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I'm a wannabe WinMo convert, and my new Droid X will arrive later today. As I surf the web trying to be as ready as possible for the transition, I'm struck by the fact that Android doesn't sync directly with Outlook. And to shortcut the immediate responses, I will never want to sync my personal & private info with "The Cloud" for all the world of hackers to see. The number of times (just within the past year alone) that we've all seen news reports of some supposedly secure Big Brother company having its servers hacked and its users' personal info stolen, means that cloud sync is not now - and may well never really be - a secure option.
From what I can gather from several hours of scouring the reviews, the cobbled-together 3rd-party apps that attempt to allow one to sync an Android phone directly to one's own computer - either via WiFi, BT or a USB cable - all fall short in some critical way or other, such as not including all of Outlook's data fields for a Contact. The data never appears on the phone, and when syncing back to the PC, those particular fields get erased on the PC too! So there's only limited success with "The Missing Sync" & "CompanionLink." (And Android-Sync is still a pre-alpha.)
This leads to the question. What desktop PIM software do you all use --- BESIDES Outlook?
Thanks!
Why don't you directly sync your X with the exchange server you're connected to with Outlook?
onelifexv said:
Why don't you directly sync your X with the exchange server you're connected to with Outlook?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He didn't indicate he had an exchange server. Just Outlook on his desktop.
Mason,
As much as I agree with your privacy arguments (and believe me, my friends and associates argue about this all the time), I just don't think Android is going to be fully functional for you if don't "let it go" and put those contacts on your google account.
I went through this when Droid 1 Launched. I had all of my data on my exchange server, and refused to move it to Google. Android 2.01 worked with exchange, but just barely. The whole process frustrated me, and I ended up taking the phone back and getting a TouchPro2.
Since then, I've given in and begun migrating my company info over to Google Apps. I still have my exchange server in the meantime, but all of my mail, etc is going through Google Apps for Domains. This time around, with Droid X, my sync experience is working a lot better.
I know that's not what you want to hear. But if your not willing to put your data in Google's hands (and I don't really blame you for not wanting to), then take the phone back and wait for the new Win Phone 7 devices.
Thanks for your replies. I also used the Touch Pro2 earlier this year, and more recently, the LG Fathom. The latter may be the last of the WinMo 6.5 phones, and that's really a shame, since it really worked well, just lacking HTC's Sense, Motorola's sound quality, and the latest generation's innovative 4.3" capacitive screens. Of course it synced perfectly, and all contacts were immediately available for voice command dialing on the phone.
Today I downloaded the trial of CompanionLink and installed DejaOffice on the Droid X. After the proper setup - which includes setting the Droid X to be in "USB Mass Storage" mode when connected via USB to the PC - it was able to sync calendar, contacts, notes and tasks.
BUT only in a manner of speaking. I promptly found out that I couldn't voice dial any of my contacts. Neither Calendar nor Contacts were sync'd with the Droid X's native Android apps; that required another, VERY long sync, having gone into DejaOffice's Sync Settings and selecting the options to ALSO sync with the Android native apps. And although I went into the Droid X's settings and deselected the option to sync my Google/G-mail account, I still suspect that my information went to the cloud - even though I didn't want it to - since the arrows under the Droid X's "3G" icon in the notification tray were gray the whole time, indicating data transmission. And despite all that, some of my contacts still mysteriously didn't make it into the native app, although they were in DejaContacts. So to voice dial someone inparticular, I STILL had to enter their contact info manually into the native Android contact app.
And all of my categories for all of my Notes were somehow stripped away when the Notes transferred into the Droid X; so now, they're all unfiled.
I don't know if I'm willing to put up with these headaches on a regular basis. But the preliminary reviews of Windows Phone 7 are very disappointing, and it can only be a matter of time before WM6.5 becomes so neglected that it's no longer usable. Oh well.
Zaphod! I remember fondly the Isaac Asimov novels.
MasonStorm said:
Thanks for your replies. I also used the Touch Pro2 earlier this year, and more recently, the LG Fathom. The latter may be the last of the WinMo 6.5 phones, and that's really a shame, since it really worked well, just lacking HTC's Sense, Motorola's sound quality, and the latest generation's innovative 4.3" capacitive screens. Of course it synced perfectly, and all contacts were immediately available for voice command dialing on the phone.
Today I downloaded the trial of CompanionLink and installed DejaOffice on the Droid X. After the proper setup - which includes setting the Droid X to be in "USB Mass Storage" mode when connected via USB to the PC - it was able to sync calendar, contacts, notes and tasks.
BUT only in a manner of speaking. I promptly found out that I couldn't voice dial any of my contacts. Neither Calendar nor Contacts were sync'd with the Droid X's native Android apps; that required another, VERY long sync, having gone into DejaOffice's Sync Settings and selecting the options to ALSO sync with the Android native apps. And although I went into the Droid X's settings and deselected the option to sync my Google/G-mail account, I still suspect that my information went to the cloud - even though I didn't want it to - since the arrows under the Droid X's "3G" icon in the notification tray were gray the whole time, indicating data transmission. And despite all that, some of my contacts still mysteriously didn't make it into the native app, although they were in DejaContacts. So to voice dial someone inparticular, I STILL had to enter their contact info manually into the native Android contact app.
And all of my categories for all of my Notes were somehow stripped away when the Notes transferred into the Droid X; so now, they're all unfiled.
