Nokia 1 Contacts cannot save to SIM

[meridius]

I have noticed this now as a major oversight.

I cannot save or read contacts to SIM but only to 'Device' in Nokia 1. I was hoping to keep this as an offline phone. Are there any reliable free apps on Google Play that I can download and can save and read contacts to and from the SIM?

 

[Hadron]

Reading contacts from a SIM is usually possible. Have you looked at the "import" options in your contacts app?

Writing contacts to the SIM has been deprecated in many phones for some time now (you could check the "export" options, but I don't hold out much hope). I doubt that an app can help if the operating system doesn't support it.

I don't understand the significance of keeping it as "an offline phone" here: surely if it's offline the SIM is no use, but contacts on the phone are? Maybe I'm missing something. In any case you can move contacts between phones without them being on the SIM: either sync them through your Google account of export them from the contacts app, copy the vcard file (.vcf) to another device and then import tham from that.

SIM contacts are very limited (one name = one number, though phone software might disguise that from you), which is one reason smartphones have always favoured device or synced contacts. And I've suffered a couple of SIM failures so personally don't use SIM contacts even as a backup these days.

 

[meridius]

By offline I mean no mobile data but not not connected for phone calls.

I never had any failures with saving contacts on SIM but this may have been a question of luck.

But if you save your contacts on 'Device' and not in your Google account or anywhere else you've had it if you lose your phone or it is damaged.

I'll check all the rest on my phone later this evening...

 

[Hadron]

Well if you lose your phone you lose your SIM, so that offers no protection in that scenario. And it's not saving contacts to SIMs I've had fail, it's the SIM card itself.

Turning mobile data off has no effect on the availability of your contacts, wherever you store them. Even Google contacts are only synced with Google, they are stored on the phone and so available when disconnected from the internet. So the only advantage to storing contacts on a SIM that I can see is that it's quicker to move contacts you don't want to sync with Google to a new phone, but there are several other ways of doing that.

If you want to back up contacts and don't want to sync them with Google then you should export them (from the contacts app's settings) and save the .vcf file somewhere that isn't on the phone. Even with Google sync I do this occasionally, as I don't want to rely on some corporation to keep my data safe.

 

[meridius]

Yes agreed. If you lose your phone you lose your SIM unless you are lucky to lose it to someone honest enough to try and contact you.

I now exported my contacts as a .vcf file to the SD card. I am not sure how to view this file either on the phone or in Windows. On the phone it only gives an option to import or cancel. This process may be a manual backup but at least it is something.

This phone is quite new to me but I'm not sure how to view the SD card files through 'Files Go'. It only seems to work through the SD card when I scroll down from the top screen and go to explore.

Changing the subject the main reason I bought this phone was to have a small phone for travel. This summer I just wasn't prepared for all the phone problems related to different 2G frequencies in South America. I will only be using this phone for calls. Some countries in the world have shut off 2G so is it wise to keep the preferred network type to 3G? Also are there big savings on battery power just having 2G on? Are 2G or 3G calls clearer? I don't need 4G at the moment as the network is relatively new and weak in many areas where I live.

 

[mikedt]

Yes agreed. If you lose your phone you lose your SIM unless you are lucky to lose it to someone honest enough to try and contact you.

I now exported my contacts as a .vcf file to the SD card. I am not sure how to view this file either on the phone or in Windows. On the phone it only gives an option to import or cancel. This process may be a manual backup but at least it is something.

FYI you can import, view, edit, and export your VCF contacts file with Outlook. On the phone can use the contacts app.

 

[Hadron]

Yes, you can import a vcf into pretty much any contact management tool (you can also read them with a text editor, though they aren't formatted for ease of reading).

You need to copy it off the SD card though. That also gets lost if you lose the phone.

There are only 4 2G GSM bands and every current phone supports them all, so your only concern is countries without 2G. In terms of call quality I doubt you will notice any difference between 2G & 3G (3G has more bandwidth so can support higher quality, if the network bothers, but in practice I don't think it makes a huge difference). Signal strength will matter more for battery life than 2G vs 3G - 3G is probably slightly more efficient but usually uses higher frequencies and so 2G may have better coverage in weak areas. Unless the network supports voice over lte 4G won't be useful for voice usage anyway.

