Samsung Account - What's the Point?

[insane42]

Hi -

I just spent the last few hours fighting with Samsung. After my Jelly Bean update, the "Samsung account" stuff would not sync up. I finally decided to remove/re-add the account to see if that worked. I backed my contacts up w/ Kies, and did so.

My assumption is that once I added the account back (with the same login info) it would put my contacts back. It did NOT put my contacts back. In fact, they were all completely gone. I also could not find anywhere on Samsung's site where I could log in and manage/view the information.

When attempting to restore my contacts from Kies, it decided to stop recognizing my phone completely. It took a full re-install before it actually started recognizing it again and let me restore my contacts.

So here's my questions:

1. What's the point of the Samsung account that syncs contacts, calendar, Internet and S Memo, if it never restores anything????
2. Now that I've got my contacts back, how do I "move" the ones on the Samsung account to my primary Google account instead, without manually re-entering them?

Thanks all.

 

[funkylogik]

1) i dont see much point in samsung account.. might actualy remove it unless i need it to get updates
2) i think theyl already be synced.. search "google contacts", log in and see.
in future just save contacts to google account and theyl be there forever on any android.

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

 

[insane42]

2) i think theyl already be synced.. search "google contacts", log in and see.
in future just save contacts to google account and theyl be there forever on any android.

Nope. If it did that I wouldn't have had to deal w/ the Samsung account ones. Thanks for the suggestion tho.

 

[smooth4lyfe]

Transfer all your contacts to Gmail, you can do that from your phone
Sign in to ur Google Account, and make sure sync contacts is selected, then click Sync now...it should sync to ur Gmail
You can confirm this by going to your Gmail account on your PC, then click Contacts and see if all of them are there

 

[funkylogik]

nice one bro. knew there would be a way :beer:

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

 

[funkylogik]

right ive been thinkin bout this topic..... what IS the point in samsung account??
should i just unsync it to save resources?
im on an unbranded (non-carrier) phone so do i need it to get updates direct from samsung?

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

 

[smooth4lyfe]

right ive been thinkin bout this topic..... what IS the point in samsung account??
should i just unsync it to save resources?
im on an unbranded (non-carrier) phone so do i need it to get updates direct from samsung?

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

I never knew...I have one but I dont think I have EVER used it for anything...I even forgot about that ish until this thread lol

 

[funkylogik]

I never knew...I have one but I dont think I have EVER used it for anything...I even forgot about that ish until this thread lol

same and it must be syncing n usin battery. other androids dont need it. think ill ask ma man SkunkApe....

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

 

[insane42]

Transfer all your contacts to Gmail, you can do that from your phone
Sign in to ur Google Account, and make sure sync contacts is selected, then click Sync now...it should sync to ur Gmail
You can confirm this by going to your Gmail account on your PC, then click Contacts and see if all of them are there

This doesn't sync the Samsung account ones tho. I've had sync on since I got the phone. :-\

 

[funkylogik]

there must b a way.
the contacts are on your phone right?
what smooth said should work

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

 

[Skunkape60]

Yeah... I made an account when I got the phone but I haven't used it a single time. My contacts have been saved to Google for the past 2 years and don't see any reason to save them anywhere else. As for updates, I get mine pushed via ota from sprint. I'm not sure how it works for the I9300 phones. Have you received any updates yet? If so, how did you get them? If you have already received an update ota then I would think all of them will be sent the same way.

Now days I remove the samsung account with titanium backup as soon as I flash a rom. Many of the roms I load have already removed it for me. Someday I will have to look more into it and see what all the account gives me but I'm like you. I see no real use in it.

Yes, if you are signed into your account and it is set up to sync, then it will use some of your battery. If I still had it on my phone it definitely wouldn't be set to sync.

 

[funkylogik]

cheers Skunk. ive recieved OTA but did JB thru Kies (it was a staggered OTA and didnt wana wait).
think ill unsync it until a maintenance update and see if it gets pushed.
to me it seems like sammy wana keep us in THEIR system when id rather trust google.
so will it be usin like at least 1% battery skunk? (worth unsyncing)

p.s the sammy account does give remote control of the phone (other than toggle GPS) but so does android lost which sits dormant

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

 

[Evoken]

to me it seems like sammy wana keep us in THEIR system when id rather trust google.

Yes, I really don't see the point of a Samsung account and feel that Samsung is wasting time/resources in trying to duplicate stuff (calendar, email, app store, etc) that Google already does out of the box. I would rather they make it easier for us to integrate their phones with Google as opposed to have us use their own system and putting an additional and unnecessary layer of complexity into the OS.

 

[funkylogik]

think sammy wana distance themself from google mate.
my girls old samsung europa says "with google" at the back, now samsung ads dont even use the word android.... this is almost definately my last samsung

ive unsynced sammy account anyway

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

 

[Evoken]

think sammy wana distance themself from google mate.
my girls old samsung europa says "with google" at the back, now samsung ads dont even use the word android.... this is almost definately my last samsung

When I was considering switching to Android a couple of months ago my preference was always towards the Galaxy Nexus because I wanted to have the pure Android experience as Google intended it from the beginning. But the Nexus being nearly a year old it was not worth it at the time and as it was my first Android device I felt the S3 was the ideal smartphone for me to get given how highly regarded and popular it is. I have been extremely pleased with it, no problems whatsoever. But I still intend to make the switch to the Nexus line both in the smartphone and the tablet space, but for the smartphone it will have to be next year after I have gotten some more milage out of my S3.

As far as Samsung goes, I am not too hot for them as a company to be honest. Never been a customer or fan of their products for that matter and as far as I've seen some of their antics are rather questionable. But on the other hand I am all over anything Google, really love the company and their products/services (same goes for Apple, even tho I've been a bit turn off with their recent actions). So I could switch from Samsung to the Nexus line without missing a heartbeat.

 

[smooth4lyfe]

This doesn't sync the Samsung account ones tho. I've had sync on since I got the phone. :-\

Why don't you transfer them to Google?

Also try this
Go to your Contacts app, click the menu button, then scroll down and click "Contacts to Display" and see if they will show up when you click your Samsung account

 

[xKrNMBoYx]

I have no idea what it's for. I already had a Samsung account because I own several Samsung devices, so I register them online.

 

[Targon]

There are some Samsung specific things like Samsung Apps that will only work if you own a Samsung device. Samsung Apps is a second "Play Store" type thing, and I suspect that Samsung could potentially put some things THERE that we would get for free as Samsung customers that you couldn't get elsewhere. Now, at THIS point I don't think any paid apps are free off Samsung Apps, but it is possible there are some.

One thing that is a bit weird about Samsung Apps is that EVERY version of the Samsung web page EXCEPT for the version for the USA mentions Samsung Apps. Check out Mobile Phones | Televisions | Notebooks | Refrigeration - SAMSUNG AU and then check SAMSUNG UK - Home Electronics | Home Appliances | Mobile | Computing or from ANYWHERE other than the USA version. Now, check the USA version and notice Samsung Apps is missing from being mentioned. It is possible that Samsung Apps will be a way to circumvent us being locked out of content due to the region we are in, or just for other promotional things. Registration would be another reason for using the Samsung account.

 

[funkylogik]

not sure mate. does your s3 have the More Services app included? my UK one does but ive heard others dont.
im not interested in joining samsungs ecosystem, this will prob be my last sammy, so ive unsynced.. ill wait until next OTA to see if it prevents me getn OTA

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

 

[trucky]

Funny thing, when I actually go to the web page for my Samsung account there are Samsung Apps, none of which are for the GS3.