I don't know if I'm willing to put up with these headaches on a regular basis. But the preliminary reviews of Windows Phone 7 are very disappointing, and it can only be a matter of time before WM6.5 becomes so neglected that it's no longer usable. Oh well.
Zaphod! I remember fondly the Isaac Asimov novels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"It's like Deja Vu, All over again." These are the exact issues and problems I ran into in my first encounter with Droid. At the time, I felt like the TP2 was a viable alternative to the Droid (wasn't nearly as fast, but had nice screen, better keyboard, etc.) so I just bailed out.
Much like you, I don't believe there is a viable alternative any longer. I too have no enthusiasm for Win Phone 7, and highly doubt that any advanced hardware is going to come with win 6.5X at this time.
I will also pass along this small piece of advice. Either embrace the cloud, or dump the phone. The more 'interconnects' you put between you and your data, the more frustrating this will be. It would be shame to have all of this power, and then limit its potential.
Instead of starting a new thread I thought this would be the best place to ask. First time Android user long time WM user so excuse my ignorance. I have an exchange / outlook setup that is working great with the corp sync of android but I have Notes that of course MS thought it was a good idea not to sync OTA. I used to connect my WM phone via BT or USB and sync the Notes with ActiveSync every couple of days or so to make sure they were updated on both device and Outlook. I know I can't use ActiveSync, what kind of solution does Android provide for this type of sync? I am open to anything as long as it is free as I don't really want to spend money on something that used to be free under WM.
Anyone? No one coming from a TP2 used notes?
I tried once more to sync the X locally, using the Mark/Space Missing Sync software (which requires Fliq Notes & Fliq Calendar to be installed on the phone, and Missing Sync on both the phone and the desktop). This too proved entirely too problematic, with ridiculously erroneous syncs that proved entirely unreliable for a business user.
It took another day of wrangling/justifying/coming to terms, but I finally relented and took Zaphod's advice to embrace the Cloud. gSyncit has proven to be a reliable, easy-to-use sync app for me, but it does require sending all of your stuff to Google, and then setting the phone to sync with Google. Calendar & Contacts work fine, and Notes works by syncing to Google Docs. The latter is then synced to the phone using the GDocs app, downloaded from the Marketplace. I've abandoned Tasks for now, but apparently it can sync by creating a 2nd calendar - a Tasks Calendar - in Google Calendar.
I'm also battling this Outlook to Droid X sync issue. I've come to realize the "best" way to resolve this is to give into Google's global domination plan and simply use my Google Calendar to sync via the cloud. However, I'm worried about duplication of meetings (which has happened in the past with the Dx using CompanionLink and DejaOffice, and with WM6.5 on my Imagio). My other question/issue is whether my contacts associated with my Gmail account have to be merged and subsequently synced with all my business contacts. My Gmail contacts include almost 1,000 email addresses, many of which I never use and don't recognize.
I'm also running Outlook 2007 with Win 7 64-bit. I've tried using Google Calendar Sync but it doesn't play nicely with 64-bit Win 7 (I guess that one sneaked up on Google?).
Any input is appreciated.
I work with small businesses helping them with handhelds and CRM. All my small businesses are using hosted exchange server for mail. Some use Blackberries, others iPhones, a tiny portion Windows Mobile and now I'm "dog-fooding" Android so I can find out what works. Believe it or not, only about 5% of my customers use Outlook tasks. Most rely on the calendar for task management. I myself do use tasks so I'm trialing Remember the Milk and syncing to it from Outlook using Gassumo Outlook to Remember the Milk sync. That's working quite well.
I've found that the contacts and calendar sync have some quirks that I'm coming to grips with - it seems sometimes to use File As, other times not to so sometimes the names are backwards. The calendar has been OK
I'm hoping PocketInformant for Android gets finished soon. They are beta testing now. I've been using it on Windows Mobile for years. It's very polished, those guys know how to build a handheld PIM.
Exchange is a great way to do OTA sync. You put the contact in Outlook and it's on your phone, same with calendar.
I'm a big OneNote user on the desktop, on Windows Mobile I used it only for a single purpose - to label photos I took of equipment I deploy. I would type the client, location, purpose and then take photos of the asset tags, serial numbers etc. To get them onto the desktop I had to USB sync but this system is very handy, if I needed to call Dell about a machine I have the asset tags right at hand. I'm looking at Evernote to take over that duty. I don't really care if it lives on OneNote, I just need to be able to annotate photos and get at them quickly during support calls.
Ok, I already know all the benefits of Android over WinMo. I'm not here to start a flame war. I just want to get at least some of the functionality I had with my Touch Pro 2. I'm really struggling here....
I'll list the problems I'm trying to surmount, in order of most important to least:
1) In-Call Recording: It worked perfect on my TP2 (legal in Colorado). I just hit Menu > Record. Every app I've tried on the Market sucks. If it even records at all (without a Force Close), I have to have it on speakerphone. With the TP2, it didn't matter if I was holding the phone, using Bluetooth, or had it on speaker. It just recorded... and very clearly. I saw one developer mention this is a hardware/software limitation. Will this ever be overcome?
2) Lack of sync options (primarily, text messages): Windows ActiveSync with Exchange was PERFECT. I could sync not just mail, contact, and calendar... but I could also sync Tasks (which is how I get most of my work done) and text messages (which was great for archival). A benefit of synching text messages was that I could send/receive/reply to texts from Outlook or Outlook webmail. Plus, if I had to flash my phone, all my texts were back after I set up my mail account. Will Android ever get to this level?
