Could I trust Google?!!! - Nexus S General

Greetings all. I’d like to ask a very strange question for someone that use android phones for a long time (now I’m using Nexus S). However, please bear with me for this introduction before I ask my question. Forgive me if it’s not repeated somewhere:
I’ve noticed in Nexus S that I can’t add contact/event locally. They should be @ google account or @ exchange account. And since I’m forwarding all my emails (POP3, hotmail, yahoo) to gmail for reading and replying, I could figure out that google knows the following about me:
- My emails (gmail and other email accounts)
- My Voice – Voice Search
- People I talk to (details, pictures, address, birthdays… ) – Contacts
- Events in my life – Calendar
- What I browse – Browser, Youtube, & Google Search
- My handwriting – Gesture Search
- Where I go – Maps
I also could understand that google prevented Facebook Sync because of they can’t access friends details!!
This really scared me. MY QUESTION IS:
Is there a way to save my contacts and events locally? I can remove gmail (use email app) instead. I can also remove Voice Search, Google Search, & Gesture Search. Alternative browsers are available too.

Use a flip phone if you are afraid of storing your information via cloud.
The point of a Nexus phone is to experience the Google experience.

you forget the govt listens in on every call you make... damn, if you're gonna be so pendantic, buy a cheap payg phone and not a smart phone

Should you really be posing such a question on an open forum?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I guess the answer is quite simple: If you don't trust them then don't use their products
It's not that I totally trust them, but things they collect are what most ppl already know about me. When I go somewhere, I use Facebook or Foursquare check-in. My calendar contains nothing but public holidays, public events, and meeting schedules. I never used gesture search or google voice so biometric data collecting is not a problem anyway

And if your entire life is filed on your phone or at least part of it, just think of the fact that big brother watches anyway, technology is becoming part of the road to consumption people depends on these devices now a days ........
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

See it in an positive way: You've got a backup of yourself for the case you've been erased accidentally!
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk

Lets be honest, why would Google care about the average Joe's personal information? I think the president or secret service should be asking "could I trust Google" instead of one of us. I DO NOT MEAN TO SOUND RUDE SO SORRY IF IT SEEM THAT WAY. JUST STATING MY OPINION.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

the better question is... can we trust apple? humancentipad?
but like I said in a previous post: if Google abusively used someone's information then everybody would panic and stop using their products. hell, look at Sony. I'm sure Microsoft's shares for Xbox significantly increased and people feel more comfortable on that platform.

Disable Syncing by tapping Menu -> Settings -> Accounts and Sync.
I believe this eliminates the account requirement; haven't tried it myself though as I'm not so paranoid without cause.

Use cyanogenmod without the google apps.
You can save contact information locally by the way, when you add a contact just choose "phone" instead of google account.

lovelymanmk said:
Greetings all. I’d like to ask a very strange question for someone that use android phones for a long time (now I’m using Nexus S). However, please bear with me for this introduction before I ask my question. Forgive me if it’s not repeated somewhere:
I’ve noticed in Nexus S that I can’t add contact/event locally. They should be @ google account or @ exchange account. And since I’m forwarding all my emails (POP3, hotmail, yahoo) to gmail for reading and replying, I could figure out that google knows the following about me:
- My emails (gmail and other email accounts) (Use maildroid)
- My Voice – Voice Search (Delete with titanium backup)
- People I talk to (details, pictures, address, birthdays… ) – Contacts (Use Cm7 it asks you to save it on gmail or not)
- Events in my life – Calendar (you can use any other calendar software)
- What I browse – Browser, Youtube, & Google Search (Use firefox 4.0.1)
- My handwriting – Gesture Search (Delete with titanium backup)
- Where I go – Maps (Use igo or ndrive)
I also could understand that google prevented Facebook Sync because of they can’t access friends details!!
This really scared me. MY QUESTION IS:
Is there a way to save my contacts and events locally? I can remove gmail (use email app) instead. I can also remove Voice Search, Google Search, & Gesture Search. Alternative browsers are available too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
10 char.......

Simple question that puts an end to all this ****ty non-sense:
If you have these concerns NOW, then why the hell did you bought the phone in the first place ?

Related

How the hell did Google get my entire contact database?

