I imagine quite a few people have set up multiple Android phones for their immediate family, and I'm looking for suggestions.
I have three myTouch 4Gs (one for each family member). We each have our own Google account and we also have a "family" Google account, which I am planning to use for shared contacts and calendars. Each person will also want their own calendar and contacts.
Should I first configure each phone to use the "family" account, and then add each person's "user" account to the phone for contacts and calendar? If I do this will each phone automatically sync the shared contacts & calendar and then the individual user's contacts & calendar?
Can Android handle this or is this a bad idea?
BTW I'm aware that one user can own the calendars and share them with the other users (that's what I do now for the iPhone), but I don't believe the same can be done for contacts, can it?
Thanks ... Mike
Either way, Android can handle multiple Google accounts since 2.x update.
You need to set them up using the one you want as default first. Theres no way to change this afterwards.
@option94 - thanks. What would br the downside of having a particular account be the default? Would it only affect the Market? Or does Gmail always use the default account for sending, even if (say) you are replying to a message sent to your non-default account.
@borodin1 - thanks.
I dont recall who, but someone had an issue with it. I believe it was something to do with calendar. And you are correct about the market.
option94 said:
I dont recall who, but someone had an issue with it. I believe it was something to do with calendar. And you are correct about the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So one more thing occurred to me as I was playing around with these phones trying to get them set up "right" the first time. If all three have the same default Google account, what happens with the "Back up data with my Google Account" option? If enabled, would each phone clobber the others' backup? That wouldn't be good.
Thanks again.
Mike
Thats one that I haven't run into. I would hope that they would all sync with each other, but then you would be sharing contacts and such among all three phones.
Thanks for the info. I'm going to set them up as follows and see how it goes:
All phones - set up "family" Google account first (which means they will all share the same Market account). Sync calendar only. Turn off "Back up data with my Google Account".
Individual phones - set up the individual's Google account second, and sync contacts and mail.
Sounds good. Let us know how it goes.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
Is there a way to clear the Calendar cache without doing a Factory data reset?
I didn't like the idea of the other two family members being able to manage the calendars, so I decided to switch to the following setup (only tried on mine so far):
All phones - set up "family" Google account first (which means they will all share the same Market account). Sync none of calendar, contacts, and mail. Turn off "Back up data with my Google Account".
Individual phones - set up the individual's Google account second, and sync calendar, contacts, and mail.
However ... Even after forcing several syncs and a reboot, the built-in calendar still only lets me choose calendars from the "family" account, not from my individual account. CalWidget lets me choose from both sets of calendars (the "family" set and my individual set, but if I choose my individual set it doesn't display any entries. And Jorte doesn't tell me whether it's getting entries from the "family" or "individual" calendar.
Since the "Family" calendars are shared (read-only) to the individuals they have the same names in both "family" and "individual". I suspect I have confused Android, and am looking for a way to clear out whatever cached information it might have.
Suggestions appreciated.
Thanks ... Mike
wenglish said:
Thanks for the info. I'm going to set them up as follows and see how it goes:
All phones - set up "family" Google account first (which means they will all share the same Market account). Sync calendar only. Turn off "Back up data with my Google Account".
Individual phones - set up the individual's Google account second, and sync contacts and mail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been doing this for a few months. I don't sync anything with the family account though, I just use it for the Market. I would like to know if the Back Up data with my Google Account option will clobber or replicate settings among multiple phones, or if it's smart enough to store the settings and link them to the SIM card ID or something.
Otherwise, it works great.
signal15 - I have run into a problem with the setup I described (and which you are also using I believe). Do you have multiple calendars owned by the "family" (shared) account? If so, are they still displaying OK?
In my case the "family" account has multiple calendars and shares them to the three family members' gmail accounts.
On phone 1 (mine) I am syncing only the calendars in my personal gmail account (which are shared out from the family calendar). Up to last night it worked OK (showing all the calendars), but as of last night all those calendars (except for the default calendar of my personal gmail account and the defaulty calendar of the family account) have disappeared from the phone - I can't see them listed in the settings where you get to see which calendars should be displayed.