3) Mail folders: All I see is a giant, alphabetical list of email folders at the top of my Inbox. If I want to get to my "Mustang Stuff" folder (where all my Mustang-related thread notifications go), I've gotta spin the begeezus out of that list until I get to it. I don't want every folder in that list. There are archival folders (that start with the date in number format) that of course show up first. Not to mention, I have so many folders, that getting to the end (where Sent, Deleted, and Drafts) are, is a real PITA.
4) Bluetooth Functionality = Fail: I can't voice dial from my earpiece. I need this or I'll be running people off the road. This is something so fundamental, I can't believe Android was rolled out w/o it working. I've heard Froyo will fix this. Is that true? Will I be able to touch the button on my earpiece and "call, friend" without having to pick up my phone?
5) Answering calls on headset while BT earpiece is on: Again, something so fundamental.... With a Windows phone, if my earpiece is in my pocket and I answer the call with the phone itself, I can talk through the phone. Windows was able to tell if I answered the phone with the handset. If I wanted to switch to BT, I simply put it in my ear and hit the button. With the Android phone, I have to answer the call, then press the "headset" button. Not a huge deal, but definitely annoying.
That's about it for now. There are others, but they're pretty minor. These are the big ones.
Can anyone help/provide advice?
Sadly its all down to drivers. I don't even know if the sgs has hardware to record voice as early HTC phones didn't have like my Titan. Also you must understand android is not as mature as winmo (8 years for phone edition), like all new software it will have teething problems. Hell winmo 6.1 had heaps more problems then Droid 2. 1. We just need to be patient. Also what do you expect with syncin as ms controlled the OS and your apps. Shame we don't have that with but goggle isn't a OS company. There's always 3rd party apps to help you sync exchange. Ask around. I miss task and notes from Outlook but I've converted over to springboard, give it go as desktop ver is coming out soon. Evernote is good also with great desktop but sucky Droid app.
'Backup to gmail' is a good paid app that backs up sms/mms and call logs. Also does kies not do Outlook sync? I don't use kies or outlook anymore so I don't know as I've converted to using cloud based apps which ms is already trying to do with winmo 7
Sent from my Apple Newton 2100
coming from HTC WM phone i'm extremely happy about the move.
1 - just keep checking out difference call recording software from Market, personally i've not found any good one yet.
2 - to "sync" or backup SMS messages, i use the titan backup, which you can backup to your Gmail account
3 - no problem here as i use gmail
4 - working great for me for Audio and Stereo and Remote features
5 - same as 4 works perfectly out of the box
Car Deck is a Clarion CZ509 (sub, amps, & speakers... off topic ), stereo ear piece is Jabra BT8010 and/or Moto HT820
@ickyboo
Of course, I have to agree with a lot you've said. WinMo has been around forever. 6.1 was kind of a fail, but so was 1.5-1.6 on Android. 2.x leaves us in a much better state.
When I compare WinMo 6.5 and Android 2.1, I feel WinMo is still the better OS. I'll have to see what 2.2 brings to the table, though. All that voice activation should be good.
As for the drivers, I hope this is overcome... just like it was in Windows. There are still many phones that can't do it. All of my latest phones have been HTC phones, and all could do it without issue.
@AllGamer
Are you running Android 2.2? There is a rumor that answering from a headset with a BT device on will now act "smart".
no 2.2 yet,
still on stock firmware JH2
i9000M
3) voice dial via Bluetooth is in Froyo as is http://www.google.com/mobile/voice-actions/
I just found another ridiculousness that needs resolution.
I cannot download a .rar or a .zip file using the Android browser. Seriously... wtf?
My son was playing a game on his DSi Acekard that needed updated software (a legitimate backup, of course). So I head over to GBATemp.net to get the latest software. It was in rar forum, so I figured "No problem, I'll just hit the market after".
When I go to download, it says something to the effect of "this type of download is not supported".
So using an RDP program, I log onto my home PC, download the rar and convert it to .zip (thinking the problem was with the rar file itself). In addition, I put it on my own web server.
When I go to download, same message.
On my Windows phone I could download/extract Rar/Zip files all day long. How can something so fundamental be blocked by Android?
Flapjack said:
1) In-Call Recording: It worked perfect on my TP2 (legal in Colorado). I just hit Menu > Record. Every app I've tried on the Market sucks. If it even records at all (without a Force Close), I have to have it on speakerphone. With the TP2, it didn't matter if I was holding the phone, using Bluetooth, or had it on speaker. It just recorded... and very clearly. I saw one developer mention this is a hardware/software limitation. Will this ever be overcome?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a hardware level restriction, Android requires that the call steam be un-interceptable at a software level. It simply cannot be recorded like you want. The best apps can do is set the mic to record one side of the conversation (using speakerphone loopback) and actively record what you say at the same time. It's defiantely not ideal.
You might want to look into using something like Google Voice, that lets you record all your calls sever-side.
EDIT: Some phones allow this, in which case try using this... http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/com.killermobile.totalrecall.trial/
Flapjack said:
2) Lack of sync options (primarily, text messages): Windows ActiveSync with Exchange was PERFECT. I could sync not just mail, contact, and calendar... but I could also sync Tasks (which is how I get most of my work done) and text messages (which was great for archival). A benefit of synching text messages was that I could send/receive/reply to texts from Outlook or Outlook webmail. Plus, if I had to flash my phone, all my texts were back after I set up my mail account. Will Android ever get to this level?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install an app called SMS Backup+, it automatically syncs your SMS with Gmail as proper threads, and you can both read and reply to them in GMail, aswell as import them into another android phone. ( The sync is only active in one direction however, you need to manually 'restore' from GMail if you use another phone. )
As for tasks, you should give Astrid a try, it has full RTM (Remember The Milk) sync support and can manage your tasks very well.