Some of you are aware of how "paranoid" I am, and refuse to have my Calendar and Contact synced via google.
Just before I did my firmware upgrade today, I used an application in the market place called MyBackup, but I carefully avoided choosing to backup to local (SD card) and not Online.
After I flashed the new firmware and made the restore, I discoverd to my horror that all my contacts are now having the symbol "g" within a square, which I understood to be indicative of the fact that these contact are now also stored in Google's server somewhere, and none of the contact are coming from my phone! So, MyBackup restored my entire contact database from my phone to the cloud rather than my phone? There is not single contact entry on my phone now. Everything I have is shown to be from Google.
Anyone knows how the hell could this happen? Is MyBackup a sneaky program which steal all these information and put it to the cloud without my consent?
I'm really really pissed
Now I'm forced to put in dummy tel number and address, birthday to all my contact and let Google get the false data, before abandoning Google phone platform all together. THIS IS EVIL, SNEAKY, UNETHICAL !!!
You really are paranoid .
I don't think MyBackup Pro actually stores all your contacts on some Google server - I think the app just assumes they are Google contacts. I've stopped using it for backing up contacts for a different reason: because it duplicates everything when restoring it - a real PITA. And by everything I mean everything - linked contacts become multiple independent contacts, some of them without any details and impossible to delete without a factory reset. I'm actually using Kies for that now (ironic, no? ).
Do you have a Google account for using the phone with? The simple thing do is to log in there and check whether your contacts are actually in there. If not then they probably aren't.
If you are that paranoid perhaps put the phone into airplane mode when you backup?
I think you are being a bit paranoid here. Besides google might just keep changelogs on the contact which would render you attempt with dummy info useless.
I just checked. I don't see any entry under contact when I signed in. Whew!
But please explain to me why all my contacts now are displayed under the google heading? (You know the display option in contact lets us select contact on the SIM, Phone, or Google?), now all my entries are under google. Yet, I don't see any thing there (yet?)
According to this thread, I think there's still a possibility that my details has already been taken without my permission, although it's not reflected in the contact list in google account.
I'm confused...
To anyone of you thinking that I'm paranoid, one day you will know I'm right. The world just isn't as innocent as you think.
I have to very seriously re-evaluate whether I would want an Android phone. It's way too open, anyone can take information from me, since there is no QA done on the market place applications.
Think someone's had a bit too much wacky tobacco.
GOT you info
I could be wrong but all my contact say Google except the one i use my HTC Sync to transfer my work email from Outlook.
By the way i can see all of your contacts. You were too late!!!
eaglesteve said:
To anyone of you thinking that I'm paranoid, one day you will know I'm right. The world just isn't as innocent as you think.
I have to very seriously re-evaluate whether I would want an Android phone. It's way too open, anyone can take information from me, since there is no QA done on the market place applications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, for starters,
1) The [G] means they have been imported into your Google account. Probably, as mentioned by your backup. Go to Google Contacts and you can wipe them. But no, I don't believe they took them without your permissions.
2) What makes your email addresses so valuable? Do you honestly believe Google cares? Hahaha... Clearly, you don't know anyone who works at Google. I met a bunch and they really are all legends, and they know your rights. They are normal people, not politicians. This is in comparison to Apple people I know, who I post stuff to on their facebook wall, they remove it secretly and tell me by email that they didn't want their manager to see it.
3) If you are concerned about privacy, why can you trust the "MyBackup" program. did you install an applications which isn't open source?
Perhaps you should get a dumb phone or hack up your own firmware and remove Google's services?
You should also consider avoiding entering ANY google account if you don't trust them. Why did you enter them in the first place? To enter the market where Google could track your downloads, your location and your firmware? Seriously, I strongly urge you to sell your Android phone if you don't trust them. Instead, get a dumb phone. I however believe my contacts list is useless to Google, so have no problems sharing information with them
i don't know about that backup program you are using.
however, if you are concerned about the contacts @ google.
just login to your google account, and select DELETE all contacts, in your account.
then it'll be all gone
you can do the same for all the emails too.
once deleted they will no longer have your data on their servers.
eaglesteve said:
Some of you are aware of how "paranoid" I am, and refuse to have my Calendar and Contact synced via google.
Just before I did my firmware upgrade today, I used an application in the market place called MyBackup, but I carefully avoided choosing to backup to local (SD card) and not Online.
After I flashed the new firmware and made the restore, I discoverd to my horror that all my contacts are now having the symbol "g" within a square, which I understood to be indicative of the fact that these contact are now also stored in Google's server somewhere, and none of the contact are coming from my phone! So, MyBackup restored my entire contact database from my phone to the cloud rather than my phone? There is not single contact entry on my phone now. Everything I have is shown to be from Google.
Anyone knows how the hell could this happen? Is MyBackup a sneaky program which steal all these information and put it to the cloud without my consent?
I'm really really pissed
Now I'm forced to put in dummy tel number and address, birthday to all my contact and let Google get the false data, before abandoning Google phone platform all together. THIS IS EVIL, SNEAKY, UNETHICAL !!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's BackupPro when it restores the contacts it assigns them as Google. I made the mistake of backing-up and restoring contacts with this and spent the next hour wondering how I've got contacts with 3 Google entries when I was expecting only two.
I have no problem syncing all my data with Google's servers, but I want to remember everyone that the right of privacy is an absolute requirement for a working democracy.
If eaglesteve does not want his data being stored at a central repository then he has every right to freak out when it appears as if his contacts were synced with Google's Servers.
Of course, if he should believe that Google is after him personally, well, then this is probably a bad sign of paranoia
flamingpitofhell said:
You really are paranoid .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought the same until I saw he's in Australia.... the government over there is screwed up big time. The crap they are trying to do to their Internet is appalling.
I'm also paranoid about the same...i did this to solve (ive not an english firmware so will try to give simmilar instructions):
go to contacts -> menu -> more -> import/export and save all contacts to a vcard on SD, and connect to pc and save that vcard on pc.
Go into settings -> privacy -> "erase all data" (dunno how its called on english firmware)
then i chose to erase data on SD also after unmounting it.
After that i restarted phone without simcard and with volup+home+power i cleared cache and hard reseted it.
After that the phone boots with factory settings and without simcard and keep it that way and connect to internet via wireless after booting.
Then i checked if i had no contacts, there were none so all okay... went to menu, definitions -> "accounts and sincronization" and i added my google account, but i unchecked first the auto sync and data in second plan above (the options above, dunno how they are called in english firmware). Then the google account was added. Then i disabled wireless and checked the options i disabled in last step (the auto sync and the other), i opened the google account i added in last step and disabled all syncs there (sync calendar, contacts and gmail).
After that i went to contacts and restored all contacts via the vcard, all are stored on phone after that (via the same import/export option).
As a final option i went to my gmail and deleted all contacts synced... now the phone is not syncing with google in any way but i can use the market because i have a google acc added...
dunno if i explained myself well, it worked for me that way.
I'd love to hear some worst case scenarios of what you think might happen if mr google checks your contacts and finds your mate Fred's email address.
And also why you'd think anyone would want to know your contacts.
are you worried that your network provider has a log of who you called and when?
if they find Fred's address, Fred is effed.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
well.... i dont like to give my info/data away, just really when needed.... some years ago maybe not, but today, google and other companies have so much info about so much people around the world, and you dont even know if they use it or not, you are not there to check... they can for example see the places you visit more because of gps tracking, if people in some zone visit shoppings a lot and at what times, who your friends are and if they use android and gmail also (by contacts), and assemble strategies for their business based on that, because all we are giving is free info about what we do, who we are, who our friends are....that, for business activities is very valuable. And im not talking about gmail, with all valuable info about everyone, they are able to see all your info since you have all stuff stored on their servers and they dont need to tell to you anything about it and you dont even know they maybe will do it... i may be wrong, but thats my point of view, i didnt had that oppinion since a friend i have, erased all his mails from gmail telling me "google can use all my info for marketing purposes or another stuff"...
They give us free services, but there is no such things as free services... we pay with info to improve their business, thats my point of view...
I'm not concerned with the email of my friends. I'm concerned that their photos, address, birthday, spouse's name, children's name, telephone number, work place number, fax number, and everything is on the cloud, which means any hacker could get it, and the consequence would be serious. It's not giving MY details away. It's giving my friend's details away, and I don't want to do that to my friends.
In Australia, we have this thing called the Privacy law. You just can't come around and grab my wifi address, email login password, and claim that you make a mistake unintentionally. All these data stealings are deliberate.
For those of you saying that it's not a big deal, could you all in your next post show me your real photos, address, name, telephone numbers, birthday, spouse's name, children's name, and the other typical contact info on this forum.
So, now they grabbed my contact without my consent. Have they also grabbed my eWallet password file and are now cracking it?
I can't believe you guys are not seeing problem here.
Nuf said.
as long as google don't try to sell me anything they can do what they want with my data.
I'm pretty sure my bank and credit card company know more about me than google and their sales and junk mail are certainly more annoying than anything google ever did to me.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

