Question re. synching

[Lord Vader]

New EVO user here and had a synching question...

I autosync obviously and was wondering: where or how do I find my contacts and other synched info on my gmail account? Is there something I need to do to find all my synched info?

One reason I ask is because it looks like I might have to replace my 3-week-old EVO with a new one due to a defect it looks like it may have, and I want to make sure I know how to back up everything then reinstall to the new EVO.

 

[Vincent Law]

If all your contacts are synced to Google Contacts, it should restore it all for you when you log into your Google Account on your new EVO. Thus is the purpose.

That said, you should find them online by going to your GMail account, and on the left under Mail should be contacts.

 

[Mr. Ed]

Find it where?

When you turn in the phone sync it just prior. Once you receive the new phone you will enter your gmail address and password and sync it and it will retrieve your gmail contacts.

remember this works only for gmail contacts. if you have any contacts saved as "phone" contacts they will not be synced. they will need to be exported and imported to the new phone, or to gmail from a desktop

my thought is that you want to verify all of your gmail contacts have been backed up successfully

log into your gmail at a desktop or laptop and look at the left side of the page just below mail. click on contacts

 

[Lord Vader]

Find it where?

When you turn in the phone sync it just prior. Once you receive the new phone you will enter your gmail address and password and sync it and it will retrieve your gmail contacts.

remember this works only for gmail contacts. if you have any contacts saved as "phone" contacts they will not be synced. they will need to be exported and imported to the new phone, or to gmail from a desktop

my thought is that you want to verify all of your gmail contacts have been backed up successfully

log into your gmail at a desktop or laptop and look at the left side of the page just below mail. click on contacts

Good point about this only working for gmail contacts. Because 99% of my contacts are not gmail, I'll have to back them up myself then.

This brings me to another question: what about all my current settings, apps (paid and free ones), etc. One thing I admit I did like about BlackBerrys is that when one changed phones, the backup restore was extremely simple via BB Desktop Manager.

 

[Vincent Law]

There are apps on the market that can help you with backing up, like Titanium Backup.

 

[Lord Vader]

OK, thanks. I'll check that out. BTW, I noticed that that app states "needs ROOT." Does that mean I have to root the phone in order to use the app?

 

[drexappeal]

Have you tried the OEM HTC Sync yet? That may be enough for your needs.

If you don't back your contacts up to your Gmail Account, then you'll have to try one of the backup programs that have been talked about on this forum (if you don't use HTC Sync).

I've never used any of them, so couldn't really give you advice on what's best for you.

 

[Lord Vader]

Have you tried the OEM HTC Sync yet? That may be enough for your needs.

Is that pretty much like the BlackBerry Desktop Manager program? I believe I have it on my PC.

 

[drexappeal]

Is that pretty much like the BlackBerry Desktop Manager program? I believe I have it on my PC.

Never had a Blackberry, so couldn't tell you if it's the same...but...it basically links to your Desktop/PC Outlook and Syncs your Contacts and Calendar in outlook to your phone. You can set it to sync whichever fulfills your needs, but it works pretty decently when I tried it. I just found Google to be more convenient. This is a hardwire Sync, btw.

If you try this, be sure you make sure that you have the most up to date version of HTC Sync and be sure to install the original version first, prior to installing the updates.

If you hadn't already downloaded it, you can get the most updated version of HTC Sync here:
http://shop.sprint.com/en/software_downloads/pda_smartphone/htc_evo.shtml

Again, be sure you install the original version first, prior to the one in the link above.

 

[Lord Vader]

Well, I don't use Outlook at all on my PC, so synching to that won't help.

 

[drexappeal]

Well, I don't use Outlook at all on my PC, so synching to that won't help.

How did you get all of your contacts onto your phone originally? Did Sprint transfer them from your Blackberry?

 

[Lord Vader]

Yeah, they just stuck both phones into two sides of some nifty machine and voila! My BB Tour's SMS messages, contacts, and everything else transferred. That's what I'm sure I'll do anyway if I return this phone, but I was just inquiring about something similar to use at home.

 

[drexappeal]

Yeah, they just stuck both phones into two sides of some nifty machine and voila! My BB Tour's SMS messages, contacts, and everything else transferred. That's what I'm sure I'll do anyway if I return this phone, but I was just inquiring about something similar to use at home.

I see now. Well, those are pretty much your options (e.g. 1) Sync OTA w/ Google Contacts, 2) Sync with HTC Sync using USB and Outlook, 3) Sync using Contacts backup app from 3rd party).

Quite honestly, the easiest one would be to Sync with Google. Just log into your account on your phone, make sure that Sync Contacts is clicked for your Google account, and you're done. To be safe, just log onto your Google account to make sure that all your contacts backed up properly.