Flapjack said:
3) Mail folders: All I see is a giant, alphabetical list of email folders at the top of my Inbox. If I want to get to my "Mustang Stuff" folder (where all my Mustang-related thread notifications go), I've gotta spin the begeezus out of that list until I get to it. I don't want every folder in that list. There are archival folders (that start with the date in number format) that of course show up first. Not to mention, I have so many folders, that getting to the end (where Sent, Deleted, and Drafts) are, is a real PITA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Obviously you aren't using GMail. I can't vouch for the crappy (others) e-mail client that comes with this phone.
Flapjack said:
4) Bluetooth Functionality = Fail: I can't voice dial from my earpiece. I need this or I'll be running people off the road. This is something so fundamental, I can't believe Android was rolled out w/o it working. I've heard Froyo will fix this. Is that true? Will I be able to touch the button on my earpiece and "call, friend" without having to pick up my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was under the impression that this worked already, but I guess not. You could setup shortcuts to otherwise bring up voice dial by pressing a shortcut, then it would work... :\
Flapjack said:
5) Answering calls on headset while BT earpiece is on: Again, something so fundamental.... With a Windows phone, if my earpiece is in my pocket and I answer the call with the phone itself, I can talk through the phone. Windows was able to tell if I answered the phone with the handset. If I wanted to switch to BT, I simply put it in my ear and hit the button. With the Android phone, I have to answer the call, then press the "headset" button. Not a huge deal, but definitely annoying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you saying that if your bluetooth headset is paired and you want to answer the call using the phone itself and not the headset, you have to click a button to disengage the headset? Again bluetooth is not very well integrated, it's a shame but at least it's not impossible to do what you want. :\
Flapjack said:
I cannot download a .rar or a .zip file using the Android browser. Seriously... wtf?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem here is the stock browser doesn't want to download files that aren't compatible with the android system, the easy fix is to install any file manager in the market that can handle ZIP or RAR. You won't need to open them (of course you can though) when you download them but it will certainly download the file for you.
Alternatively you could choose another browser that doesn't care about compatibility in downloaded file types.
There might be an option for this but I'm not aware of it.
Flapjack said:
2) Lack of sync options (primarily, text messages): Windows ActiveSync with Exchange was PERFECT. I could sync not just mail, contact, and calendar... but I could also sync Tasks (which is how I get most of my work done) and text messages (which was great for archival). A benefit of synching text messages was that I could send/receive/reply to texts from Outlook or Outlook webmail. Plus, if I had to flash my phone, all my texts were back after I set up my mail account. Will Android ever get to this level?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's an app in the market called GTasks. It syncs two-way with Google tasks (which you can find in Gmail, Google calendar, and which you can also access on your phone by going to gmail.com/tasks. The app is ad-supported, but you can also buy a key to remove the ads. It also comes with a very simple widget.
A lot of your comments seem to be related to Androids handling of Outlook integration.
You have to realize, Android is not made by Microsoft. Third party outlook integrations will never be as good as theirs. Android is geared to sync with google apps and the cloud.
That said, I have heard the best exchange client for Android is TouchDown http://www.nitrodesk.com/dk_touchdownFeatures.aspx It's not free though.
As for all your bluetooth questions... I am not having any problems with Bluetooth at all. Maybe it is your headset?
I came from Windows mobile and I too find a few things in Android annoying, but trying to go back is not even an option. Downsides of WinMo are far fewer than downsides of Android.
I'd rather just get an HD2 and be done with it. You are too much dependent on Windows Mobile and that's not a bad thing since it's pretty much worked for you well. I'm just saying, if it's become too much of a hassle to stay on Android, why bother?
Or you can have a WinMo device AND an Android!
Ok, I'm back. Overall, I love the phone. I've had some nasty episodes with )(*#$Y% Google's shoving of contacts down my throat. Apparently, anyone I've ever sent an email in Gmail to becomes a contact, whether I like it or not. On top of that, all those contacts got sync'd to my Vibrant when I first logged into the Market (which requires a Gmail account). Nowhere did it ask if I also wanted to sync my Google contacts, calendar, etc.... Well, the point is that I had almost Google 1000 contacts that I had to delete. I only want my Exchange contacts showing up. Freaking duplicate city. This was after I went into the synchronization settings and removed all synching of google mail, contacts, and calendars.
So, for the most part, everything has been fine. I even convinced my fiancee to give up her iPhone today (which is running like crap since an iOS 4 update) and get a Vibrant as well.
So I'm setting it all up and went in right away and set up Exchange email, only to find that I could not even open the built in "Calendar" App without adding a Gmail account? WTF? This phone is marketed as having Exchange Mail, Contacts and Calendar support.
Giving in, I add her Gmail account, which she NEVER USES, which of course automatically tries to take over her email to remove the Google synchronization. I get all that cleaned up and the only thing left is trying to make appointments work.
Setting up a new appointment, the phone always defaults to "My Calendar", which exists nowhere but the phone. I've been told that once I select my Exchange account, it should remember that. It doesn't. Occasionally, I'll forget to select my home mail and the appointment will stay on the phone. Another gripe... I don't think it can be fixed.
