I found out the problem was, when you create a calendar event, it asks you if you want to add to "My Calendar" or "Google Calendar." Apparantly you have to add it to the google calendar to get it to sync. This is really confusing to me as well, but hopefully it makes sense to you now.

See this is a problem, with all this sync to the cloud crap with google! I've never had a problem with putting a calendar entry into my phone and not have it end up on my google account calendar in the cloud unlike my contacts list! In fact I just checked before typing this because I had just added a new appointment to my phone calendar this morning and sure enough it's on my "cloud calendar" and on top of that I've never seen a message to "add to my calendar or google calendar" option in the three weeks that I've been using the calendar on my phone. So what the hell is up with that. Someone needs to create a "Android Google sync for Dummies" to explain how the hell all this is suppose to work as easily as Palm and Winmob has been doing it for years! This really bites!

And "Sitlet" I wish I could tell what I did differently then you to have my calendars syncing both ways without having to tell it with each new entry?

 

[TheFov]

See this is a problem, with all this sync to the cloud crap with google! I've never had a problem with putting a calendar entry into my phone and not have it end up on my google account calendar in the cloud unlike my contacts list! In fact I just checked before typing this because I had just added a new appointment to my phone calendar this morning and sure enough it's on my "cloud calendar" and on top of that I've never seen a message to "add to my calendar or google calendar" option in the three weeks that I've been using the calendar on my phone. So what the hell is up with that. Someone needs to create a "Android Google sync for Dummies" to explain how the hell all this is suppose to work as easily as Palm and Winmob has been doing it for years! This really bites!

And "Sitlet" I wish I could tell what I did differently then you to have my calendars syncing both ways without having to tell it with each new entry?

My calendar sync's both ways too. I'd revisit your settings. I know that's not very helpful, but it should work unless something specific is screwed up or toggled the wrong way on your end.

 

[stainlessray]

Well I guess I'm "old school". I've used Palm devices from the beginning and several winmob based cell phones and both environments were simple and straight forward, they synced both ways and updated based on the newest record.

I exported all my records out of outlook and inported the file into gmail's contact list in anticaption of getting the EVO then when I got the EVO it magically downloaded all the contacts and I was "fat, dumb and happy". But with my wife's phone she never synced to anything and so I manually input all her contacts into her gmail account contact list and it too synced to her EVO but any new records she creates in the phone DO NOT get synced back up to her gmail account contact list. It was easier to see when a new record on the phone didn't get synced up to her gmail account. Where as I've got 800 plus entries and I never thought to look and see if the new contacts I was putting in my phone were not being synced up to my gmail account contact list. Now if that is normal, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. And no I'm NOT saying you're stupid, I'm saying that the function would be stupid.

So I have to assume that I'm doing something wrong to not have the new/created records in the phone not get synced up to the gmail account contact list.

God help us if you're telling me that my wife has to create the record twice, once on the phone and then log in to her gmail account and create it a second time in that contact list also! Again that would be the stupidest thing I'd ever heard! So I'm going to re-read your posts again to see what it is that I'm mis-understanding.

Thanks again for at least taking the time to reply to me. I just an not understanding yet, it's just me.

if you create your new contacts on the evo as "google contact" type, (prompted on creation) it will sync upward. If you create it as a phone contact type it will not, even though the contacts lists are synced. it assumes you only want that contact stored locally. It's a means to the end being granular control. assuming you might have a reason to do that, a method to do that.
the point of syncing the lists is to get both types in your phone to show up in 1 list for your convenience.
I think the only reason for all this granular control, is if you imagine many people have 2 separate contacts lists because their internet and phone lists are still deemed separate things to them. the rest of us would love for all our lists to just merge everywhere we keep them.
If you originally create a contact as a phone contact, i haven't found a way to change it except to delete the contact and create it a 2nd time as a google contact. this will allow you to choose google type on creation of the contact. which is no big deal for just 1 or 2... but if you have a dozen, you will be busy for a while.

 

[TheFov]

if you create your new contacts on the evo as "google contact" type, (prompted on creation) it will sync upward. If you create it as a phone contact type it will not, even though the contacts lists are synced. it assumes you only want that contact stored locally. It's a means to the end being granular control. assuming you might have a reason to do that, a method to do that.
the point of syncing the lists is to get both types in your phone to show up in 1 list for your convenience.
I think the only reason for all this granular control, is if you imagine many people have 2 separate contacts lists because their internet and phone lists are still deemed separate things to them. the rest of us would love for all our lists to just merge everywhere we keep them.
If you originally create a contact as a phone contact, i haven't found a way to change it except to delete the contact and create it a 2nd time as a google contact. this will allow you to choose google type on creation of the contact. which is no big deal for just 1 or 2... but if you have a dozen, you will be busy for a while.

But be absolutely sure you unlink the contacts before you delete them. If you delete a linked contact it wipes out the contact in Gmail to because its synced. Don't ask me how I know this.

 

[rsa]

I'll throw out another question. What if I do the following?

1. Use the HTC sync, which I assume will allow me to sync my contacts with Outlook like Active-sync did with a WinMob phone and Outlook, to sync my EVO to my Outlook contacts.

2. Export the Outlook contacts like I did originally.

3. Inport this contacts file into my Gmail account list.

4. Turn off data sync on the EVO

5. This is the part I don't know for sure what to do, but maybe somehow delete all my contacts from my EVO.

6. Turn on data sync and let the phone sync with my Gmail account again.

The idea being that I will have all my phone contacts synced between my Gmail account contact list and my phone again.

The real problem for me is that I've never seen the option of of telling my phone if the new contact is a Gmail contact or only a phone contact.

 

[TheFov]

I'll throw out another question. What if I do the following?

1. Use the HTC sync, which I assume will allow me to sync my contacts with Outlook like Active-sync did with a WinMob phone and Outlook, to sync my EVO to my Outlook contacts.

2. Export the Outlook contacts like I did originally.

3. Inport this contacts file into my Gmail account list.

4. Turn off data sync on the EVO

5. This is the part I don't know for sure what to do, but maybe somehow delete all my contacts from my EVO.

6. Turn on data sync and let the phone sync with my Gmail account again.

The idea being that I will have all my phone contacts synced between my Gmail account contact list and my phone again.

The real problem for me is that I've never seen the option of of telling my phone if the new contact is a Gmail contact or only a phone contact.

It depends if your EVO contacts are phone, google and if they are linked. If you edit a linked contact it'll immediately ask you if you want to edit the google or phone contact. If it does not, I would assume its a phone contact, and that would explain why you're not syncing.

Either way, I'd try what you propose with a few single contacts before wiping out every contact on your phone. Also I'm pretty sure google only syncs your "my contact" list not every single person you've ever emailed.

 

[mtrajano00]

Create the contacts in gmail using your PC or laptop. Then after creating the contact sync your contacts on your evo (go to settings-acct & sync-click on google gmail acct-make sure a check mark is on sync contacts-then click sync now). All of your new contacts that you created on gmail will sync up with your evo. If you create the contact on your evo it will not show up on your gmail acct its has to be the other way around creating it in gmail. Im not too sure why its only 1 way.