Help Is there a good desktop syncing solution for Android?

[lotus49]

If you have been here a while you've probably seen me moan about how awful the Android desktop syncing solutions are. Other posters have often disagreed with my assertion that iTunes/IOS beats Android into a cocked hat in this respect but no-one has actually suggested anything suitable so I am starting a new thread in the hope that someone can.

My needs are simple and are as follows.

I would like to sync the following between my Mac and my S4

• contacts
• calendar
• selected music (I have far too much to fit on my phone).

I do not want to give Google (or Apple for that matter) all my data, so syncing via Google is not an option.

I would also like to be able to do a one click backup of everything on the phone so I can restore it easily should that be necessary.

That's all. If there really is a solution to this, I would really love to hear it because I have been looking for more than two years and I'm not even close to finding anything that works as well as iTunes and my iPhone 5, which does everything I need easily and elegantly.

Please help.

 

[hbryder]

If you have been here a while you've probably seen me moan about how awful the Android desktop syncing solutions are. Other posters have often disagreed with my assertion that iTunes/IOS beats Android into a cocked hat in this respect but no-one has actually suggested anything suitable so I am starting a new thread in the hope that someone can.

My needs are simple and are as follows.

I would like to sync the following between my Mac and my S4

• contacts
• calendar
• selected music (I have far too much to fit on my phone).

I do not want to give Google (or Apple for that matter) all my data, so syncing via Google is not an option.

I would also like to be able to do a one click backup of everything on the phone so I can restore it easily should that be necessary.

That's all. If there really is a solution to this, I would really love to hear it because I have been looking for more than two years and I'm not even close to finding anything that works as well as iTunes and my iPhone 5, which does everything I need easily and elegantly.

Please help.

AirDroid works, for backup I'm pretty sure you have to root

 

[evile84]

I too would love an android version of iTunes for syncing music and making playlists

 

[Canesfan]

I too would love an android version of iTunes for syncing music and making playlists

Ditto.

 

[lotus49]

AirDroid works, for backup I'm pretty sure you have to root

AirDroid is useful and I do use it but it's not really a syncing solution.

It is a little disappointing but not very surprising that there are no suggestions. Whenever I have complained here about the poor state of Mac-Android syncing I have been shot down in flames by posters telling me how great Android syncing is but none of these posters has actually been able to make any specific recommendations.

I really like my S4 but I would like it a lot more if I could find a good (or even mediocre) syncing and backup solution.

 

[eirianbryn]

I too would like a good option that's free..
I guess it's time someone came up with one. Kies has come a long way for certain things, but I'm not sure about all of it.
Why do you not want to sync with google? If you had an apple product you'd have to use iTunes

 

[zebug]

the option is there, you just refuse to use it. Google

 

[jhawkkw]

I too would love an android version of iTunes for syncing music and making playlists

We have one called Google Play Music. It's all browser based, but you do need a desktop client to upload it to your library.

 

[Crashumbc]

I want to back my information using a 5-1/4 floppy why won't you guys help me!

 

[hbryder]

AirDroid is useful and I do use it but it's not really a syncing solution.

It is a little disappointing but not very surprising that there are no suggestions. Whenever I have complained here about the poor state of Mac-Android syncing I have been shot down in flames by posters telling me how great Android syncing is but none of these posters has actually been able to make any specific recommendations.

I really like my S4 but I would like it a lot more if I could find a good (or even mediocre) syncing and backup solution.

I understand not wanting to give out your data, however is there something I'm missing regarding the music and photo end of syncing? Does it matter that it's cloud based for those options I'm not seeing the security issues with music, photos maybe. As for documents that are private I understand you not wanting those floating around. Maybe email the developer of some apps that are close to what you want and they might just be willing to put in the work to make it better suited to your needs.(a definite plus for android)I personally feel the good totally outweighs the bad by syncing through google (at least for me, of course I don't have a job where I'm worried about data being compromised)

Truly hope you find something that works for you. I hate seeing people go back to a company that makes billions and doesn't support the blue collar workers in the united states by building a manufacturing plant in the states. Heck even Samsung has plants and headquarters in the us.

 

[lotus49]

the option is there, you just refuse to use it. Google

That does not meet my requirements as I have repeatedly said so your post is not at all helpful.

With Apple, I am not compelled to give Apple all my data if I do not want to and I don't.

 

[lotus49]

I understand not wanting to give out your data, however is there something I'm missing regarding the music and photo end of syncing?

No but it's really a matter of volume and bandwidth in this case. I have more than 80GB of music and well over 1TB of photos. Apart from the time it would take to upload all this stuff, I doubt anyone would give me that much storage space without charging me a fortune for it.