Phones 2 and 3 are syncing the calendars in the family gmail account (which is the owner of the calendars), and they are working OK (so far).
One of the annoying aspects of all this is that you're never sure whether something went wrong on the phone, or at Google's end.
I fixed the problem of disappearing calendars, by following steps from the Pimlical forum.
I needed to force stop Calendar Sync Adapter and clear data & force stop Calendar Storage, then do a sync all.
I have my calendars back, but I really don't want to have to be doing this periodically. I really expected better from Google (I'm particularly annoyed at them right now because I recently discovered there's a long-term "functional anomaly" that prevents appointments more than a couple of months old from syncing to the phone).
This won't help with contact syncing but you can share a calendar with full read write privileges with multiple accounts already in google calendar. I believe you have to set it up from the desktop version of the Google calendar website but after that it works perfectly with your phones.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
Related
It seems that finally Google has released a sync for google calendar and contacts for WM (and iPhone) today.
Now to get it working...
http://www.google.com/mobile/winmo/sync.html
Waiting for email and tasks sync too.... Then I will use it for sure...
yea nice... im waiting for this... used http://www.scheduleworld.com all the time
Well I can't get it to work. First screen asks for my email address, then when I enter my log in on the third it blanks out the domain then it just won't sync at the end.
I got it up and running from the phone... First couple attempts failed, but I was choosing the Mail and tasks options, only selecting the Contacts and Cal entries (as per the instructions ) meant it worked normally.
Shorted (sic)
No idea what the issue with mine was, but I reset and tried afresh and it's now going great guns.
Only one calendar?
It only appears to sync the one calendar...
mine doesn't work, i get an error "Your account in Exchange Server does not have permission to synchronize with your current settings. Contact your admin"
Support Code: 85010004
anybody knows what this means?
I've not got it too work either yet, I wonder if it's being staged in a few accounts at a time?
{EDIT}
:doh, forgot I hadn't set a google calendar up on that g account.
As soon as I did and tried again it synched, maybe a coincidence but it's working now..
You have to choose Contacts and Calendar only... NOT Mail and Tasks
i have selected only Contacts & Calendar and i do have an active calendar account on google but still no luck
... i managed to sync my contacts by unticking the calendar option. i guess that would have to do for now
hmk ...
the google description says, i have to enter my whole emails adress and google as domain.
fun part is, i cant enter the domain anymore, as soon i add an "@" sign :/
I tried it and it does work, but it has some limitations.
@grayme
about which calendar it syncs, Google help says it syncs only main calendar, not the others.
this is not enough for some, i want to sync more than one calendar, and the only valid solution for now is the OggSync Pro, which can sync many calendars, and you even select which method to do for each (2 way, incoming only or outgoing only).
@achmed20
google documentation is for an older version maybe, not WM6.1, the first windows you put your gmail address and password, then in later steps it will ask for server.
I wish Google would extend this service for push emails with their Gmail service!
I have to admit i was always reluctant to use much of Google's services apart from searching because they have a very dominant position in the market. But they seem to be implementing the right things for their customers at no extra cost! Who could say no to that?
achmed20 said:
fun part is, i cant enter the domain anymore, as soon i add an "@" sign :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but the description says leave domain empty
anyway, I got it finally working once I unchecked calendar. But what I do not understand is why it always try to use the data connection even if I am connected to wifi
Looks nice,
I'm using Nuevasync, does this job the same way. i've got 6 agenda's on my account, and there all in sync..
Well there was an announcement recently that Google have licensed activesync so we may see more to come in this area
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/10/google_sync_for_iphone_windows_mobile/
I got it working =) nice way to sync my contacts with my google account =)
FrezoreR said:
I got it working =) nice way to sync my contacts with my google account =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you have tried to sync contacts? does it sync all contact detail? especially the birth date?
i configured my X1 to sync only calendar with Google Sync, for contacts i use Zyb and Funambol (still to decide which is better), i didn't use DashWire becuase it didn't have the birth date field synched...
