• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Help T-Mobile as "Contact Type"

LunchBB

Android Enthusiast
Jan 20, 2011
570
70
I just noticed, if I enter a new contact through MT4g, it goes to the Contact Type as T-mobile instead of my Gmail account. It is the default account for Contact type. Now that just piss me off. I don't want to sycn another contact list. Does anybody know how to get rid of the Tmobile Contact Type? Or how to set my google account as the default contact account?
 
YOU GOT IT WRONG. there is a Contact type called "SIM". That's all the contact in your sim card. I'm talking about the contact type "T-Mobile"

I hope you don't store all your contact in your SIM like 10 years ago with those dumb phones. If you lost your phone, your lost all your contact. Sych with your google account and you can always have access to your contacts with your computer through Gmail. You can always import and export from there too.
 
Upvote 0
I would never trust google with any information and you would be wise also not to share it as you already have web, email, and god knows how many service cross linked to your account. I guess NSA sure loves Google about now...

Far as the contact goes you can back it up locally on your phone as file or whats wrong with syncing to TMobile? They will keep it and no its not limited to Android only as WM device can still import it and view it. I know this as I saved some contacts from HD2 in TMo then when I got AOSP device I pushed them in MT4G.
 
Upvote 0
It goes the same if you don't trust google to hold your contacts, why you can trust Tmobile?

For contacts store under Tmobile account, I wouldn't be able to access them if I use a phone like Nexus S or Nexus One that I still have, OR if I change to another carrier. Besides, I like to have store all of them in Google contacts.
 
Upvote 0
I never said I trusted TMo but ill take them over Google any day. TMo is legal US carrier and Google makes money how? lol who do you think they feeding your info to? All your crosslinked data email, gps, contact, web, god knows how many more.

This is what I do I keep my data locally for example all contacts in file saved that is the best and easiest way to import and transfer.
 
Upvote 0
All companies sell personal data to marketing companies unless you opt-out. It won't make you any safer by saving contacts to tmobile than having them in Google. It's also the user's responsibility to limit what you put out there. I always turn off phone GPS to avoid geo-tagging.

Saving it locally is a good offline backup. But you have to manually update them from time to time. When I switched from Nexus One to MT4G, I don't have to do anything and all updated contacts are sync'ed over-the-air automatically. Saving locally won't be the best way and certainly not the easiest way to import and transfer.

Back to the original topic, I wish they allow me to set the default contact type other than "T-mobile". If I changed the contact type after a contact is stored, I know for sure, it will throw away the first name and last name information. ERRRR
 
Upvote 0
TakyBB, you ask one of the questions I have yet to get answered about this phone. I don't like the T-Mobile only option. I have resorted to making sure I select "google" when I create a contact, until I can learn how to set the default to google. I would prefer to have all my contacts saved as google.

As far as web security, safety, privacy, etc...(t-mobile vs. google), let's not kid ourselves. The days of private information are over. Unless you use cash only, don't pay taxes, don't post on web forums, don't own a cellphone,and live in unmapped forests, your ass is recorded. You can't have your cake and eat it too. T-mobile = google= microsoft = facebook=irs=cia=www=yo mamma.

so...let's stick to the topic. how do we set the default contact to google??
 
Upvote 0
I agreed with you. We live in a digital world that everything is now electronically traceable. It's been always like that dacades ago, when you fill in a registration card buying an appliance, they asked about your age range, income range, shopping preferences, do you own a dog/cat, do you have a CD player.. ....

So it's our turn to protect ourself. If you decide to post your home address on facebook then tweet your whole family is going to a month long vacation. Surprise surprise for the house broke-in.

Watch the news about the danger of posting pictures online, i.e geotagging.
Geo-Tagging: The Dangers Of Posting Pictures Online CBS New York

Yeah it's off topic.. but it's healthy discussion. The more we talk about, the more we are aware of this kind of thing =)

So back to the original topic.. hehe.. I did the same. .everytime I create a new contact, I have to scroll back to the top to change the contact type from T-mobile back to Google. I tried to remove that Tmobile account. It won't let me saying I need to do a factory reset to remove such account. :(
 
Upvote 0
So back to the original topic.. hehe.. I did the same. .everytime I create a new contact, I have to scroll back to the top to change the contact type from T-mobile back to Google. I tried to remove that Tmobile account. It won't let me saying I need to do a factory reset to remove such account. :(

Isn't it clever how they don't show you the contact type unless you scroll back to the top? I guess it's T-mobile's way of trying to be like google...ha! Imagine that?
 
Upvote 0
yes, this feature is annoying. i added a contact today and when i selected save as gmail contact, it deleted the name. what's up with this?
and, the other bug in this phone where every MMS multimedia picture message comes in as a slide show.
i like the HTC sense, but you also cannot copy and past a phone number from an email and paste it into the phone dialer.
one of the troubles with Android is that there are so many versions, when these bugs crop up, they are sometimes never fixed!
 
Upvote 0
How to set google as default account for contacts you want to save


Please read this instruction carefully and be sure that you saved all your contacts with your google account. uncheck in the sync menu all accounts (Qik, Exchange etc) except your main google account.

1) On the web, make sure ALL your contacts are in your Google.com contacts.
2) On your phone, make sure sync with T-Mobile is UNCHECKED and that ONLY Google sync IS checked.
3) Go to Settings/Applications/Manage Applications and choose the Running tab.
4) Scroll and choose Contacts Storage.
5) Select Clear Data - WARNING- THIS WILL ERASE ALL CONTACTS DATA FROM YOUR PHONE. DON'T WORRY. IT WILL SYNC BACK.
6) Go into Contacts. Hit Menu/View. Make sure that T-mobile (and any other accounts you don't want to display) is UNCHECKED.
7) Go back to Accounts & Sync and make sure Google is syncing ant that T-Mobile remains deselected.

You should be good to go when it comes to Google being the default contact entry. If you had contacts linked with Facebook, Twitter or otherwise, you will have to now let those sync and auto-link again. It's worth the trouble, though. Good luck.
 
Upvote 0
Just followed your steps and did it.. however, when I add a new contact, the default contact type is still T-Mobile...errrr

Are there two different apps that manage contacts on the MT4G (I don't have the phone, but planning to get one for gf)? If T-Mobile's contacts are managed by a separate app, hopefully you can "Clear defaults" on that app.

If not, then I think I will just root and replace the Contact app (assuming it works, if not, then install custom ROM).
 
Upvote 0
I had this same freaki problem and it made me nuts. The problem was, my phone would not sync to google cause all my contacts were being saved to that freakin tmobile setting.

If you sign into your tmobile acct...you will noticed there is NO export...thats right...NO export.

So what you have to do is just make sure everytime you make a new contact that you first change it to google then add the name and then add the rest...otherwise if you add the name first and then switch to google it will earse the name.

Also...one good part, if you flash to the stable CM7 rom...the default contact setting is google...Grrreattt!


Hope this maybe helped,
BK
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones