After using Google calendar for about a year, I finally gave up. The service, for most part, is reliable, the calendar loads fast, but there's no way to sync Todo's and I have tons of them. Used to work around this by using GogTasks but the latest change from Google broke the sign-in process so there's no (free) way now to sync tasks.
So, I decided to give MS another try. Synced to Windows Live - this time calendar sync worked (I had a major problem with it a year ago). Still, there's a few issues.
1) It appears MS no longer allows syncing multiple calendars to Win Mob device.
2) It appears MS no longer supports categories in Tasks or Appointments.
3) It appears there's no way to add contact photos unless contacts create a Windows Live account and set up a profile picture.
Now, I can live with 1 and 2. It sucks but I guess there are some underlying problems they were trying to get rid of - AS always used to choke on category sync.
#3, in our day and age, is completely, utterly retarded. I don't understand why they did it. I don't understand the thinking behind it. Do they seriously think everybody in my contact list will just stampede all over one another rushing to create their own Windows Live ID ? The only thing more retarded is Google's joke of a practically unusable task list.
I'll stick with WL for now - unless I get an Android device next, and unless I start having problems syncing, I'd rather have bastardized Contacts and ToDos than "normal" Contacts and no ToDos. Still, why isn't there a single online provider that just works for basic PIM info on WinMob ?
gmail?
I use exchange and pocket outlook to sync my calendar and contacts with my gmail account - google runs the exchange server for free. I add my todos to wm's built in calendar app and gmail syncs them with google calendar or put it in google calendar save then sync your phone. It also syncs all my contacts including contact pictures - when I hard reset I just sync and everything is there - the only thing it will not sync is tasks so I just put them as appointments in the calendar.
http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=138636&topic=14299
The first 2 I just learned of today, it is a pain it doesn't do that, and this is one huge deal breaker for me to go almost to another OS as a whole, this whole unintegrated Microsoft ecosphere. It seems like though that Microsoft finally understands how broken they are and are finally integrating things all together, but that's only in their new products.
As for your problems...
1) Windows Mobile devices never synced multiple calendars, even with Google Calendar (you could get around it with other programs though which I used to do but alas, that was broken like you mentioned when Google updated...)
2) I'm not sure but my categories sync, when I make them in WLM Messenger (Favorites category seems to be syncing). Maybe the work around is to make it in WLM or on Live. Doesn't seem to sync the categories from your phone though....
3) I don't know what exactly is wrong, because I have been able to sync contact photos on my phone. I'm not sure if you're trying to do it from the Live services side of things though, if so, then I think it's impossible unless you do it through Windows Live Messenger.
Wow! This is all very interesting. A few weeks ago, my company's Blackberry server was upgraded. At the same time, MS Activesync stopped working for me. It gave me an error message code 80004005. I Googled this and it said that some software needed to be upgraded or something like that. I had assumed that because the security in my company's IT department is so strict, this had put a spanner in the works somehow into Activesync.
From what you guys are saying, it is a microsoft thing. I thought it was a RIM thing.
I am currently syncing with Blackberry Connect for both appointments and contacts. This is an old and crap system.
The contacts don't sync with their photos and also they sync lastname, firstname whereas I have set my preference to firstname, lastname. I then have to manually change this on my WM6.5 phone
The calendar syncing is also crap. Catagories don't sync and also some annually recurring appointments show up on my WM6.5 phone one month early!
I don't have Windows Live installed on my phone. If I did, would Activesync then work? Would it get rid of the 80004005 error code?
I work for a government organization that uses android phones to sync with exchange. I currently have a customer with a Thunderbolt who has synced the mail, contacts, and calendar to exchange. The issue I'm having trouble resolving is that current month appointments sync fine, however anything older than a month, will only show reoccurring appointments. The customer claims they were there before, however I cannot confirm this. Anyone know of issues with exchange and this phone that would cause this problem. I'm an avid android user myself, however I'm not familiar with all the issues related to this phone.