Finally, calendar invites allow you to select participants, but the invites never go out. I have to wait until the appointment syncs with my Exchange account, then go into Outlook on my PC, open the appointment, click on "Invitees", then click on "Send Update" (which returns an error that nothing has been changed). Once I've done that, the other invitees get the calendar invite. WHY?
Sorry for the long rant. I just don't see how this OS can ever be marketed as a corporate solution. I won't be going back to WinMo simply because the hardware in the Vibrant is fantastic. It does MOST of what I want... it just has some serious shortcomings. I'm hedging my bets on Froyo now. Does anyone have a good link that details the differences for Exchange on 2.2? I mean, really... Apple bit the bullet and paid the licensing to put true Microsoft Exchange Activesync on their iPhones. Can't Google do that too?
PC App that I love and works with outlook is Google Calander Sync give you the option of 2 way sync and one way sync. Works for me
Well for me the Samsung bloatware handles Exchange Accounts very well.
I'm syncing (by WiFi or 3G) 3 Exchange Accounts and just one of them with Contacts and Calendar.
Woolios said:
PC App that I love and works with outlook is Google Calander Sync give you the option of 2 way sync and one way sync. Works for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you use that on your PC to sync Outlook to Google Calendar? Then Google Calendar syncs to the phone?
But then you'd have to have it running on one PC that is always on, correct? I don't leave my PCs running 24/7 (nor am I going to), so this will be an issue.
If there was a program I could install on my Exchange server... that'd be a different story, as it does run 24/7 (obviously).
gmc said:
Well for me the Samsung bloatware handles Exchange Accounts very well.
I'm syncing (by WiFi or 3G) 3 Exchange Accounts and just one of them with Contacts and Calendar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have agree with that
i'm using the samsung hub, and it's amazing how it can handle all my 5+ different other accounts just using 1 simple app
and the most amazing thing is, it actually works!
back in the windows days, i had to dance up and down, and jug left and right just to be able to find 3 or more Apps to accomplish the same thing
AllGamer said:
i have agree with that
i'm using the samsung hub, and it's amazing how it can handle all my 5+ different other accounts just using 1 simple app
and the most amazing thing is, it actually works!
back in the windows days, i had to dance up and down, and jug left and right just to be able to find 3 or more Apps to accomplish the same thing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree, too. Funny that WinMo only allowed one Exchange account. The rest you had to use IMAP or POP. Pretty lame.
I'm also seriously considering trying RoadSync or TouchDown. Not sure how well they'll integrate, though. I tried an early version of RoadSync on the MyTouch and it was a PITA.
**EDIT**
Trying TouchDown now...
Well, Touchdown is pretty nice... most of the time. Since last night, I've had to force close it about 5 times. It locks up the entire phone... I can't even turn the screen on/off. Eventually, the screen will come on and a "Force Close/Wait" option will be up.
Damn...
AllGamer said:
i have agree with that
i'm using the samsung hub, and it's amazing how it can handle all my 5+ different other accounts just using 1 simple app
and the most amazing thing is, it actually works!
back in the windows days, i had to dance up and down, and jug left and right just to be able to find 3 or more Apps to accomplish the same thing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find the native Android outlook support to work way better than Samsung hub. Same with the native facebook sync.
I wish I could just delete Samsung hub. I don't know why companies feel they have to re-invent the wheel when Android already does this stuff.
brunes said:
I find the native Android outlook support to work way better than Samsung hub. Same with the native facebook sync.
I wish I could just delete Samsung hub. I don't know why companies feel they have to re-invent the wheel when Android already does this stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can, using Titanium Backup, to uninstall Samsung Hub
Hi,
I exetensively searched XDA and google for a solution to this, but while finding solutions to problems which are close to my problem, I couldn't find quite what I'm looking for, so be aware at first this might seem like a question that has already been asked, but please keep reading since this is really something different.
I have the following problem with my Desire Z which I have for 2 days now:
In my Gmail account (which is in fact a hosted apps account), I have like probably most of you a "All Contacts" group and a "My Contacts" group.
I use the My Contacts group for all my contacts which I maintain with correct information like name, last name, phone, etc. The "All Contacts" group is auto-updated by Gmail and contains each and every contact that I have ever sent or received an email from/to.
The difference is that my "All Contacts" contains 497 records, while my "My Contacts" group only contains 127 record, suffice it to say I don't want the "All Contacts" group anywhere near/on my phone.
Off course I've found out by now that using the menu button in the 'People' app and going to 'View' brings up a window where I can nicely select which groups I want to see and which ones I don't.
The problem, however, is that this setting only affects what is being shown, and even when turning off "(Ungrouped Contacts)", while effectively hiding these contacts, they are still in the phone, and worst of all : still synced to my Bluetooth carkit.
This causes huge problems with my carkit, probably because either there are weird characters in one or more of the records, or because there are just too many of them.
This is off course not just a wild guess, but a conclusion I have drawn after performing some tests:
I tested this with 2 carkits : My own Dodge Ram 2009 MyGig system, and my dad's Audi S5 Audi MMI (Multimedia Interface) system.