[Q] Outlook <-> Android sync without gmail account

Hi everyone,
I just bought new Motorola Defy and was quite excited about the phone. Finally a smartphone that can survive a little bit rough handling. It has quite good HW and for a reasonable price. There was nothing to think about; I just had to have it! Device of my dreams!
Now the dream is turning into a little nightmare. It seems like I can only use my phone if I let it send every piece of information straight to google (and Motorola). Have you read those thousand lines long agreements telling you, that you must obey this and that while they are responsible for nothing? Did you too think: “What the hell, do I no longer have any rights?” Never mind I tried my very best to avoid this. I created a dummy gmail account (to be able to use android market), disabled as many background data as possible and did my best to have everything under control.
And now the crucial part of my story: I desperately need to use my calendar. I have everything there. I need to sync my work calendar with my mobile and when I’m out of office, I need to be able to plan anyway and then sync it all back. We MUST use Microsoft Outlook. And the most important part (which many may try to discuss about, but there is really nothing to discuss as it is just a fact): everything MUST stay just in my phone, no kind help of google storing my data who knows where.
It was quite difficult to find a free program that would be able to sync my data just from Outlook to Android and back without google. Finally I found two which seemed to be OK: MyPhoneExplorer and Android-Sync. Life was great once again! So I created a test Outlook calendar at home, filled it with some events and tried to sync it with Defy. It was working! Splendid! When I went to Calendar -> More -> My calendars, there was a calendar named “Default”. OK.
As the calendar options were bit less than I expected from it I downloaded from android market application “Calendar Snooze”. Everything was as I was used from Windows Mobile 6.1 and as I needed it to be. I was prepared to sync my real work calendar.
The horror! While playing with my new mobile exploring even more settings and abilities I saw it. Suddenly my calendar was named as my dummy google account. What? Why? What if it sent all information to google despite all my efforts? IT REALLY DID! Though I tried so hard, it was all there and I wasn’t even asked whether I want it!!! I was furious! Unbelievable! Such arrogance! I was only thanking God for my paranoia and using test calendar. You can never be paranoid enough with google obviously!
I deleted all information from google calendar, reset mobile to factory default and started to try again. No google account this time. Knowing which applications I wanted I downloaded them from every possible website except android market (thanks God for such websites!). Then I wanted to sync my calendar once more, but hidden from google’s all-seeing eye. “Surprise, surprise,” said Mr. google. It was impossible! My beloved phone kept telling me: “You must synchronize a calendar before creating a new event. You can set up a calendar using google Mail or a Corporate Sync account.” WHAT???! So I created an fake e-mail account. No, it had to be an exchange or google account! I cannot use exchange. Security policy denies that. (Again, I saw many desperate people searching for solution of same problem as I have and many wise guys saying: “Go to your IT specialists and tell them to allow that.” (or something like that) NO, it’s nonsense! They know why it’s so and no company will change their security policy, just because of one employee trying to sync his mobile. So, please no such suggestions (even well meant), it doesn’t help. Just take it as a fact, please, as I have to.)
I also tried to set google account and then cancel sync settings (an advice I saw somewhere). After creating google account I went to Settings -> Accounts -> selecting google account and there are options: “Sync Calendar”, “Sync Contacts” and “Sync gmail”. None of them can be disabled. And once created it is impossible to remove google account from my phone (except from resetting it)!!!
So here I am and I don’t know what else I can do to sync my Outlook calendar with Android’s calendar, without being scared I’ll find sensitive data in google’s greedy hands. Can anyone help me, please?
If I may humbly ask: please no questions like: “Why did you buy android phone if you don’t want to use all google applications?” I can imagine that it may be a great advantage for many of you, but I think it should be a choice, not a must. What’s more my e-book reader, music player, camera, internet browser, games, photo gallery, SMS, QuickOffice and much more works perfect even without google. (Let’s hope it will not change, but who knows if people don’t treasure their privacy and freedom… ). Also if there was same hardware with Windows Mobile I would buy it after this frustrating experience.
I’m sorry for this loooooooooooooooooooong reading, but maybe this will prevent some people from “attacking” me, just because I don’t have the same needs and preferences and opinions as them. This thread may even be much more brief and helpful without it.
Also I’m sorry if I sound offensive, it’s meant to be defensive after what I saw at many forums.
I’ll be very grateful for any constructive advice or solution. I wish you all a nice day!
www.syncdroid.net
Hello 999phonebug!
Thank you for your tip. When I was looking for the software to use for syncing, I used website you recommended. Based on information there I’ve chosen Android-Sync and MyPhoneExplorer. They really should sync my data without sending it to google. But there’s a problem: if I don’t provide information about my google account, calendar doesn't let me to create any event. When I connect phone to computer and run MyPhoneExplorer it doesn’t sync nothing. When I run Android-Sync it says: “Warning: Default calendar not found on this Android device. Please fix this issue to enable the calendar sync function.” I could just provide gmail info and create google account and it would all work fine, but then (once connected to network) it would sync with google again. Creating account, synchronizing and then deleting account in my phone is not an option too as phone won’t let me delete that account. Is there any solution for that? Something I cannot see? Thanks in advance for any advice!
You can disable calendar sync by going into the account details. That should do.
Or if you've rooted, you can altogether delete the calendar sync adapter from /system/app
I have tried to disable synchronization by changing account settings. I went to Settings -> Accounts -> selecting google account and there are options: “Sync Calendar”, “Sync Contacts” and “Sync gmail”. None of them can be disabled. Rooting the mobile is the last option for me, because I have it only 5 days now and I don’t know much about such things. Also I don’t want to lose warranty (I guess the process is irreversible, right?). But it’s good to know there’s any way how to solve this situation. If there’s nothing else, I’ll have to choose whether to loose warranty or life without being able to sync my calendar. Tough choice… Do you know whether my problem could be solved by official Android 2.2, which should be released very soon? I'm very grateful to you for trying to help me...
google-the_big_brother said:
I have tried to disable synchronization by changing account settings. I went to Settings -> Accounts -> selecting google account and there are options: “Sync Calendar”, “Sync Contacts” and “Sync gmail”. None of them can be disabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's odd, I can deselect "Sync Calendar" in my account settings page
Im going to respond to this thread seriously in the hope that it isnt a wind up, because thats how it reads
maybe im missing something but the only way to wirelessly sync a calendar to your phone is to have your calendar on a server such as exchange, yahoo, google etc.
