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Google account required for contacts?

SW42

Lurker
Feb 27, 2010
5
0
UK
Hi,

Apologies for the ignorant question. I have just been to the T-Mobile store to ask about the HTC Hero. According to the Salesperson, if I want to store postal addresses (and presumably any other contact info) I have to have a google account set up as this is where the phone saves the data. I'm sure this can't be right. Can anybody confirm/deny this?

I've never owned a smartphone and thought it would be a good replacement for my PDA. As such, it needs to be able to hold things like postal addresses, birthdays etc. I just don't like the idea that I have to do things via Google and that all the information is stored on their servers!

Sorry if i've asked such a silly question!

Thanks.
 
Well he seems to be half correct. The phone can save contacts as phone, sim, and google. Sim does not allow you to save any contact detailed info, only numbers. Phone and google can, but i think only google will let you syc with a computer as long as you have a google account. The phone itself lets you store contact detailed info but i dont think you can syc the info or export it, or not that i know of. I just use google.
 
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Hi SW42,

You can certainly think about ditching the pda with this, or probably any other, smartphone. The apps you can run with them will easily match a pda. I always had Palm pda's before getting my first Symbian smartphone and never looked back.

I don't create any contacts using the Google profile, so you don't need an account to use the Contacts app. I do have a Google account, but wouldn't ever trust them with any of my private data. I suppose whether you trust Google is for another post, but you aren't tied to them to use this mobile, thankfully.

Oh, and I don't think your question was silly. I'm still learning Android and there's loads of things I'd have asked dumb questions about if it weren't for all the other people on here who asked them first! :D

Cheers,
Jim
 
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I am afraid the man from T Mobile is talking nonsense

I keep all of my contacts details on MS Outlook on my PC. Using HTCSync they sync with my Android whenever the two are connected, just as a PDA would. It syncs across all of the information such as addresses, phone numbers email addresses. It even syncs across the photo i have attached to some of my contacts.

BTW when it stores the addresses one of the options in the people list is to find any of the addresses (work home etc) using Google maps
 
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when i first got my samsung moment, the phone prompted me to create a gmail account to use things like youtube (even though i already had a youtube account), and other things. while i was hesitant to do so, im glad i did anyway because there was a day or two when yahoo (where my main email lies) was down and i had to immediately email an outline to my producer for an upcoming show so. also, for me it was required that i use gmail to store my contacts as the other option was exchange/moxier mail- something i do not have.



Sent from my SPH-M900 using Tapatalk
 
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Hi everybody,

Thanks for all your replies. To be honest, I hadn't thought about the sync and backup aspect of having a smart phone! I actually use Mozilla Thunderbird for storing all my addresses, will that sync ok with the Hero? I'd assumed that there would be some sort of software that I would have to install onto my computer to manage all my phone data, a bit like the old Palm Desktop I used to have for my Palm Pilot.

I actually do already have a google account so I'd be alright downloading apps etc, I just didn't want to have to use it for storing all my contact data.

Anyway, it's given me some food for thought. Now I'm wondering maybe I do want a PDA after all (it's not like anybody ever phones me haha). I just didn't want to have to get a Windows PDA, which is all that seems to be sold these days... but that's off-topic :)
 
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Hi SW42,

There is a workaround for this, but it largely depends how you feel about sharing your contacts with Google...

You can download a Thunderbird addon called "Google Contacts". This enables syncing between your GMail account and Thunderbird contacts. Once that's done, you will then have everything available to any Android phone you buy.

I think pda's are going the way of the Dodo very quickly now. As everything seems to be migrating to the online world, a pda without access to the Internet or mobile network is probably of limited use for most people.

Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide to buy. Keep posting questions if it helps :)

All the best,
Jim
 
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Hi Jim,

I suppose if I really have to go down that root just to get the data on the phone, then I'll have to! What if I just add a contact manually, ie, it's not on any other program. What happens when I sync? I think I'm having a hard time getting my mind round this idea of having data held only on the phone and not being backed up anywhere.

Yes, I had realised that PDAs were going out of fashion. But I've never been one to follow fashion anyway... now where did I put those flares...

:p

SW
 
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Yes, I had realised that PDAs were going out of fashion. But I've never been one to follow fashion anyway... now where did I put those flares...
Lol! Ahh, the memories. I'm guessing you are 42 from your name and mention of flares? If so, you're one year ahead of me. I once had some bright green flares (nylon of course) when I was a kid, I used to wear them with a pair of brown Docs. Crikey, I feel really old now :p
 
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Lol! Ahh, the memories. I'm guessing you are 42 from your name and mention of flares? If so, you're one year ahead of me. I once had some bright green flares (nylon of course) when I was a kid, I used to wear them with a pair of brown Docs. Crikey, I feel really old now :p

Actually, I'm not, and have never owned a pair of flares in my life! However, mentioning shoulder pads just didn't seem as funny LOL. Bet you feel even older now :eek:
 
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Oh that's perfect! I think you've just persuaded me to buy the phone :D

Awesome :D

I believe it works if you make 'Phone' contacts (not Sim/Google). I know when I tried out sync, it moved all my .contacts from my PC to the phone, but Google contacts weren't synced to the PC.

Someone else will probably be able to explain it better; I uninstalled HTC sync from my phone a while ago so can't try it out for you.
 
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