SoCGHOST said:
I work for a government organization that uses android phones to sync with exchange. I currently have a customer with a Thunderbolt who has synced the mail, contacts, and calendar to exchange. The issue I'm having trouble resolving is that current month appointments sync fine, however anything older than a month, will only show reoccurring appointments. The customer claims they were there before, however I cannot confirm this. Anyone know of issues with exchange and this phone that would cause this problem. I'm an avid android user myself, however I'm not familiar with all the issues related to this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We've used HTC THunderbolt and HTC Droid Incredible 2 phones with exchange 2003 and 2010. It seems that there's a couple serious bugs in HTC's implementation of their calendar/task sync. The main problem we see is that appointments and tasks don't get updated once they're initially synced.
I've spoken to HTC (who is useless) and VZ doesn't seem to understand the issue. Frustrating.
THe touchdown application works, but I personally find it to be clunky.
Sorry that I don't have better news for you. Please keep this thread updated should you find a solution!!
The sync itself seems to work fine, it will update the calendar with new appointments via push messages. The problem is though old appointments drop unless they are reoccurring. Using a third part app from the market may not necessarily work for our customers since their accounts are business accounts, that the organization pays for.
SoCGHOST said:
The sync itself seems to work fine, it will update the calendar with new appointments via push messages. The problem is though old appointments drop unless they are reoccurring. Using a third part app from the market may not necessarily work for our customers since their accounts are business accounts, that the organization pays for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to hear that sync is working better for you than it is for us. I didn't mean to imply that you should use a third party service. I'm suggesting sticking with exchange but using Touchdown on the handheld to get the calendar items.
From memory, I think there might be a setting on the Thunderbolt to specify how long in the past calendar items show for. I think it's under sync settings (but I don't have a device to check it on).
I saw a setting for mailbox retention but not for the calendar. Touchdown would be fine except its a payed app. The free version is only a 30 day trial. I tried the normal remove and re-add account, this works 99% of the time on other android phones, but no joy. I have a feeling there is something in Android that limits the amount of past appointments, I just can't find any documentation on it.
Over the last few weeks, I've been talking more about the things that make Android very annoying to use after I was forced to switch from regular Windows Mobile last October. So far we've covered forced roaming on the fly (still no conclusive answer to that one), programs that close themselves (also inconclusive), and broken update nagscreens. Today, I've decided to finally present to you guys the most difficult and most baffling problem yet - one that I've spent numerous hours on and reading countless threads asking the same question, but still not seeing any way to fix the problem, and that is one of the most simple things to ask from a mobile operating system: syncing.
That's right - you'd think it's that simple, right? Hit a button, and all the changes to your tasks, contacts, and calendar items that were changed last on the computer or the device should be properly updated. This feature is completely absent on a stock or custom setup of Android. I mean, it's not new - my Windows Mobile 6 Diamond had it, my Windows Mobile 2003 iPAQ had it, my Palm OS 4 Palm had it, and Palm OS has been around since what - 1995? How can something so simple present in as early as a 1996 handheld with a 16Mhz processor and 512KB of RAM and ROM running Palm OS 1 not be available to my 1000+Mhz Epic with half a gigabyte of RAM and ROM running the "latest and greatest" Android 2.3? Windows Mobile had it too, and my PIM stuff is still managed using a software called Microsoft Outlook in what I think is a pretty satisfactory means.
History aside, my question is this: Are there ANY good sync solutions for Android? I've tried numerous solutions including VCOrganizer, CompanionLink, MyPhone Explorer, and probably others. All I need is syncronization in some way with the computer (preferably USB) and the device that will sync my contacts, calendar entries (including recurring ones), and tasks (including categories and recurrences). Some of these software do some of the job right, wether it be just the contacts or just the calendar entries (none of them did the tasks right at all - and I need those the most), but none of them came close to doing everything right :: it seemed like they did five things wrong for every one thing they did right.
I didn't even realize the problem was this bad, after all, Windows Mobile did these right out of the box even on a stock "unmodded" device; you'd just plug in the USB cable and go - it would (usually) just sync itself, no questions asked. Hopefully somebody else knows what to do about this because I'm just at the end of my rope on these - I've put probably no less than a running total of five hours into figuring this out and I'd like to just be able to sync up my contacts, calendar, and tasks on Android - is it too much to ask?
Thanks in advance.
- 2 Bunny
An exchange email account.
Seriously, you can't do this on any current platform. Annoys the hell out of me - no local pc sync...