there are some apps you can pay for which will sync with any calendar but I have looked into them. they are available in the market, but seeing as you dont like this it may be an issue
Sorry, I know im going to sound like a pigheaded troll which I always try to avoid being but in your own words...
"Why did you buy android phone if you don’t want to use all google applications?"
Its a google phone, its made by google and its based around their services. Why not get a windows 7 phone and its likely your problems are solved, even my old nokia n95 would sync with outlook without a google account. You could even try HP (palm), blackberry or good old symbian. Its like youve got a deep hatred for google and then for some unknown reason gone and bought the ONLY phone operating system made by them as part of some sadistic way of trying to make your own life difficult.....
honestly I would consider selling, yes its a tough little phone but there are cases to toughen the weaker ones.
I use MyPhoneExplorer to sync over USB, it works well. The phone will not auto sync with the Google calender unless you go into the 'MyCalenders' option and then it will start syncing.
Hi everyone and thanks for replies...
Stunno, according to what you say, it seems, that this could be ROM dependent problem. Info about my phone:
System version: Blur_version.2.51.1.MB525.Retail.en.DE
Firmware version: 2.1-update1
Basdeband version EPU93ST2_U_03.0A.01
Kernel version: 2.6.29
Build number: JRDNEM_U3_2.51.1
Maybe updating to official Android 2.2 (once released) would solve the problem. (?)
Diggedy, I don't need to find an application for syncing. Adnroid-Sync and MyPhoneExplorer seem to be OK. But the problem is that calendar won't let me work unless I create an account. It cannot be exchange and when it's google, it sends all my events to google calendar which I don't want it to. And as for the google Android phone: This is the only phone that has everything I need from it. You are right about protective cases, but if I can have mobile (smartphone to be correct) which is so well made so it can defy D) dust and water, I prefer such phone. And except this google issue, there is absolutely nothing I could charge the phone with. And the last reason: I don't want to give up so easily, especially now when it seems this problem can be solved. Anyway, thanks for your reply and for being nice to me even though our opinions differ.
SimboXXX, my phone tries to sync as soon as I connect to wi-fi (Edge and others are disabled). It's strange how same model can act differently. Maybe it again depends on ROM version etc.
Don't know about an upgrade, your phone is a newer version than mine, I'm only on firmware 2.21 on a sim free UK phone, completely stock.
Sent from my MB525 using Tapatalk
stunno said:
Don't know about an upgrade, your phone is a newer version than mine, I'm only on firmware 2.21 on a sim free UK phone, completely stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm afraid I don't understand you. My firmware is 2.1-update1, yours is 2.21 so your phone is a newer version, right? But never mind, I guess I found something useful there: supportforums.motorola.com/thread/43287. I'm gonna try that...
would this be useful
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.dreamstep.wYahoo_Calendar&feature=search_result
you can sync outlook to almost anything so that side of it wouldnt be an issue
or try
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.companionlink.clusbsync&feature=search_result
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.vecal.vcorganizer&feature=search_result
Here is my recent progress: I obeyed the advice from website mentioned at my previous post. You can find there: “Put the "Power control" widget (in Downloaded Widgets) on the screen and it has a button to en/disable sync. Enabling sync in the widget brings the check boxes back.” So I enabled sync in the widget and than went to Settings -> Accounts -> selecting google account and there were options: “Sync Calendar”, “Sync Contacts” and “Sync gmail” each with checkbox to enable or disable! Hurray!!!
Then I unchecked all those checkboxes to make sure nothing is going to by synchronized and started testing. I created some events in my calendar. Then I disabled and enabled sync button at the Power control widget. It didn't affect the account settings, all checkboxes remained unchecked. I also restarted phone and turned wi-fi on. Then I checked google calendar, and no events were there.
Then I installed calendar snooze to extend calendar functions. I enabled and disabled sync button few times at the Power widget and turned wi-fi on and off few times. And all my events appeared in the google calendar! So I suspect application “calendar snooze” for being responsible for the background sync... Unfortunately I cannot be sure. Checkboxes for “Sync Calendar”, “Sync Contacts” and “Sync gmail” at the google account settings remain unchecked. When I saw all my events synchronized I changed some at my phone and again started enabling and disabling sync button (at the Power widget) and wi-fi and the phone itself too. But no change as for those events at my google calendar (meens no synchronization took place so far). I guess I'll have to test it all again.
However at least I know about the magical sync button at the Power widget.
out of curiosity, why do you not trust google with your calendar information?
It’s not just about me not trusting google. I have company sensitive data in my calendar. No company will entrust its data to any third party.
Anyway, even if I didn’t have such data in my calendar, I would follow my golden rule which is: “Minimize your electronic foot-print!” If I don’t need that information uploaded on the web, why would I let google have it? My privacy means very much to me. That’s the reason why I never yielded to facebook, twitter and other madness, willingly spreading tons of information about myself and why at the great days of cloud computing I’ll have all my data stored and encrypted on my hdd. I’m sure I sound extremely paranoid to many people, but such paranoia never cost me anything, it can only pay.
Even though I’m not so naïve to think I can protect my privacy from everyone and every company. My mobile operator and even google knows abou me more, than I like. Isn’t that scary???
From the man who has tried it all. Here we go
You can most definately disable Google sync (calendar, contacts, email) in accounts. No need for rooting. If this is not available to you then I guess something is wrong.
I do NOT use Motoblur as I do not want my personal information on the internet.
I do use google sync for calendar, email and contacts as follows:
Calendar - full sync as this is my personal calendar and the information here isnt something that I need to keep secure
eMail - same as above
Contacts: for each contact type Android will create an identity - e.g. google contact (and that will be PER google account you have - you can multiple google accounts and for each account you can chose what you want to sync from settings > accounts
I chose to sync my google contacts for my main google account as this basically holds only people's email addresses. In addition to this android will also create a Liteadress book category. When adding a contact in google (online via internet) it automaticlaly syncs to android if sync is enabled in settings > accounts. If you creat an account ON the android phone itself you chose which of the android accounts category that entry should go in (you can chose for it to go to just Liteaddress book or one of the google accounts or all google accounts or liteadrress book and google accounts). If you chose for it to go ONLY in liteaddressbook then it will NOT sync to google even if you have contacts sync on in settings > accounts. Example as follows:
Google account 1
google account 2
Liteaddress book
In settings > accounts I have contact sync enabled for google 1, calendar sync enabled for google 1, mail sync enabled for google 1 and 2. In contacts, settings I chose that contacts are added to liteaddress book and google account 2
I create create a mail on android and send it - it will be syncd to which ever account i send it from