Tests were performed with 4 phones:
- Tmobile G1/HTC Dream running CM6.1 (stock android contacts.apk)
- Moto Milestone running CM6.1 (stock android contacts.apk)
- Samsung Galaxy S I9000 running stock ROM (TouchWiz contacts.apk)
- HTC Desire Z running stock ROM (HTC Sense contacts.apk)
For all 4 phones I connected them to the 2 carkits and enabled logcat while doing this. The logcat log effectively showed me that the CM6.1 phones were only syncing the 'right' contacts, while the 2 other phones (both using non-stock contacts.apk) were sending all the other **** to the carkit as well.
These tests lead me to conclude that apparently it's very hard to make a decent custom contacts.apk, because 2 independant manufacturers both screwed it up at the same point.
From where I stand I can see 3 possible solutions/workarounds to get this working correctly on my Dezire Z:
- Replace contacts.apk with stock one
- Flash CM6.1 on there
- Clean up 'all contacts' group in gmail account.
Normally I wouldn't hesitate to just fire up CM6.1 on there, but I really like the HTC sense web controll thingy, so I want to stick with the stock ROM for a while, or until Cyanogen comes with a ROM that includes this. (not yet AFAIK)
Cleaning up 497 contacts is really something I want to keep as a last resort.
So the only remaining option is to put a stock contacts.apk on there.
Can this be done, and if so, how?
Or are there possibly other ways around this which I'm failing to see?
I think this thread will soon get moved to the General forum, since it's not ROM development
I've got a very similar problem with the one you describe above. I found a load of garbage being sync'd via Bluetooth to my car stereo too. As well as my regular contacts, there were a massive load of blank ones (which I've now discovered were hiding in my "Other Contacts" section in Gmail, and got sync'd to my phone, and hence sync'd also to my car stereo).
I also found it sync'd all my Facebook contacts via Bluetooth, which isn't what I wanted at all. I ended up deleting all those manually on the car
Thanks for the reply Stevewevie, good to know I'm not the only one with this problem.
Some car kits seem to be able to cope with this better than others.
For example my dad's Audi MMI will not work at all with my Desire Z, while my Dodge's MyGig will connect, but sometimes break up during a call, not syncing contacts, and other weird stuff.
What I was going to look into was a solution that might work for you too, i.e. a way to send via Bluetooth a group of contacts. I can't yet find any way to do this in the stock ROM though, and I haven't searched to see if there are other Android utilities that could do this.
I've got around my problem for now, but if I lose the address book in my car stereo I'll be faced with the same problem again. Or if I need to do a big update.
steviewevie said:
What I was going to look into was a solution that might work for you too, i.e. a way to send via Bluetooth a group of contacts. I can't yet find any way to do this in the stock ROM though, and I haven't searched to see if there are other Android utilities that could do this.
I've got around my problem for now, but if I lose the address book in my car stereo I'll be faced with the same problem again. Or if I need to do a big update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Dodge MyGig syncs everytime my phone connects, and sometimes it seems to workout while other times it doesn't work.
So for me it's a gamble everytime I start my car.
vyruz1986 said:
The Dodge MyGig syncs everytime my phone connects
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ouch !
So I just got my Atrix from ATT, coming from WinMo 6.5 (Tilt2), and am a bit lost.
There used to be guides and such for people upgrading, but I've hopped on the train so late I'm having trouble finding a good one!
So feel free to point me towards better resources or useful threads on here especially from the perspective of WinMo to modern Android.
But for now, first question: what is the best way sync Outlook and my new phone?? I've got Outlook 2010 and have been building an address book in it since my MPx220! I know I could export/import a .csv but am far more interested in actual sync, with contacts and calendar at the minimum. Preferably free, but if not OK (as long as it works). So far I've tried MyPhoneExplorer but it can't see the phone via USB. Trying www.soocial.com now, looks interesting...
Is it ever gonna finish inspecting my 16GB card? Can't find a progress indicator anywhere...
I know it's not helping but just wanted to say that I'm exactly in the same boat with you. I used Windows Mobile since around 2004 (with mpx 220, tilt, and tilt2) and I'm kind of clueless about this whole android thing
Oh and I could not find a way to directly sync my outlook contacts with atrix either. Also, if you go with the .csv route, it does not sync some fields, for example Work2 phone.
fincan said:
Oh and I could not find a way to directly sync my outlook contacts with atrix either. Also, if you go with the .csv route, it does not sync some fields, for example Work2 phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Def. try www.soocial.com It's free (as long as you're less than 250 contacts) and it's *ongoing* Sync like we're used to.
Goofy thing is, Google is said to make a calendar sync (outlook --> google), why don't they have their own for contacts??
Well, so far I'm a touch underwhelmed. Coming from the WinMo world I'm used to many things being customizable, often in the program, if not maybe in the registry or easily swapped out for other software.
I'm noticing a lot of dumb choices and a lot of things that don't give me obvious options.
Let's call it a Universal Inbox but it won't have your Gmail! There's a way around, you setup instead as regular IMAP email and use that app or end up using both email apps... grr! Better 3rd party alternative?
No 'file as' in contacts or ability to customize much of anything about how it looks, what it shows...
Friggin 'security lock timer' setting is disabled when using fingerprint!
Oh, and scanning my SD card *never finished*! After a couple hours (during which I couldn't install anything from the marketplace--though it gave me NO error to let me know why it was ignoring me pressing install!) I yanked the card. Maybe if I clear it out first?
Of course it's much (MUCH) better than my POS Tilt2, but I'm not quite convinced it's worth it, yet.
