HTC Sync...Very Basic and poor second to Nokia

[riverboat2001]

Coming from an N97 and the excellent Nokia PCSuite, i was quite shocked by how poor and basic the HTC program is.

On the Nokia side of things i could manage my phone and see the changes reflected almost immediately in my phone. Including contacts, and most importantly my calendar.

I use Thunderbird and Lightening on my pc (mozilla email and calendar programs) and so far haven't managed to get them to sync with the htc program.

 

[nx1977]

You can use Google's sync app to sync between Thunderbird and Google, which will then sync with the phone (providing you've enabled it on the phone).

Although the Nokia suite or Ovi was quite powerful, it was also bloated and always giving me crap.

I'll agree the HTC app is very basic, but now worse than Nokia's first suite! (which I remember well). I'm sure HTC will develop it now they've become so popular and mainstream

 

[RobDickson]

The problem with using Gmail to sync contacts is that Gmail stores "name" instead of "firstname" and "surname" as separate fields. I agree that the HTC Sync program needs a lot of improvement to get where Palm was 10 years ago.

 

[Deleted User]

Coming from an N97 and the excellent Nokia PCSuite, i was quite shocked by how poor and basic the HTC program is.

Yep, I came from Sony Ericsson and their PC suite lets me explore the phone, write SMS, edit my contacts, sync them with Outlook, backup pretty much everything, tether to the internet and probably other things that I didn't need. I could do all of this via USB or bluetooth too.

HTC sync is a joke in comparison, especially as it doesn't even install properly. I uninstalled it and only use Google via Soocial now and it works great. The only thing I miss really is the ability to write SMSs. I tried PDAnet but that limits you to 160 characters.

 

[Si Pie]

HTC sync does what I want - namely sync up my calendar in Lotus Notes. My contacts are backed up on the SD card and on Google.

You can tether using internet sharing option when you plug in the USB cable. It works vary well, much better than SE PC suite ever did over a VPN.

 

[Deleted User]

HTC sync does what I want - namely sync up my calendar in Lotus Notes. My contacts are backed up on the SD card and on Google.

You can tether using internet sharing option when you plug in the USB cable. It works vary well, much better than SE PC suite ever did over a VPN.

Yep I can tether with ease but I wouldn't say it's better than with the SE suite, I clicked a button and I connected. It was better for me as at the time I had a poor signal so I could leave my phone by the window whilst my laptop was on my desk. Not the fastest connection but it was impossible via USB.

 

[Si Pie]

I'm just sharing my experience. Quite frankly I found it more of a hassle to have to call up the connection every time in Windows/SE PC Suite, that and the fact it didn't like connections to VPNs for some reason it would work sometimes and not others.

All SE PC Suite did was setup a new connection in windows and then connect to that on request. Meaning it was completely unnecessary to have the software open and slowing down my computer.

But yeah, it lacks a lot of functions.

 

[Deleted User]

All SE PC Suite did was setup a new connection in windows and then connect to that on request. Meaning it was completely unnecessary to have the software open and slowing down my computer.

Originally I just set up the connection using Windows connection wizard but then I installed the suite and the button was there anyway. It didn't affect my computer's performance in the slightest.

 

[lekky]

The problem with using Gmail to sync contacts is that Gmail stores "name" instead of "firstname" and "surname" as separate fields. I agree that the HTC Sync program needs a lot of improvement to get where Palm was 10 years ago.

Exactly, 10 years in the future and I don't see the need to attach my phone to my PC at all. You guys should consider managing your contacts/calendar/etc via google. Seamless syncing is the future.

 

[RobDickson]

I agree. When Google replaces the "name" field with "first name" and "surname" I won't want to connect my phone to my PC.

I also want to synchronise tasks and notes (as I could with my Palm m500), but this isn't supported by Google, HTC Sync, or the HTC Desire yet. There is a program that synchronises notes with Google Docs and tasks with calendar, but it's not ideal.

 

[lekky]

You'll be pushed to find a better notes/todo app than shuffle.

 

[Ghâshûl]

Haven't tried shuffle, but I love Astrid for my to-do/shopping list.

 

[brykins]

You guys should consider managing your contacts/calendar/etc via google. Seamless syncing is the future.

I'll re-consider when (a) the calendar has some basic things like copy and paste to duplicate an entry when online and (b) when they come up with a working sync to desktop Outlook. I want to use Outlook to manage my email - NOT use Gmail. But if I store my contacts on Google, then they are not there to email from in Outlook. Unless I keep ANOTHER set of contacts there.

Google do not seem to realise that a HUGE number of people want to use desktop apps and NOT cloud apps.

 

[Deleted User]

I'll re-consider when (a) the calendar has some basic things like copy and paste to duplicate an entry when online and (b) when they come up with a working sync to desktop Outlook. I want to use Outlook to manage my email - NOT use Gmail. But if I store my contacts on Google, then they are not there to email from in Outlook. Unless I keep ANOTHER set of contacts there.

Google do not seem to realise that a HUGE number of people want to use desktop apps and NOT cloud apps.

In what way does the calender sync not work for you?

I use Outlook for my calendar and emails then sync via Google to my phone. Works great!