1 create a calendar entry on android - it will be syncd if i create it google 1
I create a contact entry on android - it will by linked to two caregories namely; Lite address book (this will stay on the phone) and google 2. Since google 2 is set NOT to sync contacts it will not send this contact to the internet.
I create a contact entry on android but this time tell the phone to create it in Lite address book and google account 1 - the information will be sent to google account 1 on the internet
I create an entry on adroid but tell it to creat it in liteaddress book - it will stay on the phone
end of example
For outlook sync I use a product called touchdown - the best you can buy and ive tried a few. this however requires to sync via exchange which I beleive you dont want to do. However, since your reason for not using exchange is because your company says the information must stay on the phone (unless im mistaken) then you need not worry. Touchdown works independently of Android sync. Everything you sync via touchdown will stay on the phone - its a completely independent applicaiton and VERY use to use and extremely flexible. You DO have the option to copy (auto or manuall) your contacts, downloaded from exchange via touchdown) to your phone. These contacts will be in a seprate cateogry and as such will not sync to google.
Does the above solve your problem or are you looking to sync ONLY to outlook without using Exchange? there is an option for that too which I can go in to but since above post is long enough already I wont bother with it unless you specifically ask.
NOTE: just to clarify, it IS possible to keep all your info on your phone - just a matter of working the best way to achieve this. You WONT need to root your phone for this.
Hi jean001luc, thanks for your reply.
I’m not looking for an application for Outlook <-> Android synchronization. I found MyPhoneExplorer and Android-Sync and they both seem to be OK. However, that application touchdown seems to be very good and completely separate calendar is what I would need. Unfortunately I cannot synchronize directly with Exchange (I think it’s because all protocols except for the one needed for Outlook <-> Exchange communication are blocked) and even if I could I’m not allowed to use non-freeware program. So even if I bought touchdown, I wouldn’t be allowed to use it (again company policy which I cannot change).
But what I definitely need to know is how did all my calendar events uploaded on the internet to my google calendar despite my tries to block this action. I unchecked all checkboxes at my google account settings (checkboxes for “Sync Calendar”, “Sync Contacts” and “Sync gmail”) and it has copied anyway. But only once. Since then no changes were synchronized… It’s very odd and it makes me angry because obviously I don’t have it under control even though I try so hard.
google-the_big_brother said:
Hi jean001luc, thanks for your reply.
I’m not looking for an application for Outlook <-> Android synchronization. I found MyPhoneExplorer and Android-Sync and they both seem to be OK. However, that application touchdown seems to be very good and completely separate calendar is what I would need. Unfortunately I cannot synchronize directly with Exchange (I think it’s because all protocols except for the one needed for Outlook <-> Exchange communication are blocked) and even if I could I’m not allowed to use non-freeware program. So even if I bought touchdown, I wouldn’t be allowed to use it (again company policy which I cannot change).
But what I definitely need to know is how did all my calendar events uploaded on the internet to my google calendar despite my tries to block this action. I unchecked all checkboxes at my google account settings (checkboxes for “Sync Calendar”, “Sync Contacts” and “Sync gmail”) and it has copied anyway. But only once. Since then no changes were synchronized… It’s very odd and it makes me angry because obviously I don’t have it under control even though I try so hard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends when you stopped the sync. It's possible that you synchronised your calendar wth outlook and then terminated the sync option for google?
OR, you created the google account after the outlook sync? When the google account is created the default option is to sync everything and this sync can take place fairly quickly. So, is it possible that sync took place before you had the option to disable google sync. I cant see any other way calendar would have synchronised.
Going forward though you can test by editing your calendar to make sure it doesnt sync by creating entried on the phone (after unchcking the sync option in settings > accounts).
Not sure how Android sync works but there are syns applications which RELY on google sync - e.g. when you do your outlook sync it will send the data to google and then the phone downloads it from google to complete the sync. If Android sync uses that then it explains why your data is on google.
Quite suprised your company doesnt allow paid application to be used. Its normally the other way round - most corporates do not allow free apps as they have limited support and possibly full of bugs.
You could always try Missing Sync to sync with Outlook, although I have had problems with synchronisning contacts with this software as it wont sync contacts that are created or edited on the android...this is a known problem with product but the company isnt doing anything to fix it...ive supplied them with all the information they need but they are too busy doingn other things - even though they acknowledge there is a problem.
As an aside, are you aware you can chose to display different google calendars within the calendar app on android? this way you can have multiple calendars but only display/sync the one you want - sync of course wont take place for a specific calendar unless settings > account sync is enabled
Well the thing is I first filled all information to connect my phone to my google account (in my phone), immediately after that disabled all three checkboxes for synchronization, then created some fake events in my phone calendar, did some turning on and off (wi-fi, sync button on the Power widget and even the phone). Meanwhile I was checking internet google calendar if synchronization took place. Negative. Then I installed calendar snooze, did some turning on and off few times and it was all there! But since then no changes done in my mobile synced to my google calendar. But in whole process I never synced my phone with Outlook, I was just using phone calendar and did all changes there… I’ll have to do all this once again and check whether sync didn’t take place just after installing calendar snooze.
jean001luc said:
As an aside, are you aware you can chose to display different google calendars within the calendar app on android? this way you can have multiple calendars but only display/sync the one you want - sync of course wont take place for a specific calendar unless settings > account sync is enabled
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess you mean more calendars created in one google account, right? So I could create one more calendar in my google account, leave it empty and then display it in my android calendar app and if something would try to sync it would be this empty calendar. Then when I would like to see my real calendar or sync it with outlook I would just unchecked that fake one and checked the real one. Did I get your point? But it seems quite too complicated and fiddly.
I've only skipped through your thread & much of what's mentioned I've never used so don't fully understand it but if you still get the problem where the google calendar is still syncing even though the sync checkbox is disabled you can disable wifi/data access for the google calendar sync by using Droidwall BUT you would need to be rooted for that. Without going through the thread again I can't remember if you didn't want to root the phone.
*edit - having re-read a couple of your posts I'm not sure if my post is what you are after.

