please explain sync (e.g. Contacts) with the google account on jelly bean samsung s3 mini

[johnnyonethousand]

Hi.

I turned on auto sync in data settings, and before i could even turn stuff off, it began to sync. i'm using the e-mail app and there i want sync and it seems to work, but with the google account (which I mainly created for the play store) i only want contacts synced, but.. I don't understand how it works... are the synced contacts supposed to show up in the gmail login on the web on my laptop and if not, where? are they just mysteriously stored in the cloud without the possibility of viewing/editing them via the web?

please get back to me or refer me to proper reading on the subject. I can't seem to find anything useful in the manual.

with regards,
johnny, sweden

 

[neil154]

If you are syncing the contacts on your phone using your gmail account then if you log into your gmail account on the web you will see the same contacts. If you need more information then respond with specifics and exactly what you tried.

 

[johnnyonethousand]

hi. thanks for your answer.

i've hit sync several times and it says synced contacts with a time signature. but nothing shows up in the gmail account's contacts (not even after 10 hours or so).
I don't really know how else to try, the global sync selection is on, and downloading and installnig apps from google play works as a charm... any ideas?

 

[neil154]

So let me make sure that I understand. You have contacts in your Gmail contact list on the phone and when you sync you see in Settings>google>google account that it shows the time and date of the sync. Then you go to your gmail account on the web and then you look at the contacts and there are none of those contacts showing? If this is the case, add a contact to your gmail account on the web and then go on the phone and start a sync and tell me if the contact shows up on your phone (make sure it is unique so you can identify it). Also, when you are in your contact app goto menu>contacts to display and make sure all accounts are set to show

 

[johnnyonethousand]

hi again. your guess was not spot on. probably because I misinterpreted the whole thing from the start (my fault, not yours), I thought that the Phone contacts could be synced via my google account, just because I set it to sync. I guess I now understand correctly that you have to merge or something, to make the phone contacts google contacts, otherwise they won't sync as expected?
I guess I thought that the phone had this smart feature of just backup:ing my Phone contacts automatically since I have a google acount active on the phone.
Am I right?
I'm not really sure though, that I want my phone contacts to be my google contacts... well.. maybe I should, for the instant backup feature... but well well... I might stick to backup:ing/syncing via Kies/Outlook or something...

 

[neil154]

At this point I don't know what the question is. If you followed my previous suggestion and still want help then let me know what the issue is

 

[johnnyonethousand]

hehe ok. consider this thread closed then as I wanted more than samsung/google had delivered thanks for your patience and time, though. another question i have sought an answer for and not found is... the volume control for media.. say... native music player or winamp for android, is quite bad when for example you are listening at low volumes and the steps for increasing/decreasing volume are to "steep", to many dB:s per step and it either becomes to loud or too soft... do you know of any tweak to remedy this?

 

[neil154]

I don't have any problem with that, it maybe specific to your phone

 

[johnnyonethousand]

hehe maybe.. but i doubt it... the way I generally perceive electronic devices... i think it may be "specific to myself" i'm always picky about the little details...
so.. i guess i'll just have to buy a new phone or learn how to low level android software program

 

[lubkin]

Hi!

I have pretty much the same problem on my AT&T Samsung Galaxt S3. If I create a Gmail contact on my computer, it instantly shows on my cellphone, which is great.
But when I creat a brand new contact on my cellphone, then, even after syncing my phone -- Settings->Google->Gmail Sync all; the new contact (which is on my phone) does not show up my computer (i.e., it isn't in the google cloud).

-- Saul

 

[Lanhoj]

Have you gone to Contacts.Google.com on a PC to check if there's Contacts associated with your GMail account?

 

[neil154]

Hi!

I have pretty much the same problem on my AT&T Samsung Galaxt S3. If I create a Gmail contact on my computer, it instantly shows on my cellphone, which is great.
But when I creat a brand new contact on my cellphone, then, even after syncing my phone -- Settings->Google->Gmail Sync all; the new contact (which is on my phone) does not show up my computer (i.e., it isn't in the google cloud).

