Searched - didn't see a solution so here it goes - Google contacts vs Outlook contact

[FractalSphere]

I had come from a WinMo device (Samsung Propel Pro) where I could sync Outlook to the device easily. On that device I had it also sycing in "exchange" mode up to Google for contacts and calendar - essentially the phone was the bridge between my Outlook and Google contacts/calendar. Worked great for about a year. AT&T was the issue and continual problem, the hardware for the Propel Pro was fine, and I didn't even have any major complaints about WinMo 6.1. Once I wrestled it into submission.

Fast forward to last Thursday - I get my shiny awesome new HTC Evo, and I immediately synced up Google contacts (heck, it was like 10 minutes after activation I was texting and had full contact lists up) and have also installed HTC Sync for Outlook, however I'm seeing the contact 'type' as a problem here. I want contacts to be just contacts, not either 'phone' or 'Google' contacts. They're supposed to be a synchronized and unified list.

1. I've added contacts to the phone manually and they sync to Google, but not to my Outlook.
2. I've added contacts to Outlook, and they sync to the phone but not Google.
3. There will hardly ever be a time I add a contact to Google directly, if I do, it'll be at home on in my Outlook, but I tested and a Google addition syncs to the phone but not Outlook. :-/

I want this to be a three-way sync process (the primary being that I want Outlook and the phone to talk - especially if I add a contact while out in the world I want it reflected in my Outlook contact list) Getting an Outlook contact dump to Google is easy via a CSV file, so that's secondary.

Obviously I'm missing some finite detail here, but if there's an answer out there I'd greatly appreciate it!

Thanks, you collective of Android knowledgeable people!
Rich

 

[FractalSphere]

(bump)

Also an update - I was working on this yesterday and saw that it is the contact type that's my stalling point here. How do I either convert all my contacts from Google to Phone, or make them dual-purpose somehow to get my (ideal) three-way sync going or (secondary) make it talk to Outlook cleanly.

The only real fix I see for this now is to wipe my Google Contacts and just sync the phone with Outlook, making the Google contact list irrelevant - but won't that limit what I can do online and in gchat with the Evo since contacts won't be 'Google aware'?

 

[cedricmordrin]

I'm not sure if it will fix your problem, but you can 'link' the duplicate accounts to each other so that they only show up once (with combined info, if different) in the people app. I will try adding a new contact to see if it will sync between my exchange and google contacts.

 

[FractalSphere]

Linking contacts is definitely something I have to catch up on, but for now I'm only seeing a few duplicate contacts in my list (and those are facebook contacts).

When I did the first HTC Sync from Outlook to the phone, it added calendar items, but not the google contacts since they were already basically synced to each other and had the same info.

 

[LikeAChampion3]

I am having the same problem, I started a thread on this over the weekend and my only real conclusion was to settle for one list over the other since I couldn't get everything on the same page through the cloud in real time. I'd be very interested to see a fix or a tip that would allow Gmail's contact list that I see through my laptop web browser match with my phone contacts and vice-versa.

 

[FractalSphere]

Solution finally

It was my contact type that was the final issue here. Apparently many of my contacts were somehow already 'linked' and were both phone and google contacts, which sync either way when updated.

Those that weren't, I was seeing doubles of, and when I linked them they mysteriously started syncing both ways to Outlook and my Google acct.

So some lessons learned about contact typing and syncing issues.

Solution: You CAN achieve a three-way sync between Outlook (in my case 2003), the HTC Evo, and Google contacts. This also worked without a hitch for calendars...

 

[xmoondoggx]

... Apparently many of my contacts were somehow already 'linked' and were both phone and google contacts, which sync either way when updated

.....

Solution: You CAN achieve a three-way sync between Outlook (in my case 2003), the HTC Evo, and Google contacts. This also worked without a hitch for calendars...

I've been struggling with this as well. So, how do you ensure the two sets of contacts get linked properly? I assume you are using HTCSync to sync between Outlook and the Evo.

Thanks,
xMDx

 

[cody]

yes, tell us more.

 

[FractalSphere]

yes, tell us more.

OK! Contact linking (for me) had to occur on the phone itself. You might see multiple entries for your contacts, one listed as "Google" and one listed as "Phone" (that's how it was on mine). Go into the contact (see screenshots - one showing and Unlinked contact and one showing a contact that has been Linked between Phone and Google).

For an unlinked contact, you'll see a list of other contacts to link it to. Once the work is done on the phone, they'll sync normally between Outlook and Google both.

Hope this helps!

 

[Groucho]

If you really want to keep this straight get rid of all of the "Phone" contacts on your device once you are sure they all have "Google" versions. These will automatically sync to Google contacts on your PC as long as you have the Background sync checked. Now buy a very good sync application called gSyncit. It is full featured and can be set up to just about anything you want to do with contacts, including how they are displayed, and calendar between Google and Outlook. It will all happen automatically now as you set it to sync at whatever time intervals you desire. No need for cables, hard connections or using HTC Sync which I found unreliable. gSyncit costs less then $15 and is well worth it. I haven't had any issues since i started using it but I did have some preliminary questions and the response and support from the developed was excellent.