Android/WP8 apps availability list

Hi guys!
I am a happy android user on a galaxy nexus. I was waiting for the nexus 4 but I live in Italy and it is going to sell for about 600€ versus the 350$ so I'm pretty disappointed. I started looking around and I'm curious about the new WP8 and, especially, the Lumia 920. I haven't had a Nokia in ages!
The deal breaker is the app eco system.
I am a big Google services user and have understood that there is total sync capability while I m still undecided on the app part.
Is there a site with a list where I can find the most common apps or app categories on android and see if there is a counter part in wp 8?
My last resort would be going on the windows market place and just look around.
Thank you!
PS I searched in the forum but wasn't able to find anything very specific
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
The best thing to do is search the marketplace yourself. You will find apps for almost everything you do on android, except those rendered useless by the system (in WP, system apps are actually doing a pretty damn good job and do not require replacement from the marketplace), but they are likely under different names, so a list would be very difficult and pointless to compile.
I switched from Android to Windows Phone 8 and i have everything i used on Android. Sure i miss some apps, like PowerAMP; Google+, a good Facebook App and a AD Blocker app. But i can life without them. There are some apps as well which sucks like WhatsApp, but i guess WhatsApp is goin to fix that soon.
What are your favorite apps on Android ?
I consider essential apps like
Google reader,
adobe reader,
kindle,
evernote,
medscape,
epocrates,
Dropbox,
whatsapp (I barely eve use SMS'),
And of course Google maps
I'm a doctor so I use a lot of medical apps but seeing the shortage on android vs iOS I bell believe wp8 only to be worse...
I have to ask what is the point of using Evernote as in Windows environment you have OneNote? You sync your OneNotes automatically to your Outlook (or Live/Hotmail) account and can sync to desktop.
Well, first of all I don't have a Microsoft environment (I have a Mac, galaxy nexus, iPad and nexus 7!) and second I have never had a windows phone so I really don't know how all the syncing works!
Since I work on different platforms I use drop box for documents and evernote for notes and everything is always perfectly synced!
mrc87 said:
I consider essential apps like
Google reader,
adobe reader,
kindle,
evernote,
medscape,
epocrates,
Dropbox,
whatsapp (I barely eve use SMS'),
And of course Google maps
I'm a doctor so I use a lot of medical apps but seeing the shortage on android vs iOS I bell believe wp8 only to be worse...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what Google reader does, but it is not needed.
Adobe reader is present
Kindle is present
Evernote is present, although you have one note.
Drop box is present (although you have skydrive)
whatsapp is not needed
Google maps is not needed (you have offline maps: nokia maps)
As for other medical apps, i am not entirely sure what kind of medical apps you would expect to have, but there's plenty of WP ones.
Even if you use a MAC< getting a Microsoft account and using hotmail/outlook is easy(you only need a browser).
mcosmin222 said:
Not sure what Google reader does, but it is not needed.
Adobe reader is present
Kindle is present
Evernote is present, although you have one note.
Drop box is present (although you have skydrive)
whatsapp is not needed
Google maps is not needed (you have offline maps: nokia maps)
As for other medical apps, i am not entirely sure what kind of medical apps you would expect to have, but there's plenty of WP ones.
Even if you use a MAC< getting a Microsoft account and using hotmail/outlook is easy(you only need a browser).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do say that whatsapp is not needed?
Google reader is a RSS feed app
I already have a hotmail account, I just prefer to use less accounts possible (I know, I can filter and forward messages!)
I prefer Dropbox because all my friends and colleagues have it so it is just easier to handle files.
Off topic: just went to see a Lumia 920 and it looks really nice!
I think "WhatsApp not needed" is a typo. WP has WhatsApp and they are about to update it too.
---------- Post added at 06:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:44 PM ----------
WP is like Android. MS wants you to have Outlook/Hotmail/Live email address to access marketplace etc. So you need to have the account. You dont need to sync the emails to your phone if you dont want. Also you use that account to connect with Twitter and Facebook chat. With that account you get SkyDrive space of I think 7gb for free (I got it upgraded to 25gb for free, but that offer is not valid anymore)
mrc87 said:
Why do say that whatsapp is not needed?
Google reader is a RSS feed app
I already have a hotmail account, I just prefer to use less accounts possible (I know, I can filter and forward messages!)
I prefer Dropbox because all my friends and colleagues have it so it is just easier to handle files.
Off topic: just went to see a Lumia 920 and it looks really nice!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dropbox is present and accounted for.
As for RSS feed apps, you have plenty. Google is not really active in Windows Phone area, as they will do everything to undermine the platform.
As for using accounts, Windows Phone has a very clean way of managing accounts. Just add them one by one, and you get different apps for each one of them, they are all nicely filtered and stuff like that. You can easily make a hotmail account for the marketplace and keep using your old accounts for the rest of the things you do.
ATM i have 3 accounts attached to my lumia 800: My "marketplace" account which happens to be my main email address, my developer account, under which i publish apps, and some yahoo email for family members. They are all working nicely.
@OP that's kind of a hard question. The apps depends on each user. Some people don't use any while others depend on very specific apps.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Is there any good app that plays AVI or MKV files? for Android, there's MX player is there an equivalent app for W8?
I use Nextgen Reader for the Google reader app. Works better than the Google app on Android imo.
Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express
spex714 said:
Is there any good app that plays AVI or MKV files? for Android, there's MX player is there an equivalent app for W8?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far, there are no apps that let you play alternative formats/containers.
Regarding the OP: I can't find any medical apps on the marketplace, I'm sorry
You need a Microsoft account but you do not need another hotmail account. My Microsoft account is my corporate email address.
Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express
shield001 said:
You need a Microsoft account but you do not need another hotmail account. My Microsoft account is my corporate email address.
Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What, are you saying I could use my o365 account? I dont think so but please say Im wring here. My o365 account is configured so that my address is [email protected].
Loco5150 said:
What, are you saying I could use my o365 account? I dont think so but please say Im wring here. My o365 account is configured so that my address is [email protected].
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can definitely use your O365 account for e-mail, etc.; if you also have a Microsoft Account (a.k.a. .Net Passport/Windows Live/other names it's gone by in the past) set up using that same e-mail address, you can use it as your main account that's tied to the Store, etc. to buy apps and whatnot. I was doing exactly that for a while ([email protected] hosted on Office365 and also tied in as a Microsoft Account). I'm no longer using Office365 to host that e-mail (just moved it to outlook.com for free since it's a personal account), but it's still my Microsoft Account. It all ties together nicely with whatever combination of accounts you use.
I was just looking at the app list for wp8 and its getting better.
mrc87 said:
I consider essential apps like
Google reader,
adobe reader,
kindle,
evernote,
medscape,
epocrates,
Dropbox,
whatsapp (I barely eve use SMS'),
And of course Google maps
I'm a doctor so I use a lot of medical apps but seeing the shortage on android vs iOS I bell believe wp8 only to be worse...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being a 4th year pharmacy student I can answer your medical application questions. There is no epocrates, medscape, lexicomp, clinical pharmacology, etc...
But there is a PubMed Mobile not made by them as far as I can tell. Just shows you search results and then when you click one it takes you to the website. Found an application called Drugs&Medications it's a dollar and tells you facts about drugs (company, dosage form, common indications, and links you to the FDA website didn't buy it so can't fact check it).
That being said I found some applications from http://www.unboundmedicine.com/products/windows_phone/ on the store.
So yes you're right it is worse. I've already accepted that I'll have to switch to an iPhone for my rotations lol.
bkaul said:
You can definitely use your O365 account for e-mail, etc.; if you also have a Microsoft Account (a.k.a. .Net Passport/Windows Live/other names it's gone by in the past) set up using that same e-mail address, you can use it as your main account that's tied to the Store, etc. to buy apps and whatnot. I was doing exactly that for a while ([email protected] hosted on Office365 and also tied in as a Microsoft Account). I'm no longer using Office365 to host that e-mail (just moved it to outlook.com for free since it's a personal account), but it's still my Microsoft Account. It all ties together nicely with whatever combination of accounts you use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyway if you could tie marketplace to o365 account, you still need Live (Hotmail or Outlook etc) to connect with Facebook chat and twitter. It is still best to have the Live account as main account and other accounts like o365 secondary.