-- Saul

The problem is that when you creating the contacts in your phone there are multiple phone books and you are not adding it to the gmail contact directory. When in your contact app go to menu>contacts to display and you will see that there are multiple contact directories

 

[lubkin]

Yes. That's what I mean by my "google contacts on the computer". The contact created on my cellphone, and then synced, does not appear in "contacts.google.com" on my computer.

A hint as to what's going on: When I look at my contact list on my phone,every one of them -- except the one that I just created -- has a little "Google" icon next to it, on the right. My guess is that I somehow have to get my phone to produce that icon for the new contact, in order for the new contact to become a contact in contacts.google.com

-- Saul

 

[lubkin]

That's true. But when I go to menu>contacts to dispaly, and choose the google contact directory, and create a new contact in that, and then sync my contacts, the new contact still doesn't show in contacts.google.com on my computer.

??

 

[lubkin]

I figured it out. I made a new contact; by default, it wanted to put it on my phone. I had it make a Google contact, instead.
That worked -- syncs perfectly. Best of all, my default changed: All new contacts by default are now Google contacts.

So both my calendar and contacts are perfectly in sync with the Google cloud.

 

[a nolan]

My contaacts have multiplied to 1730..I reduced my gmail contacts on line to 825.

I want to replace the contacts on the phone with these. The first time I imported them the number of contcts multiplied.

I want to delete the gmail contacts on my phone and then transfer from my PC the new list of contacts.

Nothing I've looked up has help .

Thank you

 

[neil154]

My contaacts have multiplied to 1730..I reduced my gmail contacts on line to 825.

I want to replace the contacts on the phone with these. The first time I imported them the number of contcts multiplied.

I want to delete the gmail contacts on my phone and then transfer from my PC the new list of contacts.

Nothing I've looked up has help .

Thank you

When you import contacts that get added to the contacts that you already have, they do not replace existing contacts. Unfortuneately, the sync between Gmail and the phone does not have an option for one way sync. So if your only copy of your contacts is in Gmail then you have 2 options. You could go thru on the phone and manually delete the contacts that you do not want but that is cumbersome. The other alternative is to export the Gmail contacts to a file, then delete all contacts form either the Gmail account or the phone and then sync contacts. After the sync you should have no contacts on the phone and the Gmail. Then you import the contacts from the file that you exported the contacts to and then once again sync.

BE VERY CAREFUL THAT THE EXPORTED FILE HAS ALL OF YOUR DATA BEFORE ANY DELETION. You might just open the exported file in a spreadsheet to check that all data appears to be correct.

 

[Crashdamage]

neil154 has the right idea.

1. Turn off sync in the phone.

2. Export the Gmail contacts as a .vcf file. Make a duplicate copy of the .vcf as a safety backup.

3. Delete all contacts in Gmail.

4. Sync contacts to the phone. When finished, there should be no contacts.

5. Import the .vcf file into Gmail contacts online.

6. Sync contacts to the phone. Done.

Android since v1.0. Linux user since 2001.

 

[neil154]

neil154 has the right idea.

1. Turn off sync in the phone.

2. Export the Gmail contacts as a .vcf file. Make a duplicate copy of the .vcf as a safety backup.

3. Delete all contacts in Gmail.

4. Sync contacts to the phone. When finished, there should be no contacts.

5. Import the .vcf file into Gmail contacts online.

6. Sync contacts to the phone. Done.

Android since v1.0. Linux user since 2001.

The only thing that I would change from "Crashdamage" is that I would export to a CSV file not vcf. With a CSV I can import the file into a spreadsheet and am able to see the data in a form that is similar to the form as seen in Gmail

 

[Crashdamage]

Yes, a .CSV file will fit nicely in a spreadsheet. But it will not save avatar photos, notes, birthdays, addresses, etc. Using .vcf will preserve all that extra info most people put in contacts.

Android since v1.0. Linux user since 2001.