What are device contacts?

[Android Central Question]

On my Moto G7, Google Contacts, Status it shows:
157 contacts synced
Manage Setting On (automatically synched)

also synch device contacts
Off
12 device contacts aren't synced

Question: What are device contacts and why should they be synced?
THANKS!

 

[mustang7757]

It just another place to store them if you don't want use cloud service like your Google account, which recommend is easier when going between phones and just a better option.

I'll leave a Link to register so you can communicate here, As a guest account you can only post questions but can't reply
https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=409154

 

[patrickscott]

Thanks for your prompt reply.

I am synced to Google for my contacts. What I don't understand are the unsynced "device contacts." What are device contacts as opposed to regular contacts? What are the 12 device contacts that are not synced? If these are my regular contacts, why didn't it sync them all?

Thanks again for your help AND patience!

Have a great day!

 

[mustang7757]

Thanks for your prompt reply.

I am synced to Google for my contacts. What I don't understand are the unsynced "device contacts." What are device contacts as opposed to regular contacts? What are the 12 device contacts that are not synced? If these are my regular contacts, why didn't it sync them all?

Thanks again for your help AND patience!

Have a great day!

Welcome to AC!
Like i mentioned its just another option to store your contacts other then your Google account .

 

[patrickscott]

Thanks.
I understand... but I do not understand:-\ ...
Why does it give me an option to store 12 contacts elsewhere since I have always synced all my contacts with Google? Why can I not sync them all under contacts? What if I don't want to store my 12 device contacts in a location other than my Google account? Is there any way to find out what these mysterious 12 device contacts are?

Thanks!!!

 

[patrickscott]

Thanks. I went ahead and synced device contacts to my google account. Thanks!

 

[mustang7757]

Thanks. I went ahead and synced device contacts to my google account. Thanks!

Welcome

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! The Device Account (or Phone Account) is basically for contacts that are locally saved to the device's storage. In the old days, this would've probably been like saving the contact to the SIM card. If you entered a new contact and didn't check to make sure it was saving to your Google account, it might have defaulted to the Device Account. In addition, some phones come with a few pre-entered Device Account numbers (typically for customer service).

I always recommend that people save contacts to their Google account so that it syncs immediately and is safe in the cloud. The problem with the Device Account is that it almost never syncs anywhere -- the user has to manually back them up somewhere (or export the contacts and then import them into their Google account or some place similar). So there's a greater risk that the user could lose that contact information if something happened to the phone (and if the contacts weren't backed up anywhere).

 

[patrickscott]

Welcome to Android Central! The Device Account (or Phone Account) is basically for contacts that are locally saved to the device's storage. In the old days, this would've probably been like saving the contact to the SIM card. If you entered a new contact and didn't check to make sure it was saving to your Google account, it might have defaulted to the Device Account. In addition, some phones come with a few pre-entered Device Account numbers (typically for customer service).

I always recommend that people save contacts to their Google account so that it syncs immediately and is safe in the cloud. The problem with the Device Account is that it almost never syncs anywhere -- the user has to manually back them up somewhere (or export the contacts and then import them into their Google account or some place similar). So there's a greater risk that the user could lose that contact information if something happened to the phone (and if the contacts weren't backed up anywhere).

Thank you so much for your detailed reply! It is most appreciated. I have synced my device account contacts to my Google account. Thanks again.