It does not sync the birthday field. Sync-ed fields are:
- Name, title, company
- Email
- Phone
- Address
- IM
- More information (Notes field for example)
I thought it would be a great idea to sync my work outlook account with Google calendar via Google sync on the desktop.
I synced my outlook to Google calendar just find until I realized that there is no option to select a sub calendar so it synced thousands of events from my outlook to my primary calendar in Google.
Since my Google calendar account is also synced with my phone, my phone now has thousands of events with out the ability to toggle them getting my personal and work calenders all in one.
I went into Google via web, and deleted ALL events and wiped everything clean. I wanted my phone to also be clean. When I synced my phone the changes did not reflect what I did on the web.
I forced synced for the past 8 hours, and turned the phone off twice since then.
I found that it is syncing but not removing the old events. I change the calendar name in the web and it also changes it on my phone. But it never removes all those thousands of events off my phone.
Another test revealed that if I add an event on my phone, it will sync to the web.
If I add an event it will sync to my phone.
If I delete an event on my phone, it will delete it off the web.
Here is the issue, if I delete an event off the web, it does not delete it off my phone.
How can I remove these thousands of entries on my phone now?
I cannot remove my Google account and re-sync because when I tried it said my only option is to factory reset which I prefer not to do.
Thanks.
Try to change your google account password on web. When your phone won't sync then remove that account and add a new account but you can still use the same account name. I hope I make sense.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Since updating my Streak to 2.2, I seem to have lost any Calendar which is only visible on the Phone, but which does not synchronise with Google. I am sure that 2.1 had one (called "PC Sync", I think).
(Note: I keep all my data in Outlook. I want to share it with my phone. I do NOT want Google to have any access to it).
When I look in the Calendar application, there is only one Calendar listed (Menu - More - Calendars), which is the one from my linked GMail account. There are 3 options available for that calendar:
1) "synced, visible" - which means that I can see the data in the calendar application, but that it is also synced with my Google account;
2) "synced, not visible" - which means that I can NOT see the data in the calendar application, but that it is still synced with my Google account;
3) "not synced, not visible" - which means that it is not synced with my Google account (great!), but I can't see the data in the calendar application :-(
What I really want is a fourth option "not synced, visible", but this doesn't exist.
I can create new calendars from my PC when logged on to Google (but these have the same set of options on the phone and cannot be set to "not synced, visible"). I cannot find any way of creating a new calendar on the phone itself.
I'm almost ready to give up on Android and go back to WinMo, unless anybody here can help ...
Philip, the standard Android phone will have a native calendar and contact app that is visible. From there, you have the option to sync or not sync each with Google. Please do not give up on Android devices simply because Dell has done things differently than the standard Android device.
There is a solution. You must find a third party vendor that has a calendar provided with their software and install it. You have a requirement that the sync with Outlook does not use Google as the conduit. We must look at the chart at syncdroid dot net with a P under the Calendar column which indicates the have a Provided Calendar app. We see that there are 4 options available for you. MyPhoneExplorer is free, has a very good reputation, and uses USB or Wi-Fi to sync. VCOrganizer Pro has a good reputation and syncs via Wi-Fi. MyLinkAdvanced syncs with USB. CompanionLink for Outlook has a good reputation, free phone and email tech support, has a free 14 day trial and syncs through USB or Wi-Fi. If you would really like to use a wireless sync so the calendar is synced at any time, you can enroll with the $10 per month plan with CompanionLink to send your data with encryption through CompanionLink's servers to your Streak. Since it's encrypted, not even CompanionLink can "see" it.
If you are using Outlook 2010, you may not use MyLinkAdvanced because it is not compatible with Outlook 2010.
One great benefit of most non-native calendars is that you have the ability to search for an item. This is not possible with the native calendar app.
I personally use CompanionLink for Outlook and it works well.
Emperor Crusher said:
the standard Android phone will have a native calendar and contact app that is visible. From there, you have the option to sync or not sync each with Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately that's not quite the full story. As I explained, if I choose NOT to synchronise with Google, then there is no option to actually view my data within the Android Calendar application. (Contacts are not a problem, only the Calendar).