If you don't care about security and privacy, cloud based solutions work very well for relatively small amounts of data eg contacts and calendar but are much less suitable for larger amounts.

I had really been hoping for one solution that did everything I need like iTunes does. It is clear that, despite the bluster from the Google advocates, there is no single desktop syncing solution that will allow me to sync my Mac and my Android phone, which is both frustrating and disappointing.

 

[lotus49]

I too would like a good option that's free..
I guess it's time someone came up with one. Kies has come a long way for certain things, but I'm not sure about all of it.
Why do you not want to sync with google? If you had an apple product you'd have to use iTunes

I'd happily pay but there isn't anything suitable to pay for.

I don't want to hand over all my data to Google. I don't mind that they have some of it but I am increasingly uncomfortable at how much data Google (and presumably the NSA) has and I want to limit what they have.

I also have an iPhone 5 but I don't use iCloud. Using iTunes does not send all my information to Apple so I do not have similar concerns with iTunes on its own.

 

[richs10]

the option is there, you just refuse to use it. Google

I disagree. Sometimes I long for my old Blackberry. RIM had a simple, complete desktop backup program. Just plug the phone into your laptop by USB and you could backup EVERYTHING in a minute or two.......including your apps, bb messages and home page layouts.

IMO, this is an area where both Apple and Android have failed miserably. Yes I can use Google to backup my Gmail, contacts, and, with limited success since Jellybean 4.2, some of my apps. (And the apps that Google automatically chose to "restore" on my new S4 were comical at times). I know that Apps I have previously used (since the beginning of time) are listed in Google Play, but there is no demarcation between recently used apps and ancient ones previously tried and rejected. For SMS/MMS I am required to use a separate program (SMS Backup+), but still haven't found a way to save my home screen layouts.

It seems like this should be a simple task for Android, but as of yet, I haven't found a simple, unified solution. My old Blackberry was not able to do all the things my S4 can do, but when it came to backing up the phone, it excelled.

Rich

 

[hbryder]

No but it's really a matter of volume and bandwidth in this case. I have more than 80GB of music and well over 1TB of photos. Apart from the time it would take to upload all this stuff, I doubt anyone would give me that much storage space without charging me a fortune for it.

If you don't care about security and privacy, cloud based solutions work very well for relatively small amounts of data eg contacts and calendar but are much less suitable for larger amounts.

I had really been hoping for one solution that did everything I need like iTunes does. It is clear that, despite the bluster from the Google advocates, there is no single desktop syncing solution that will allow me to sync my Mac and my Android phone, which is both frustrating and disappointing.

Ok, so it's truly be driving me nuts wanting to help you, so I did a little research and found this??? It's expensive but it's a mac app that doesn't seem to use cloud based transfer and claims to play nice with android

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/syncmate-plus/id423327943?mt=12

 

[kennyidaho]

No but it's really a matter of volume and bandwidth in this case. I have more than 80GB of music and well over 1TB of photos. Apart from the time it would take to upload all this stuff, I doubt anyone would give me that much storage space without charging me a fortune for it.

If you don't care about security and privacy, cloud based solutions work very well for relatively small amounts of data eg contacts and calendar but are much less suitable for larger amounts.

I had really been hoping for one solution that did everything I need like iTunes does. It is clear that, despite the bluster from the Google advocates, there is no single desktop syncing solution that will allow me to sync my Mac and my Android phone, which is both frustrating and disappointing.

Google allows you to upload 20,000 songs I believe regardless of size - for free. The photos is a different story. You're not going to find any service out there that's going to give you 1TB of free storage. If you want to sync certain albums to your phone why not just drag and drop them.

 

[jj14x]

You're not going to find any service out there that's going to give you 1TB of free storage.

Oh! oh! oh! oh! I know the answer to this one... Flickr now gives you 1 TB

 

[ironass]

Been using MyPhoneExplorer for a few years now, to sync PC and phone...

"Features:

Adressbook - with direct sync to Outlook, GMail, Windows contacts, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, Lotus Notes and Tobit David
Organizer with calendarview and direct sync to Outlook, Google, Sunbird, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, Windows calendar(Vista), Rainlendar, Lotus Notes, Tobit David and net shared calendars (WebDAV, FTP, local)
SMS - archive, export, import, excessive messages,...
Filebrowser with cachesystem to minimize datatransfer, automatic photosync...
Set phoneclock based on atomtime
and much more. f.e.: calllists, edit profiles, control phone, memorystatus, phonemonitor,..."

Best of all... it's free!

 

[CrimsonPride]

samsung kies does music and contacts but not calendar. but i dont see why you dont want to use google for your music. i mean, contacts and photos and stuff like that is understandable, but i dont really get music