Contacts from Palm Pre

[dgeezer]

I just pre-ordered the EVO yesterday. Since this is at Radio Shack, I am assuming that they won't be able to transfer the contacts from me pre to the EVO. Is this correct?

I decided to go ahead and fix all my contacts on gmail anyway just in case. This gives me something to do while waiting for my EVO.... Will the Evo import all my contacts when I log into my gmail account and set it as my main sync account?

What I am doing is this:
1. I installed the 'contacts to email' patch using preware and exported all my contacts as a vcard file. This is probably a good idea anyway. I don't completely trust "cloud" storage.
2. I sent myself the email and then imported this vcard file into gmail contacts. This resulted in about 350 contacts in gmail. I'm now working through them doing edits and combining duplicates.

Is this the best way to prepare my contacts for the EVO?

 

[Aragorn]

Yeah, that's perfect. Once your contacts are in Google Contacts you're done. Android is tightly coupled with Google's online services so Google Contacts is where all of your phone's contacts are stored. You'll be able to sync those up with your phone during initial setup.

 

[dgeezer]

Great. I feel much more comfortable being able to see my contacts all in one place. The pre does a good job of pulling in contacts from different places ie. Facebook Gmail etc. but I never felt like there was a good way to edit or backup my contacts.

Hopefully, any edits or additions I do on the phone will show up in gmail.

 

[GeneralPatton]

I will be headed to the Sprint Store probably a few days after release to have to them transfer my contacts, if I don't do it myself the long and time consuming way on the 4th.

 

[dandm4life]

I would make sure the backup to google worked. No matter what i tried my pre would never sync right. If it does not work right, then there is a homebrew app that allows you to save all of your contacts to a vcard, which can be imported to google contacts.

 

[dmac250]

my pre as well....have most on my contacts on my gmail with cell numbers...but if you still have your pre and dont have preware download it...theres a app on there to send ur contacts to your email address..i did that as a backup as well.

 

[dgeezer]

I would make sure the backup to google worked. No matter what i tried my pre would never sync right. If it does not work right, then there is a homebrew app that allows you to save all of your contacts to a vcard, which can be imported to google contacts.

That's right. It doesn't work at all. It seems to be a one way sync ie gmail to pre but not pre to gmail.
I added this patch Send Contacts via Email - PreCentral Forums to my pre which does just what it says, creates a vcard file of all the contacts on your phone and then sends them to an email address.

I imported this file into my gmail contacts app and merged the phone contacts with my gmail contacts.

 

[djdisturbed]

That's right. It doesn't work at all. It seems to be a one way sync ie gmail to pre but not pre to gmail.
I added this patch Send Contacts via Email - PreCentral Forums to my pre which does just what it says, creates a vcard file of all the contacts on your phone and then sends them to an email address.

I imported this file into my gmail contacts app and merged the phone contacts with my gmail contacts.

No its a 2 way sync, BUT you cant sync contacts stored in your palm profile to the gmail profile, but it you create it in your gmail profile on your phone originally, it will sync up to gmail.

 

[dgeezer]

True. I think the contacts that never synced were the old ones that were transferred from my old phone to my pre at the sprint store. I probably had a hundred or so phone numbers that were on the pre, but weren't in my gmail contacts.

 

[neodorian]

Yeah, I think the point was to pull down your contacts from Gmail and Exchange and Facebook on first setup, then it will keep it in sync. After that, any time I add a contact to my phone, it gives me the option of either an Exchange, Google, or Palm Profile contact. I just use Google if it's a personal contact and Exchange if it is for work. I never use the Palm Profile.

All "the cloud" means is that a service like Google or Exchange keeps your contacts on a server someplace so any device can be synced and updated easily and you will never be without the latest version of contacts, calendar, or mail as long as you have an internet connection. Makes switching phones or flashing new ROMs a lot easier since you don't need to do much besides enter your credentials and wait a few minutes for sync.

 

[ayman86]

thanks for the patch. i just did that on my pre and sent it to an email address and fixed up it up. it will be ready to deploy when i get the evo