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Everything moved to the cloud instead of you having to remember to sync. You can have your contacts, email, calendar sync with a gmail account or other services. Are you looking for something that isn't connected remotely and only syncs local data on the phone with local data on a computer?
spunker88 said:
Everything moved to the cloud instead of you having to remember to sync. You can have your contacts, email, calendar sync with a gmail account or other services. Are you looking for something that isn't connected remotely and only syncs local data on the phone with local data on a computer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd rather have my information with me. After trolls/lobbyists shut down probably the biggest "cloud" in the world, MegaUpload, I don't trust "the cloud" for sync or backup of any kind. I just need something that will sync the contacts, calendar items (with recurrences), and tasks (with categories and recurrences) with my computer by any means (preferrably USB cable).
- 2B
kainppc6700 said:
I'd rather have my information with me. After trolls/lobbyists shut down probably the biggest "cloud" in the world, MegaUpload, I don't trust "the cloud" for sync or backup of any kind. I just need something that will sync the contacts, calendar items (with recurrences), and tasks (with categories and recurrences) with my computer by any means (preferrably USB cable).
- 2B
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand, long time Windows Mobile user as well if you noticed the Axim x50 in my signature. Still many things I miss from that OS like TCPMP and the taskbar based multitasking app Magic Button.
Anyways as far as what you want check out Android-Sync, it works with Outlook since you mentioned you use it. From their website:
Android-Sync account is an Android account, that stores your contacts, calendars, tasks and notes in your Android phone. It syncs with Outlook using your USB cable only.
The Android-Sync account keeps all your sensitive personal information, like contacts, calendars, tasks and notes from being transferred to the third party via public internet connections.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would something like this be what you want?
http://www.android-sync.com/
spunker88 said:
I understand, long time Windows Mobile user as well if you noticed the Axim x50 in my signature. Still many things I miss from that OS like TCPMP and the taskbar based multitasking app Magic Button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I was surfing on the Android XDA DEVELOPERS program (I probably could just use the full site while I'm at home where there's halfway decent bandwidth). I was actually thinking about TCPMP not that long ago and complaining in another thread about the inability to play streaming radio on Android (since the Epic has the internal FM Radio disabled) so that I can eat tons of data and kill the battery really fast.
spunker88 said:
Anyways as far as what you want check out Android-Sync, it works with Outlook since you mentioned you use it. From their website:
Would something like this be what you want?
http://www.android-sync.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll tell you what, I've been through so many of those software that I forget which ones worked or not, and the site for this one looks kind of familiar so I'll need to recap on this one. Is it free? If not, is there a fully functional trial? Have you tried it? If so, do you still use it?
Thanks.
- 2B
In the same boat
I also come from the same background (HTC TP2 6.5.3 with Sense and Cookies, the most complete and uniform solution, too bad it was abandon ).
So I am also trying to figure out what is the best way to synch to Outlook, I understand the advantage of the cloud and do not mind that much if my data transit through the cloud, but it needs to end up in Outlook (I cannot live without Outlook, there is no cloud email, calendar or task that is as feature rich and efficient to use as Outlook from a business user perspective). Since I am a self-employed IT consultant, I do not have access to an Exchange server.
Basically I am looking for the same functionality that I had with ActiveSych (MobileCenter):
Bidirectional with a choice offered if changed on both side
Calendar to Outlook 2010 (full: recurring, category, attendees…)
Contact to Outlook 2010 (full: note, category, picture, anniversary…)
Task to Outlook 2010 (full: note, category, recurring…)
Files from a specific folder
Pictures would be nice…
So right now I am going through this list, from syncdroid.net, I will post my findings (please do the same):
Android-Sync
CompanionLink for Outlook
gSyncit
Mobisynapse
Moonrug
Moxier Mail
MyLink Advanced
MyPhoneExplorer
RoadSync
The Missing Sync
Touchdown
Triosync
VCOrganizer
---------- Post added at 05:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:11 PM ----------
2 Bunny,
Could you please expand on the problems/limitations that you found with:
VCOrganizer,
CompanionLink,
MyPhone Explorer,
Other...
Thanks,
ANDROID SUCKS SOMETIMES Reply
Stephane Dufault said:
I also come from the same background (HTC TP2 6.5.3 with Sense and Cookies, the most complete and uniform solution, too bad it was abandon ).