Google drops Exchange ActiveSync. What does it mean for Windows Phone?

Starting February 1st 2013, Windows Phone users won't be able to create full Gmail accounts on Windows Phone. Does Microsoft have a plan?
This afternoon Google has announced the discontinuation of their support of Exchange ActiveSync (EAS aka the standard for many who use email) after January 30th 2013. The question you may be wondering is, how does it affect Windows Phone?
More here from Windows Phone Central http://www.wpcentral.com/google-drops-exchange-activesync-what-s-it-mean-windows-phone
Is this going to affect you ? I sync email, contacts and calendar from google so will this be shut off to existing users who are already setup at the end of January ?
I don't really want to move all my gmail stuff which is work related to microsoft, and I also don't want to give up my 820 so this has thrown a spanner in the works for me.
This means:
1. If you already have your Gmail account set up as a Exchange ActiveSync account on February 1st, it will continue to work for you.
2. If you try to add a new Gmail account (or delete your existing one and try to re-add it, or get a new phone/device/tablet) after February 1st, you will no longer be able to connect it as an Exchange ActiveSync account, which means no tasks, calendar, and contacts.
3. Calendar sync has already been disabled, so if you try to add a Gmail account and sync your Calendar to your phone as of yesterday, it will no longer sync your Calendar.
4. You can still connect your Gmail e-mail using IMAP or POP3, so mail will continue to function after February 1st. Though you may have to recreate your account so that it works properly.
5. This affects any device that uses Exchange ActiveSync as a way to sync information through Google. So not just Windows Phone, but Microsoft Outlook, some older Nokia and Sony devices, other random devices/phones.
Ah thanks
Sent from my RM-825_eu_euro1_217 using Board Express
If you are using Google Apps and hosting a custom domain, nothing should change for you. As far as I know, even Calendar sync still works. However, Google Apps no longer offers a free version, that happened about two weeks ago, most likely in preparation for killing off EAS.
A few months ago this would have really irked me, but when I decided to try Outlook.com, it won me over. More importantly, thanks to Microsoft's free Live Domains hosting service, I've moved all my private, custom domains over to use Outlook.com as the default provider.
It's a safe bet that Microsoft will never discontinue support for Exchange Activesync, so I'm actually really happy. Plus, the deep integration with SkyDrive and other MS services means, simply enough, that I don't really give a **** what Google does anymore. I don't use their mediocre online office tools, nor their Drive service, nor their excellent but ultimately irrelevant in the face of Nokia, maps service. On top of that, the TubePro app for WP8 is far superior to the Google provided Youtube app on iOS or Android, so again, I'm not at all worried.
Windows phone 8 doesn't *need* Google.
jasongw said:
A few months ago this would have really irked me, but when I decided to try Outlook.com, it won me over. More importantly, thanks to Microsoft's free Live Domains hosting service, I've moved all my private, custom domains over to use Outlook.com as the default provider.
It's a safe bet that Microsoft will never discontinue support for Exchange Activesync, so I'm actually really happy. Plus, the deep integration with SkyDrive and other MS services means, simply enough, that I don't really give a **** what Google does anymore. I don't use their mediocre online office tools, nor their Drive service, nor their excellent but ultimately irrelevant in the face of Nokia, maps service. On top of that, the TubePro app for WP8 is far superior to the Google provided Youtube app on iOS or Android, so again, I'm not at all worried.
Windows phone 8 doesn't *need* Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OOH, wow, I didn't know they offered that for free, I was about to buy an exchange email thru rackspace! Might have to give that a go.
jasongw said:
A few months ago this would have really irked me, but when I decided to try Outlook.com, it won me over. More importantly, thanks to Microsoft's free Live Domains hosting service, I've moved all my private, custom domains over to use Outlook.com as the default provider.
It's a safe bet that Microsoft will never discontinue support for Exchange Activesync, so I'm actually really happy. Plus, the deep integration with SkyDrive and other MS services means, simply enough, that I don't really give a **** what Google does anymore. I don't use their mediocre online office tools, nor their Drive service, nor their excellent but ultimately irrelevant in the face of Nokia, maps service. On top of that, the TubePro app for WP8 is far superior to the Google provided Youtube app on iOS or Android, so again, I'm not at all worried.
Windows phone 8 doesn't *need* Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could I please ask something about the Live Domains thing. What sort of control do you get on top of a normal Outlook.com account? Can you switch off ads like with a Google Apps account? I have a free Apps account right now and not sure whether to pay for it or move to an Outlook.com account and switch my domain over to Microsoft.
Http://domains.live.com to sign up.
What you get when you setup your domains for the Outlook.com servers, which is fairly simple (it involves proving domain ownership via DNS TXT record creation, and assigning new MX records to point to Microsoft's servers), is basic but robust. You can't turn off ads, but what you can do is create as many free email accounts as you want. Each is an official "Microsoft Account," which means of course that you get the same access to SkyDrive, office web apps, People (for contacts), Calendar, and so on, all wrapped in the sexy new UI. As the admin, you do have access to delete these user accounts, so ideally you won't be a **** to those you give accounts to .
If you want, you can also give away free email accounts on your domains. The first 500 are automatic and free, after that you have to ask them to up your limit, but it's still free (not sure if there's an upper limit, but it's something I'd like to test .
The Outlook.com UI of course offers gobs of advanced filtering options that are user manageable.
Screenshot of the main Control Panel UI attached. There are several more pages of options I didn't show because of course they have personal data, but suffice to say there are a fair few options. Plus, you can do co-branding if you want, which is slick in and of itself.
Now that I think of it...I need to set something up for that
The Jones said:
Could I please ask something about the Live Domains thing. What sort of control do you get on top of a normal Outlook.com account? Can you switch off ads like with a Google Apps account? I have a free Apps account right now and not sure whether to pay for it or move to an Outlook.com account and switch my domain over to Microsoft.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome reply. Thanks.
Sent from my RM-825_eu_euro1_217 using Board Express
Google will be removing Google sync support for WP. They called it "Winter Cleaning".
So Google contacts and Calender sync will not be available.
I say, if Google is rejecting WP, then Why doesn't Microsoft STOP Android OEMs from using Microsoft's PATENTS. Those Patents for which Android OEMs need to pay to Microsoft for every Android device they sale.
Sent from my GT-S5570 using xda app-developers app
Apourv said:
Google will be removing Google sync support for WP. They called it "Winter Cleaning".
So Google contacts and Calender sync will not be available.
I say, if Google is rejecting WP, then Why doesn't Microsoft STOP Android OEMs from using Microsoft's PATENTS. Those Patents for which Android OEMs need to pay to Microsoft for every Android device they sale.
Sent from my GT-S5570 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
because that there is more income than all of windows phone
Win.
Inviato dal mio ST26i con Tapatalk 2
Hate it when companies stop providing features just to push themselves and make other services/companies look bad.
Google's been a **** to Microsoft for a while now. Google pushes the abysmal mobile site that works on my ancient Nokia 5200, instead of the nice version to iOS and Android, to WinPhone7, the Youtube app is ridiculous, no maps. I bet Microsoft is a **** to Google too, but this whole thing sucks.
So then Microsoft goes around and doesn't give Google+ any love (Google+ is still trying to force me to use it, but I wont have any of it.)
Google's increasingly getting on my nerves and being more and more pushy, like a stalker. Reading my mail to push me ads, saving my searches to push me ads, it's just pissing me off. It's been consistently useless for all except domain name searching (For eg. if I want to find the official site for a product). Bing needs to up it's game so I can move to an alternative.
Apple is a master at this game too - they don't want to improve their touch APIs for WebKit, or make it open. They wont show any love to Microsoft's alternative touch API which even Chrome and Firefox people are supporting.
I'm trolling google everyday by using adblock.
Yeah, in 2013 ppl still don't know that such a tool exists...ffs
mcosmin222 said:
I'm trolling google everyday by using adblock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's a big 10-4....
As far as "reading my email" goes, anyone that isn't encrypting their emails is fooling themselves if there is any belief it is private, at any point along the intraweeb.
To support google's ecosystem, which MS will have to if they want to be competitive, they will need to adopt CalDAV and CardDAV, which is no bad thing because it gives us consumers choice.
The days of pushing proprietary technologies are, thankfully, over.
But how are consumers affected by these kind of technologies? It is not as obvious as using WP over android, or the other way around.
Microsoft exchange is still used by the overwhelming majority of people on this planet. Pretty much every single email service, apart from the one provided by Google and some business specific emails, uses this system. Almost every single email user on the planet has another email address than google.
Google is just afraid of microsoft cutting their services, that's all.
As a email user of this planet, I could not care less what technology lies behind my email address. It could MS exchange, it could be google's new framework. I don't care. And why? because the end result is basically the same: I can check my email address.
On the other hand, dropping support of such services disrupts my ability to check my email from my WP, for example. Now what? I don't see any benefit from that, only more tiresome things to do. Will I see Windows Phone as the problem? Hell no!. Google will be my problem. Will I drop google services? very likely.
Just as a side-note, the only google service is use is their search, because bing is nowhere near as powerful in my region.
mcosmin222 said:
But how are consumers affected by these kind of technologies? It is not as obvious as using WP over android, or the other way around.
Microsoft exchange is still used by the overwhelming majority of people on this planet. Pretty much every single email service, apart from the one provided by Google and some business specific emails, uses this system. Almost every single email user on the planet has another email address than google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eh, no. This is completely wrong. Exchange is but no means used by 'the overwhelming majority of people'. In business maybe, consumers no way.
Google have over 425 million users on gmail, Yahoo over 310 million and most people use either IMAP or POP3. Very, very few consumers are willing to pay for exchange.
uuh. You;re right, I was thinking about something else lol.
anyway
You said...
To support google's ecosystem, which MS will have to if they want to be competitive, they will need to adopt CalDAV and CardDAV, which is no bad thing because it gives us consumers choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is this favoring the customers? My point is, if google is doing something to break what it is working, how will this be beneficial for users?