 

[lekky]

I'll re-consider when (a) the calendar has some basic things like copy and paste to duplicate an entry when online and (b) when they come up with a working sync to desktop Outlook. I want to use Outlook to manage my email - NOT use Gmail. But if I store my contacts on Google, then they are not there to email from in Outlook. Unless I keep ANOTHER set of contacts there.

Google do not seem to realise that a HUGE number of people want to use desktop apps and NOT cloud apps.

ok well.

a)
Google calendar has the ability to duplicate calendar events when online on your PC, it also has the ability to duplicate calendar events when offline on your pc.

b) Because of the above and everything else i've been saying this "feature" isn't required at all!

And all your contacts are automatically available on your phone, and on your PC when offline and online with google mail.

 

[RobDickson]

I understand why people want to synchronise Outlook calendar with Google Calendar. From what I can see, the Google tool does this fine.

Synchronising contacts between Outlook and Gmail is not possible unless you pay. Even then, as I've said before, it's not a full synch, because Google doesn't store "firstname" and "surname" as separate fields.

Maybe I'm being too picky, but there are many other people who think that separate fields are needed.

PS: Thanks for the suggestions. I'll have a look at Shuffle and Astrid when I have time.

 

[brykins]

In what way does the calender sync not work for you?

I use Outlook for my calendar and emails then sync via Google to my phone. Works great!

I don't understand how you are syncing your Outlook to Google. Do you use the downloadable Google Sync software? I found that simply didn't work for me. Wouldn't sync anything at all.

 

[brykins]

Google calendar has the ability to duplicate calendar events when online on your PC, it also has the ability to duplicate calendar events when offline on your pc.

I have no idea what you mean by "offline on your pc", but although there is a duplicate option in Google Calendar, it is simply so much more hassle than ctrl-c and ctrl-v in Outlook. Desktop apps like Outlook have been developed for years and years and have so many more features and customisation options than Google's online version, it's like stepping back to Win95 and Sidekick.

b) Because of the above and everything else i've been saying this "feature" isn't required at all!

And all your contacts are automatically available on your phone, and on your PC when offline and online with google mail.

Again, I don't know what you mean by "offline". As I understand it, I go to mail.google.com to access email using Gmail (well - I don't, I use IMAP in Outlook) and access calendar and contacts online there as well.

 

[Deleted User]

I don't understand how you are syncing your Outlook to Google. Do you use the downloadable Google Sync software? I found that simply didn't work for me. Wouldn't sync anything at all.

I'm using the sync software yes and it works just fine.

I don't actually use google to access the calender or mail, I just use the phone and Outlook and the rest is done in the background.

 

[lekky]

I have no idea what you mean by "offline on your pc", but although there is a duplicate option in Google Calendar, it is simply so much more hassle than ctrl-c and ctrl-v in Outlook. Desktop apps like Outlook have been developed for years and years and have so many more features and customisation options than Google's online version, it's like stepping back to Win95 and Sidekick.



Again, I don't know what you mean by "offline". As I understand it, I go to mail.google.com to access email using Gmail (well - I don't, I use IMAP in Outlook) and access calendar and contacts online there as well.

You don't have to be online to use access the content stored on either.

I guess its just whatever you prefer, but in my view having to use an app on one PC is a step back in time. I use multiple PCs and laptops, and so having access to my email and calendar only if i installed some software on each one would be a major hassle, and definitely a step back to the stone age.

Having full access to both on any device I happen to be using is more like the future that I want to live in

 

[Deleted User]

Hmm I hadn't thought of the future uses of the set-up Lekky. I live apart from my partner so we could set up a joint calendar which we both access and edit

 

[Si Pie]

Just out of curiosity, why are separate name fields so important? I'm just wondering, genuine question.

 

[lekky]

Hmm I hadn't thought of the future uses of the set-up Lekky. I live apart from my partner so we could set up a joint calendar which we both access and edit

Brilliant idea, one of my friends has a gmail calendar exactly for this reason. Both he and his gf have access to the calendar, can add/edit events and the changes are automatically synced to both 0f their calendars, available on their phones and on PC instantly. One of the beauty's of the multi calendar system google calendar uses.

 

[stringent]

I also like having a physical backup file on my PC which backs up everything, from contacts, to calendar, to messages. I loke the Nokia suite in terms of management as well. Yes HTC Sync does do basic things, but there are some things I like to keep separate.

 

[lekky]

I also like having a physical backup file on my PC which backs up everything, from contacts, to calendar, to messages. I loke the Nokia suite in terms of management as well. Yes HTC Sync does do basic things, but there are some things I like to keep separate.

Seriously though, doing your method only backs up things when you physically connect your phone to your PC and then do a backup right?

My method backs up as soon as there is a change made.

So take this example, tuesday night you do a backup, wednesday morning we meet a few new business contacts, enter their contact details in our phone and arrange a couple of meetings later in the week to speak to them.

Wednesday evening we go out to celebrate, and lose our phones in the process.

Now you have lost the name, contact details and meetings that you made with these people, I haven't.


You guys are going to have to help me to understand why manually plugging my phone into my PC and performing a backup is better than an instant sync to the cloud as soon as something new is added, because I really cannot understand!