Emperor Crusher said:
There is a solution. You must find a third party vendor that has a calendar provided with their software and install it. You have a requirement that the sync with Outlook does not use Google as the conduit. We must look at the chart at syncdroid dot net with a P under the Calendar column which indicates the have a Provided Calendar app. We see that there are 4 options available for you. MyPhoneExplorer is free, has a very good reputation, and uses USB or Wi-Fi to sync.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm well aware of http://synchdroid.net, but unfortunately the information there is incorrect in respect of MyPhoneExplorer - it does not provide either Calendar or Contact applications on the Andoid platform (I know this because I use MPE to get my data from Outlook to my Dell Streak).
Emperor Crusher said:
VCOrganizer Pro has a good reputation and syncs via Wi-Fi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That has not been my experience with VCO, unfortunately - it duplicated my Contacts and corrupted my Outlook data. You just need to look at the comments in the Android Marketplace to see that many people have had problems with this application. What leads you to believe that it has "a good reputation"?
Emperor Crusher said:
One great benefit of most non-native calendars is that you have the ability to search for an item. This is not possible with the native calendar app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True - but the native application can share its data with other applications (such as CalWidget, which I find very useful).
Suggestions:
Jorte - provides an independent calendar app, can import csv files to get you Outlook data in
Offline Calendar - stand alone calendar app
AnCal - another standalone calendar
Philip,
Let me repeat what I said. The STANDARD ANDROID phone has a Calendar app that remains visible whether or not you sync. Put another way, Dell has made their Streak to be a NON-Standard Android, if what you say is true - and I have no reason to doubt you.
I said that MyPhoneExplorer has a very good reputation, but VCOrganizer just has a good reputation. I see both good and bad about every program on the forums. Comparably, VCOrganizer just has less bad than others, from what I have seen. Your milage may vary.
CompanionLink for Outlook syncs to it's own calendar, but it also syncs that calendar with the native calendar. Now, even if the native calendar is invisible, it stands to reason that the Companionlink DejaOffice Calendar will still sync with it. Therefore, Calwidget will still get information from it. Because Dell has, um, provided you with this opportunity, you can test the free trial of Companionlink to see if this is true.
Philip,
I saw this quote on the FJSoftware forum and they are the developers of MyPhoneExplorer. The answer came from their staff.
Does the app just facilitate syncing or does it contain it's own Calendar and Contact app?
Both. MyPhoneExplorer has basicly its own interface. But you can enable the sync f.e. to Outlook and other apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, that's where I got my information. Perhaps there was some confusion in the translation. I have asked them to clarify this.
MyPhoneExplorer
OK, I think that I understand the confusion.
MyPhoneExplorer maintains its own Contact and Calendar applications on the PC, but not on the (Android) phone, where it uses the native applications.
I think that this stems from its origins as a way to synchronise SonyEricsson phones with a PC, in the days before PIMs like Outlook were widely used.
I have the exact same problem as the OP and I think that most of the suggestions offered here miss the nature of the problem.
At least under GB with CM7 nightlies there is no way to have a standalone calendar that does not sync with Google. You can install AnCal or Offline Calendar and they will maintain their own files, but these are not visible to the standard Android APIs that 3rd party conduits which sync with Outlook rely on. I have verified this on my own phone, where I have three calendars: Personal (GCal), Work (GCal), and AnCal. When you open the stock Calendar app (or at least as stock as CM7 makes it), you ONLY see the two GCal calendars. When you launch the MPE client on the device you ONLY see the two GCal calendars. For app practical purposes AnCal might as well not exist.
Worst of all any attempt to sync with MPE or syncdroid dumps all your Outlook data on Google's servers. If you try to use this software to sync your work calendar you may end up fired for putting unsecured sensitive information in Google's hands. If your company has an exchange server this problem is solved, otherwise you are out of luck.