Your card scanning issue is not normal. IT STINKS! Something from the school of the united nations
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
I came from windows also. Companion Link is the only software to give you a true live sync between outlook and google calender and contacts that I have found. It wasn't free but I don't remember how much. It syncs your desktop outlook to your online google account which is automatically synced to your device.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
For the contacts things you can always setup your gmail account as an exchange account in outlook and sync it that way, but then again it would be the same as syncing with gmail itself.
As for an outlook sync that isn't third party, there is no way to do it other than having an exchange account.
I found and downloaded a program called My Phone Explorer, it says it can sync outlook contacts & calendars if you install it's companion software to your PC. I did not have a chance to try it out yet, I'll update this thread once I try it.
Also, did you guys find out how to set custom ring tones? Like copying wav, mp3, ogg etc. files from my old phone to this and make them show up on the ringtone selections?
sdlopez83 said:
Your card scanning issue is not normal. IT STINKS! Something from the school of the united nations
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It had been in my Tilt 2 and had about 10gig of various files, some WM6.5 stuff (.cabs, apps, etc) and media. I formatted it and put back in the phone (couldn't do anything with it while it was scanning) and it was fine.
Marketplace didn't actually do anything when I hit install until the card was happy.
So far I'm pretty impressed with Android but not so much with this phone. The combination of not-latest OS with updates being locked to ATT/Moto's discretion worries me as the Tilt2 I'm coming from was absolutely crippled by the crap ATT OS version available (though at least it wasn't impossible to flash it!).
My other big problem is that while this phone is supposedly lightning fast, but how does that make any difference in actual use, since this dual-core CPU and nVidia chipset are a small part of a big and diverse market, for which the Nexus S and all the similar Samsungs set the baseline? Example, I noticed I can't play at decent framerate a 720p h.264 media file (.torrent downloaded Top Gear, 1.5GB on class 6 microSD), even in QQview--which can't seem to access the SD card directly (it only sees the ~11GB internal which is called SDcard), by the way. So what good does this extra speed do if there are no apps to take advantage of it? And how many others are going to have troubles accessing my new 32GB microSD because they only see the internal?
I'm also fairly annoyed by the lack of customization in the settings. At worst every damn thing in WinMo was customizable via registry. I usually find a setting each day in Android which I should have easy control over but don't. Example: notifications being the same volume for texts/emails as BS systems sounds I haven't figured any way to turn off... again a missing setting that's almost there: I noticed within text messaging and email I can set specific sounds (including silent) but for the overall system one there's no silent option (which would be overridden by the selected ones above)... Maybe there's some apps that do some of what I want, but having to pay or sideload are both kinda foreign concepts to me, especially for small system hacks!
But on the other hand it's very responsive, does seem to play 720p Xvid torrent downloads OK (though I haven't watched one all the way through), and the voice features are great.
One other annoyance is that while BT links to my car automagically it doesn't link to my Panasonic handsets at home unless I turn BT off and back on for some reason...
So given how much I paid (premiere, non-contract) I'm leaning towards return. Wish the damn ATT-bands Nexus S was out!!
but, more importantly did you get the critic references?
Hi y'all,
After my EVO died two weeks after contract expired, on top of the original Nexus tablet that slowed to a crawl due to bad memory chips, I swore off the Android devices and went with iOS.
Now, over a year later, I got a shiny new S5 from my employer, with company policy allowing "reasonable" personal use (no 1-900 calls or direct international calls to Timbuktu but otherwise we're allowed to use it for personal calls and data since they have unlimited plans anyway).
So, I plan on giving my iPhone to my son and getting back into Android. I was missing all the customization options, although iOS really grew on me to be honest.
I do have a couple of question, hope someone can help
1) I still own Nova Prime and I much prefer it over the Touchwiz. However, I am unable to find a calendar widget that would show Exchange tasks. I found that the only service that reliably syncs tasks, contacts, and calendar events between Outlook on my work desktop and my home desktop and all of my Android and iOS devices is Hotmail. With Outlook 2013 setting up sync with a Hotmail / Outlook.com calendar / tasks is finally possible and requires no installation of any additional software. So I can finally copy a work email into a task and have it synced to my phone and tablet. But, the only calendar widget on S5 that actually shows these tasks is Mini Today and it seems to only be available in Touch Wiz. I can't install Outlook on Android because it violates company policy (God knows why, since I can set up a EAS account anyway ?). The only other possible solution I can think of may be Pocket Informant but it's $10 and the Android client interface is ugly as hell.
So, do you know of any other screen widget that would show tasks synced from Hotmail account ? Obviously Samsung calendar app shows them even under Nova, but I need a widget that I could glance at without having to start the app.
2) Is there a way to activate voice commands / voice dialing from a Bluetooth headset without having to touch the home button ? It's probably something obvious but I, for the life of me, can't find it. Press and hold on headset button does nothing and double-press redials.
3) The phone came with Otter box case which may as well just have backpack straps attached, it's so ridiculously huge. Can you recommend me a slim case with a clip holster that is sturdy and looks well and most importantly does not allow the phone to easily fall off / get unhooked by accident ?
4) I never had a Samsung before and they seem to have tons of software preinstalled, is most of it bloatware or are some apps actually worth trying ? Any tips appreciated.
Thanks !
Ummagumma said:
Hi y'all,
1) I still own Nova Prime and I much prefer it over the Touchwiz. However, I am unable to find a calendar widget that would show Exchange tasks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Event Flow calendar widget. it will sync to your exchange account and show events from outlook. I use outlook at work, and the gmail/google calendar on my personal phone (HTC One), and both calendars show up on my Event Flow agenda widget on the GS5. there are many calendar widgets on the play store though, so you may want to try a few.
