Help Connect phone running Android 4.4.2 to Google without immediately syncing apps?

[calanan]

I have a Samsung Galaxy Avant running KitKat 4.4.2 with T-Mobile that has been randomly restarting. Per T-Mobile support I've tried wiping the cache partition multiple times, tried a master reset then immediately connected the phone to my Google account, syncing apps, mail, etc. but the phone still randomly restarts...usually on its own in the middle of the night, sometimes when I open certain apps like Google+ Photos. Yesterday I did a master reset but have not connected it to my Google or Samsung accounts, or installed new apps or updated any built-in apps. So far the phone has not restarted and I and the technician think maybe there's a conflict or corruption with one of my apps or even somewhere within my Google account.

When it comes time to link my phone to my Google account, is there any way to do so without allowing the phone so sync any mail, apps, photos, contacts, etc. so that I can try reinstalling things one at a time to find the culprit? The technician I spoke with thinks there's no way to stop Google from syncing apps once I pass on my credentials but I wonder if someone here knows more than he does.

 

[El Presidente]

I'm not sure if it's an option on the Avant (it is on most of the devices I've owned) but head to Settings -> Backup & Reset, there should be options to "Backup My Data" & "Automatic Restore". If you uncheck those, you should be good to go.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Settings- Accounts- Google
Sync can be turned off from there.

 

[calanan]

I'm not sure if it's an option on the Avant (it is on most of the devices I've owned) but head to Settings -> Backup & Reset, there should be options to "Backup My Data" & "Automatic Restore". If you uncheck those, you should be good to go.

Thanks but my Google account is not linked to the phone yet. When I check Settings -> Backup and reset, the option to back up is unchecked and though the Automatic Restore option is greyed out (but appears to be checked by default).

I may be misunderstanding the setting but it seems like if I could uncheck it, once I do link to my Google account and a restore automatically happens all that setting will do is toggle whether or not any app data is restored along with my apps vs just installing my saved apps with their default settings, right?

 

[calanan]

Settings- Accounts- Google
Sync can be turned off from there.

Thanks, to clarify my Google account isn't linked to the phone yet (in fact, no accounts are - see below). I've only linked Android devices to my Google account a couple of times in the past but if I remember correctly as soon as I pass my credentials the device will immediately begin to sync apps, app data, mail, etc. so I may not be able to get into the settings fast enough to turn off sync for Google. What I'm looking for is a way to preemptively disable sync before I enter my credentials.

 

[calanan]

Ahh I figured it out, thanks to a tip I found in another thread at Android Central...I was able to link the phone to my Google account and (so far) only allow it to sync my mail and contacts, then I'll slowly add back other Google products, apps, etc.

How to synchronise selected accounts? - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

Solved. For those interested, you need to have autosync enabled, then you can (un)check individual service/app to sync within each account.

Tip: to keep Google account to sync while configuration, I disabled radios with airplane mode, configured each account, then enabled radios again.