 

[Lord Vader]

Well, that might be easy, but considering that 99% of my contacts are not gmail, what good would that really do?

 

[drexappeal]

Well, that might be easy, but considering that 99% of my contacts are not gmail, what good would that really do?

They're in your phone currently correct? And you do have a gmail account correct?

If both apply, couldn't you just go into your account settings (on your phone), click "Sync Contacts" and won't it transfer those contacts to your Gmail account?

I could be wrong because I've never done a reverse sync (from phone to Gmail contacts), but I would hope that you'd be able to sync your contacts from your phone to Gmail contacts, just as you would vice versa.

In fact, I've added contacts directly to my phone before and it sync'd up fine with my gmail contacts.

Maybe I'm missing something. Are you saying that you don't have a gmail account?

 

[Lord Vader]

Yes, I have a gmail account. Yes, I've selected "sync contacts," but the only ones it transfers are the gmail contacts. Of my 200+ contacts, perhaps 4 or 5 are gmail ones. All others are not. Only those 4 or 5 transfer.

 

[drexappeal]

Yes, I have a gmail account. Yes, I've selected "sync contacts," but the only ones it transfers are the gmail contacts. Of my 200+ contacts, perhaps 4 or 5 are gmail ones. All others are not. Only those 4 or 5 transfer.

Try this app

UiA - Backup Contacts - Android app on AppBrain

Apparently, that'll allow you to export your contacts to the SD card. From there, I'm thinking you can take the csv file and import it into google contacts.

 

[Lord Vader]

Ok, downloaded that app. Seems like a pretty cool one. I'll check it out and report back.

What's amazing is that I'm pretty adept at technology and gadgets, but now that I've made the jump from BlackBerrys to an EVO and use Android, I feel like an idiot trying to learn a new language.

 

[Lord Vader]

So far it looks just like what I was seeking. Thanks!

 

[drexappeal]

Ok, downloaded that app. Seems like a pretty cool one. I'll check it out and report back.

What's amazing is that I'm pretty adept at technology and gadgets, but now that I've made the jump from BlackBerrys to an EVO and use Android, I feel like an idiot trying to learn a new language.

ROFLMAO...Don't worry. I was in the same boat when I moved over from Windows Mobile. Even though there were some similarities (and probably more than your moving from Blackberry), it was still a 'bit of a learning curve.

 

[drexappeal]

So far it looks just like what I was seeking. Thanks!

Glad it seems like it'll work for you. Don't hesitate to hit the Thanks button

 

[Lord Vader]

Done. Now I just have to figure out why my gmail account isn't pushing Emails from my hotmail and comcast accounts anymore. When I set up my gmail account to push Emails from those accounts, so I wouldn't have to wait the "X" number of minutes for the Emails to download, it worked great for a while, but then it stopped doing it.

 

[Mr. Ed]

Done. Now I just have to figure out why my gmail account isn't pushing Emails from my hotmail and comcast accounts anymore. When I set up my gmail account to push Emails from those accounts, so I wouldn't have to wait the "X" number of minutes for the Emails to download, it worked great for a while, but then it stopped doing it.

pretty sure this is a gmail issue there are two threads related to gmail sync issues on the trouble shooting page.

for the future reference...you can also export your phone contacts by going to people.menu.import/export.export to sd card.... you can then import them on gmail on the desktop

there is no reason to use an app to export the contacts to an sd card (unless said app is giving you more features)

for back up look into mybackup...as titanium does require root.

drex...phone contactsand facebook contacts do not sync to gmail only contacts labeled gmail sync...and currently there is not a way to change just that label ...alot of people have learned that the hard way (manually entering 100's of contacts and then trying to sync and being all wtf where are they)

 

[Lord Vader]

I'm not looking to get into the root mess at this time, so Titanium won't work.

 

[drexappeal]

drex...phone contactsand facebook contacts do not sync to gmail only contacts labeled gmail sync...and currently there is not a way to change just that label ...alot of people have learned that the hard way (manually entering 100's of contacts and then trying to sync and being all wtf where are they)

thanks for clarifying that. I imported my contacts from Outlook to Gmail, prior to getting my phone, so I wasn't quite sure if it did or not.

I also didn't know that you could import/export your contacts onto the SD card without using an app, so thanks for that information! Even though I have all of my important contacts in my gmail account, there are some contacts from Facebook that I probably should save as well (but don't want on my gmail account), so I'll likely sync up my Facebook contacts to the phone, save on the SD card and then un-sync the Facebook contacts. I was always a little worried that if I sync'd up my Facebook contacts that they'd also sync up with Gmail, but I guess this answers it.