 

[meridius]

Sorry I never got an email with your reply...

I can occasionally copy my SD Card externally so at least there is a backup of contacts outside the phone.

Can Notepad read vcf files?

I noticed that Australia has switched off 2G completely. I am not sure where this is going because this may mean that 3G gets switched off further down the line and then we will be using 4G or 5G when it comes out. My understanding is that 4G has been optimised for data rather than calls (correct?).

In my main Samsung Galaxy phone the options are LTE/WCDMA/GSM, WCDMA/GSM, WCDMA only & GSM only. There is no option for LTE only... So I guess this means LTE for data (max strength) and WCDMA for calls (max strength). I don't know if my other phone is Voice Over LTE or just LTE.

 

[Deleted User]

Or you can use root to back up via sdcard

 

[Hadron]

I guess you mean you didn't get a notification (I don't send emails, and I don't allow any forum to send me notification emails either).

I'd just leave it as lte/wcdma/GSM. If there's no GSM it will just use the others. LTE is primarily data, and many networks don't support voice over LTE at all. I'd not worry about 3G being turned off as well for some time.

Notepad is a Windows text editor, right? (I rarely use Windows). It should be able to to open a vcard file, though as I say they aren't formatted for easy readability. You might find importing into Outlook more convenient.

 

[Hadron]

Or you can use root to back up via sdcard

Why though? The contacts app can export them, and any number of non-root backup apps can as well (it's not as if it's hard, the app just needs the permission to read and write contacts), so this is something that just doesn't need root.

 

[meridius]

Thanks for all this information. Two months travelling around South America with the wrong phone GSM band and other configuratons got me deeper into investigating what I should do if my phone were stolen. I'm not sure what you can do if your phone and SIM is stolen when you are overseas as you probably need to wait until you get back home for a replacement SIM.

Maybe one day this will change and we will become SIM free.

 

[Hadron]

The SIM is just a device that links the phone to the account. It's actually a lot more flexible than the alternative cellular technologies that didn't use one (a handful of CDMA networks being the only survivors of those), since for those you had to get the carrier to register the handset rather than just swap SIM, giving them more control over what phone you could use (often meaning only phones you bought from them). Be careful what you wish for .

Some modern handsets do contain an "eSIM" now (embedded SIM), which in principle can be switched over the air to a different carrier. But few carriers worldwide support this so far, and whether any would be willing to enable one in a new phone in a different country, or even able to do so if they wanted, I have no idea.

 

[meridius]

We have moved quite a long way from when I first started using mobile phones in the 90s!

 

[Deleted User]

Why though? The contacts app can export them, and any number of non-root backup apps can as well (it's not as if it's hard, the app just needs the permission to read and write contacts), so this is something that just doesn't need root.

Well this only applies i think how android is setup by the manufacture some devices dont include a back up for contacts many do.


You could also setup a "Google Voice" accoujt and all your contacts will be backed up on their in case you need them to be restored

 

[meridius]

I have actually been disabling the maximum amount of Google apps so I just make calls, send sms and back up manually. I originally wanted a classic phone that could travel well but I couldn't find the right model here.

 

[meridius]

N.B. This phone is intended for non mobile data use only.

 

[Deleted User]

You can ebable contacts sync with your google account

 

[Hadron]

Well this only applies i think how android is setup by the manufacture some devices dont include a back up for contacts many do.


You could also setup a "Google Voice" accoujt and all your contacts will be backed up on their in case you need them to be restored

I've never met one that doesn't have the "export" option. And if the contacts app didn't have it you could just install a different one that has, or use a non-root backup app like MyBackup. That was my point, that contacts are one of the things you do not need root to back up.

I think the OP is not wanting to give Google access, otherwise they could just sync with Google anyway. Google Voice is also only available in the US and Canada, so not an option for most people.

 

[meridius]

Absolutely right. I didn't set up a Google account with this phone. Exporting from Contacts is no problem.