I am with the OP here.... Android REALLY REALLY needs a "visible, no sync" calendar option. Google cannot be trusted any more than any other corporation to safeguard sensitive data, forcing you to put all your calendar info on the cloud is just ridiculous.
The last bit may be a bug in the CM7 nightlies that may get resolved once the official release comes around. I though that I could work around the problem by turning off calendar sync under "Accounts and Sync" and leaving the calendar as "visible, sync". Since I don't use my GCal for practically anything of value I was ready to sacrifice the sync in order to prevent my work calendar from ending up on Google's servers. Turns out that CM7 ignores the global setting under "Accounts and Sync" and responds to the calendar sync setting in the Calendar app. Hope this is just a temporary bug that gets fixed.
GroovyGeek said:
...
I am with the OP here.... Android REALLY REALLY needs a "visible, no sync" calendar option. Google cannot be trusted any more than any other corporation to safeguard sensitive data, forcing you to put all your calendar info on the cloud is just ridiculous.
The last bit may be a bug in the CM7 nightlies that may get resolved once the official release comes around. I though that I could work around the problem by turning off calendar sync under "Accounts and Sync" and leaving the calendar as "visible, sync". Since I don't use my GCal for practically anything of value I was ready to sacrifice the sync in order to prevent my work calendar from ending up on Google's servers. Turns out that CM7 ignores the global setting under "Accounts and Sync" and responds to the calendar sync setting in the Calendar app. Hope this is just a temporary bug that gets fixed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, you're right - it's not a bug in a particular interim release. Froyo 2.2 does the same thing. There is no "visible, no sync" setting, and the sync settings for the phone are ignored if you want to view your calendar data (because you have to select SOME form of 'visible', which is only 'synced, visible').
Why in the world would Google FORCE you to sync your Calendar data if you want to view it? I agree, that seems rather insane.
- Tim
I've just rooted my first phone (the Aria) and installed CM6.1 and am quite impressed. But I had a question to pose to you Aria/Android experts:
I used to use HTC sync to sync my Outlook's personal calendar and contacts, separate from work and Google data, and this kept me from having to store my "private" data in the cloud or on company servers. But HTC Sync is no longer a reliable option for this mod or the other popular ones.
I did find that CM offered a "Phone-only (unsynched)" address book whenever I created a new contact on the Aria. Then I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could use MyPhoneExplorer to populate that address book! Halfway there!
There's no unsynched calendar that I can find, though. Is it possible to define and maintain a calendar in this (or any other 2.2+) mod that is not synced with a cloud or Exchange? Ideally, I could then point MyPhoneExplorer at it, but I'd settle for any working calendar whose data never leaves my phone.
Thanks for any guidance anyone can offer.
JimsEvilTwin said:
I've just rooted my first phone (the Aria) and installed CM6.1 and am quite impressed. But I had a question to pose to you Aria/Android experts:
I used to use HTC sync to sync my Outlook's personal calendar and contacts, separate from work and Google data, and this kept me from having to store my "private" data in the cloud or on company servers. But HTC Sync is no longer a reliable option for this mod or the other popular ones.
I did find that CM offered a "Phone-only (unsynched)" address book whenever I created a new contact on the Aria. Then I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could use MyPhoneExplorer to populate that address book! Halfway there!
There's no unsynched calendar that I can find, though. Is it possible to define and maintain a calendar in this (or any other 2.2+) mod that is not synced with a cloud or Exchange? Ideally, I could then point MyPhoneExplorer at it, but I'd settle for any working calendar whose data never leaves my phone.
Thanks for any guidance anyone can offer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I did was to set up an exchange account to create the calendar, but then set the account to not sync. I too use MPE and copy my events to the local calendar.
Ted, thanks for your reply. That is indeed a creative approach.
I already have my Aria synching to my office Exchange calendar (for office appointments, naturally). How do I setup the second calendar? Will I have to define a second Exchange account? Or a separate calendar folder/sub-older or data file?
