Contacts - Phone vs. Google account

[atremorer]

OK, I have a new Samsung Captivate on AT&T and have one thing that is driving me nuts about the contacts.

In contacts, there is a definite separation between the contacts on the phone and the ones that are considered Google Account contacts. Only the ones in Google Account sync to gmail contacts. I realize when you make a new contact on the phone, it's necessary to choose the google account if you want it to sync.

Is there any way to make the google account contacts ACTUAL phone contacts? I'd like to assign ring tones to specific people, but Android will only let me assign a ring tone to an actual PHONE contact.

One would think that since Google makes this phone, the gmail integration would be completely integrated in. I also have a Pre+ and there is no distinction between contacts from various in this way--Exchange, Phone, Google, LinkedIn, Facebook. They are all equal and function the same.

How do I make all the contacts on google work like my phone contacts?

Thanks!

 

[reinbeau]

wait, where do you tell it to sync with the Google account? I don't seem to have that option??

 

[takeshi]

It syncs by default with your Google account. You don't need to tell it to do so unless you disabled sync at some point.

 

[reinbeau]

I've seen that now - but what I don't understand is the difference between contacts on the phone vs. contacts on Google. I had a call today from a client who was only on my Google account, he wasn't stored in my phone - I couldn't figure out why his name showed up, then it dawned on me that I was seeing a Google contact. So, how do I access my Google contacts from my phone? I don't get how to do that. Why can't I pull those contacts down onto the phone?

 

[Prof-KOS]

If you go to Settings ---> Accounts and Sync and select your Google accoutn it will show you what is being synced from that account. As far as I know all my contacts are Google contacts. It doesn't matter where I add it (Personal Gmail, Android, Work Google Apps) they all get synced to my phone as per my settings. There is no phone-specific contacts on my phone. Your Google Contacts should be with all your contacts.

 

[reinbeau]

If you go to Settings ---> Accounts and Sync and select your Google accoutn it will show you what is being synced from that account. As far as I know all my contacts are Google contacts. It doesn't matter where I add it (Personal Gmail, Android, Work Google Apps) they all get synced to my phone as per my settings. There is no phone-specific contacts on my phone. Your Google Contacts should be with all your contacts.

Well, I had people in my phone that aren't up on Google, so I'll have to check the settings, thank you for the pointer.

This stumbling around in the dark is tough