So I am also trying to figure out what is the best way to synch to Outlook, I understand the advantage of the cloud and do not mind that much if my data transit through the cloud, but it needs to end up in Outlook (I cannot live without Outlook, there is no cloud email, calendar or task that is as feature rich and efficient to use as Outlook from a business user perspective). Since I am a self-employed IT consultant, I do not have access to an Exchange server.
Basically I am looking for the same functionality that I had with ActiveSych (MobileCenter):
Bidirectional with a choice offered if changed on both side
Calendar to Outlook 2010 (full: recurring, category, attendees…)
Contact to Outlook 2010 (full: note, category, picture, anniversary…)
Task to Outlook 2010 (full: note, category, recurring…)
Files from a specific folder
Pictures would be nice…
So right now I am going through this list, from syncdroid.net, I will post my findings (please do the same):
Android-Sync
CompanionLink for Outlook
gSyncit
Mobisynapse
Moonrug
Moxier Mail
MyLink Advanced
MyPhoneExplorer
RoadSync
The Missing Sync
Touchdown
Triosync
VCOrganizer
---------- Post added at 05:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:11 PM ----------
2 Bunny,
Could you please expand on the problems/limitations that you found with:
VCOrganizer,
CompanionLink,
MyPhone Explorer,
Other...
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll tell you what - it's been a long time since I've been through those. All I know is that I've tried every single one that could possibly work and MyPhoneExplorer (the only one that is free without visiting shady "free paid software" websites) is the best. Here's what I observed in another test that I did today:
Installation:
On the desktop, you install a "MyPhoneExplorer" client which goes smoothly - you also install an apk on the device which installs three programs: The sync manager - which just shows you if it is connected and allows you to change various sync settings, and also dedicated "tasks" and "notes" programs (calendars and tasks are synced directly to their native android counterparts, which is a plus).
Use:
General
You click on the icon and do some setting up and you realize that it does a lot more than just syncing - you can not only manage your files without enabling the USB mode and monitor the device (battery, CPU use, signal, etc), but you can even make/receive calls and send/receive text messages right on your desktop while your handheld is connected which is a remarkable feature that I know for a fact none of the other software had. It is worth noting however, that this connection is relatively flaky and doesn't always connect right away and sometimes will stall and disconnect while you are syncing things.
Contacts
You get good control of your syncing on the contacts and the software asks for confirmation to each and every change made (for better or for worse, usually better) and it usually makes the right guess for which way each item needs to be synced. Unfortunately, it sometimes decides to add a "+" in front of some of my contacts' phone numbers; for example, "555.555.5555" might become "+555.555.5555" on the device, which will cause any calls or text messages to that number to fail. Oddly, this only occurs when you select it to import that number from outlook (and only some entries are like this) when they clearly aren't actually like that. It has no "full name" field, but they still show up okay on the Android contact list when synced.
Notes
Don't use, didn't test.
Tasks/Calendar
Tasks and calendar items are synced together under their own combined tab in the desktop client (which confused me for the longest time when I first installed it because I just couldn't find where the tasks got synced to since there was no option in the sidebar). First sync seemed to get everything from outlook onto the device, but it is worth mentioning that there are absolutely no categories or recurrences (this doesn't seem to be even available in the software). If you check a recurring task as complete, it will not "respawn" until synchronization is completed next (not good for say daily recurrences if you forget to sync on a daily basis). Tasks created on the handheld don't always get created, but usually they do. As for calendar items, they (astoundingly) all sync correctly.
If you want, I could take a look at the other softwares again and make an exhaustive description of each, but it is extremely time consuming. I would recommend experimenting your results, and if you learn anything from my mistakes, WRITE DOWN YOUR RESULTS .
Good Luck.
- 2 Bunny
ANDROID CAN'T EVEN SYNC IT'S SO PATHETIC Reply
If anybody has any updates on this, that would be great.
Thanks.
- 2B
Hey guys, I feel your pain. A bit of background: I came from a HTC Touch HD WinMo6.1 and had problem-free usb sync with outlook (complete with Jeyo SMS sync add-in). Then moved to HTC HD2 WinMo6.5 and Office 365 to make use of the OTA sms sync feature but the phone just kept freezing. Gave that up and recently moved to HTC One X with Touchdown which I'm now testing.