[Q] How to make Google Now control my trips?

I usually use TripIt to manage my flights, hotel, and all the information we like to have in one place when we travel. TripIt can be seen from Google Calendar, in a separate calendar... and that is my problem. Since TripIt events are placed in a separated calendar, and Google Now only reads my main calendar, I cannot make Google Now to learn anything about my trips.
I wouldn't mind to do something by hand in order to have, for example, reminds to do the check-in, etc. How does Google Now works? When will Google Now show me cards about my flights? When I search for them? But how can Google Now known what day I am traveling? (in general the flight number is the same every day).
If somebody knows how to better use Google Now, please give me some tips.
JanusDC said:
I usually use TripIt to manage my flights, hotel, and all the information we like to have in one place when we travel. TripIt can be seen from Google Calendar, in a separate calendar... and that is my problem. Since TripIt events are placed in a separated calendar, and Google Now only reads my main calendar, I cannot make Google Now to learn anything about my trips.
I wouldn't mind to do something by hand in order to have, for example, reminds to do the check-in, etc. How does Google Now works? When will Google Now show me cards about my flights? When I search for them? But how can Google Now known what day I am traveling? (in general the flight number is the same every day).
If somebody knows how to better use Google Now, please give me some tips.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For flights, you enter the carrier and flight number as a google search ( for example, jet blue 1234) and a card will come up with all of the flight info including gate, arrival/departure, and if its on time. Recently, calendar integration has been added to google now to show upcoming events in the recent update. Try to add your Triplit account under the phone accounts and sync the calendar. This may work if you have an email and password for that account.
Here's a card list help section from google: https://support.google.com/nexus/4/answer/2839499?hl=en&ref_topic=2839478
Good Luck.
Now is still very hit and miss, I wouldn't depend into for any crucial information.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
jt.61 said:
For flights, you enter the carrier and flight number as a google search ( for example, jet blue 1234) and a card will come up with all of the flight info including gate, arrival/departure, and if its on time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the tips. The problem is that if I search jet blue 1234, it will show me the informations of the flight of today, not the day I am travelling, which carries the same number.
jt.61 said:
Recently, calendar integration has been added to google now to show upcoming events in the recent update. Try to add your Triplit account under the phone accounts and sync the calendar. This may work if you have an email and password for that account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no way to add the tripit account. The calendar is however already seen, because I have the calendar in my Google Calendar, but Google Now will only read the main calendar (which of course is not the one managed by tripit).

Categories

Resources