Maybe I can simulate this approach by defining the new calendar using another Google account? I'll give that a try.
tedkunich said:
What I did was to set up an exchange account to create the calendar, but then set the account to not sync. I too use MPE and copy my events to the local calendar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like this
Will keep in ming if I ever need something like this...
Although can't imagine a use for it now
JimsEvilTwin said:
Ted, thanks for your reply. That is indeed a creative approach.
I already have my Aria synching to my office Exchange calendar (for office appointments, naturally). How do I setup the second calendar? Will I have to define a second Exchange account? Or a separate calendar folder/sub-older or data file?
Maybe I can simulate this approach by defining the new calendar using another Google account? I'll give that a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can always create a dummy account with hotmail and use the calendar associated with that account. Don't use exchange here, so I have no experience with setting up multiple accounts, but I'm sure it is fairly straight forward.
Sent from my Liberty using XDA App
stellarhopper said:
I like this
Will keep in ming if I ever need something like this...
Although can't imagine a use for it now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Work for a fortune 500 company that had very strict IT rules and you will know
Fyi, where I work, it is a terminatable offense to put company data on servers outside of the company firewall, including calendar data. So this is a very useful workaround for my situation. I was almost ready to revert back to Sense because it had the private calendar, but found this hack and was thrilled to toss out all remnants of Sense from my phone and computers - hated it that much.
T
Sent from my Liberty using XDA App
I set up a "scratch" calendar in Google and saw it defined in my Aria, but when I use the stock Calendar settings there to mark it as unsynched, it also makes the calendar invisible.
Ted, if you don't mind my asking, are you on 2.2 and what calendar app are you using?
JimsEvilTwin said:
I set up a "scratch" calendar in Google and saw it defined in my Aria, but when I use the stock Calendar settings there to mark it as unsynched, it also makes the calendar invisible.
Ted, if you don't mind my asking, are you on 2.2 and what calendar app are you using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm running CM7 with the stock calendar app. I looked at several of the calendar apps out there, but none had the integration with the LPP calendar widget.
Don't believe that you can have a google calendar that is not synced. I turned the exchange sync off on the main sync settings page
Sent from my Liberty using XDA App
I've got it working now!!
Forgive my "dense-ness." I haven't used Hotmail before and didn't know it offered Exchange functionality. I setup a new account at Live.com, synched it to my Aria, and then told the Aria to not sync its contacts and calendar there. Presto! Unsynched calendar (and contacts)! MyPhoneExplorer now has a private repository to work with.
Thanks a million to Ted for his directions!
I can not get my contacts and calendar entries in Hotmail to sync with Google Contacts and Calendar.
I have removed and added the Exchange Account. The calendars show in settings in Google Calendar, but not entries appear. Same for contracts.
When I do sync, it looks like it is working and displays a date/time of sync no errors.
When I installed the Outlook APP, they show in that app.
What is up. I think this started with the update to 7.0.1. It worked fine with 6.0.
Help?
I am having the exact same issue. No idea what is going on but being how Contacts and Calendar are sort of a standard "should not be this hard to get working" part of a "Smartphone" especially since it is pretty much just basic Exchange Sync support. It's little times like this that realllly infuriates me with Android. Things that should just work, don't and by the time you realize it sometimes, it just screws everything up or you loose data which Android users that aren't rooted and backing up with a 3rd party app (like Titanium Backup) get completely screwed and show up on Facebook as people that "Lost my Phone, Need Everybody's #" threads.
I put even blame on both Microsoft (for their movement to O365 for Hotmail accounts even) and Google (for just having the ****tiest Exchange integration imaginable for stock android).
I'm on 7 (pure Nexus rom), not on 7.1. Having said that, I've had great luck setting up exchange and outlook accounts using the Mailwise app from the play store. It sets up accounts well, and those accounts can be handled just fine in the accounts area of settings. Also, there is an option to bypass exchange security settings, so that I can avoid having to lock down my phone just to see my wife's work calendar. It may be worth a try for you.
I installed BlueMail which also allows adding and syncing the accounts native, but it is still a pain to always need just another app to do something that should be working natively on the device. Grr
Yep. PIA for sure.