2) Is there a way to activate voice commands / voice dialing from a Bluetooth headset without having to touch the home button ? It's probably something obvious but I, for the life of me, can't find it. Press and hold on headset button does nothing and double-press redials.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the google settings -- search and Now -- voice, you can enable the "Ok Google" trigger phrase to start voice recognition feature, and enable it to use your bluetooth mic for input. When you say "Ok Google", it will pull up the voice search app.
3) The phone came with Otter box case which may as well just have backpack straps attached, it's so ridiculously huge. Can you recommend me a slim case with a clip holster that is sturdy and looks well and most importantly does not allow the phone to easily fall off / get unhooked by accident ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've only been using the Diztronic slim rubber cases as of late. they are thin, fit great, and look great, but I don't think they have a clip model.
4) I never had a Samsung before and they seem to have tons of software preinstalled, is most of it bloatware or are some apps actually worth trying ? Any tips appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahhh, welcome to the world of samsung bloatware. tons of stuff you probably won't use from samsung and your carrier. here's a tip. go to system settings - applications, and swipe to the "all" screen. from there you can scroll through every app installed on your phone. when you get to one you don't want, tap it, and you'll see an information screen. Most apps that came on the phone have an option to disable them That will freeze the app from the system, but it it won't wipe it out of the phone's storage, so it can be enabled at a later date if you want. I've disabled nearly all the AT&T apps, and quite a few samsung and google apps I don't use.
down the road if you root your phone, you can remove all the system apps you want. but until then, disabling them is the best you can do. The only samsung apps I still have enabled are the TV remote app, music, video, and polaris office.
Thanks !
Unfortunately Event Flow does not show tasks.
I found a few widgets that show Google tasks, but so far only Samsung's Mini Today shows Exchange tasks from Outlook.com.
(..rant..) Given how many people use Outlook at work and at home, and given that Hotmail / Outlook.com is the only service that can sync Outlook emails, calendar, contacts and tasks to an Android or iOS device without having to jump through hoops or install any 3rd party apps on the desktop (a big ordeal and often outright forbidden in many organizations), it is very surprising just how few calendar applications are supporting it. I mean, to sync Outlook to Google Calendar and Tasks you need to buy expensive software and install it; to sync Outlook to Apple you need to install iCloud, which again many companies forbid or block via firewall; to sync Outlook 2013 to Outlook.com you really don't have to do anything but create an account. Yet this seems to be the least supported option, and many programs won't even read Outlook tasks after Android syncs them via EAS account ! WTF.
Hello!
Ummagumma said:
Hi y'all,
4) I never had a Samsung before and they seem to have tons of software preinstalled, is most of it bloatware or are some apps actually worth trying ? Any tips appreciated.
Thanks !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only Samsung apps I use are the camera app, the audio & video players as well as the calendar application. I find that all others have bette free alternative on the market. I stop and disable all other stuff. To see what to stop
I usually use GSam battery monitor. Any application I do not use that drains on the battery, I simply disable it.
The reason for keeping the camera audio and video player is that they might use some samsung specific HW/feature (especially true for camera application) that are not fully standard and may not be available to "replacement application"
JM
Oh, if it is not too late...
You might like WatchON preinstalled application. It's universal remote control on your phone...
I use it to control TV, DVD and set top box.
Thanks !
To be honest, the more I use it, the more the darn phone frustrates me. Don't know if it's Samsung, or I forgot the feel of Android, or I just got too used to iOS. The list below can just be me, and I definitely don't want to get anyone offended. But...
1) Can't access flashlight without unlocking the phone. Something I used to do all the time.
2) Can't access calculator without unlocking the phone. Again, something I was very used to.
3) Can't use Google now without unlocking the phone. It listens but most of time I can't get a reply without unlocking.
4) Voice dialing without unlocking the phone is very spotty.
5) When I ask Google Now to tell me my meetings for tomorrow - something I used to do every day driving back home after work, about the only opportunity I have to sit back and relax and plan my day - it tells me that I have a meeting at 7:30, brings up the list of calendar items on screen, and shuts up. Siri would read them to me.
6) S-Voice stops listening after the first few words. Not always. But very often. I was trying to find some kind of a timeout setting but no luck. It just loses interest and runs with unfinished phone number. At least Google Now listens.
Basically using any voice commands without unlocking the phone is very iffy and unpredictable, especially when also trying to use a headphone. I sorely miss Siri.
6) There's no way to get my Outlook.com tasks show up in Widgets. Samsung Mini Today shows SOME of them - I never quite figure out why it would show some tasks due today and not the others. PI for Android is a terrible fugly monster with greatly reduced functionality when compared to PI IOS. Don't know why they couldn't design it to at least look the same. Outlook app could work but unfortunately we can't use it at work because of security concerns (it stores your credentials on Amazon servers so potentially someone could use them to log into company mail). I used to miss Android widgets when I had the iPhone but at least the ones that were available in the pulldown worked well and showed any info I needed and, again, could be configured to be accessible with phone locked.
7) The quality of video chat using Hangouts is worse than what I was getting on same cell or wifi network, calling the same numbers using Facetime. There's jerkiness and choppiness and every now and then the screen would just freeze for a second. Must be something related to Google servers.
The good - huge screen (compared to my old iPhone), customization, can use SD cards, and I am sure that I will eventually get used to it.
Sorry for the rant...