SMS sync is my main priority so my problems are a little different.
My experience with Touchdown so far: It works smoothly with Exchange, quick and responsive, and syncs notes and sms too, which is great (apart from the usual mail, calendar and tasks). Working with email on Touchdown is much better than on the stock Email app on the phone. But I don't like the way it saves contacts from incoming calls and sms - a big issue for me because I get a lot of incoming contacts. Another big problem: sms sync is far from perfect (smses sent from the phone does not sync up to exchange and caller/contact IDs do not show when SMS is received).
My workaround was then to run Touchdown together with an Exchange Activesync account set up just to sync my contacts to the native phonebook (People App) but I'm having sync problems here too. (Just posted this issue on XDA on another thread).
It looks like I now need some combination of OTA sync plus some app for USB sync just to make sure everything is synced up properly. But all options seem to be a compromise so far and I'm pulling out my hair too.
Am prepared to test out a few apps and contribute my 2 cents. Will follow this post with great interest...
So because megaupload was shut down for storing absolutely massive amounts of illegal movies, tv shows, music, programs etc etc, you don't trust any part of the internet cloud?
Google is not illegal, it cannot be used in such a way as megaupload was used.
I personally sync my contacts, calendar, email, etc etc with my gmail. Completely flawless and syncs within 20 seconds of me changing something on my tablet and then looking over at my phone. Done.
And the best part? It's built into the OS. No need for sluggish 3rd party apps or programs that has bugs and flaws.
SYNCRONIZATION Reply
UKC1 said:
Hey guys, I feel your pain. A bit of background: I came from a HTC Touch HD WinMo6.1 and had problem-free usb sync with outlook (complete with Jeyo SMS sync add-in). Then moved to HTC HD2 WinMo6.5 and Office 365 to make use of the OTA sms sync feature but the phone just kept freezing. Gave that up and recently moved to HTC One X with Touchdown which I'm now testing.
SMS sync is my main priority so my problems are a little different.
My experience with Touchdown so far: It works smoothly with Exchange, quick and responsive, and syncs notes and sms too, which is great (apart from the usual mail, calendar and tasks). Working with email on Touchdown is much better than on the stock Email app on the phone. But I don't like the way it saves contacts from incoming calls and sms - a big issue for me because I get a lot of incoming contacts. Another big problem: sms sync is far from perfect (smses sent from the phone does not sync up to exchange and caller/contact IDs do not show when SMS is received).
My workaround was then to run Touchdown together with an Exchange Activesync account set up just to sync my contacts to the native phonebook (People App) but I'm having sync problems here too. (Just posted this issue on XDA on another thread).
It looks like I now need some combination of OTA sync plus some app for USB sync just to make sure everything is synced up properly. But all options seem to be a compromise so far and I'm pulling out my hair too.
Am prepared to test out a few apps and contribute my 2 cents. Will follow this post with great interest...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to the SyncDroid.net official chart, Touchdown doesn't seem to support USB sync or sync with outlook. If it can't do either of those, by what means does it connect to your computer and what software does it use instead?
So far, the best solution I've found after going through what seemed like the whole SyncDroid.net list was MyPhoneExplorer. It syncs SMS and even lets you send and receive it live, right on your desktop which is a huge plus. It syncs calendar and contacts nearly perfectly, and does a better job of syncing tasks then anything else (while it still pales in comparison to Windows Mobile), and the best part is that it is completely free from their website. I did a post on it earlier in this thread if you want to read my detailed observations on it.
That's what I'm using for now though, and it's where I'll probably end up staying (unfortunately) unless some actually useful software comes into the picture.
Moonbloom said:
So because megaupload was shut down for storing absolutely massive amounts of illegal movies, tv shows, music, programs etc etc, you don't trust any part of the internet cloud?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No offense, but you really need to get your facts straight. I see you're out of the loop on the whole MegaUpload debacle, so I would strongly recommend you read these articles before you think that the CNN or FOX NEWS report about it were the straight facts:
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Moonbloom said:
I personally sync my contacts, calendar, email, etc etc with my gmail. Completely flawless and syncs within 20 seconds of me changing something on my tablet and then looking over at my phone. Done.
And the best part? It's built into the OS. No need for sluggish 3rd party apps or programs that has bugs and flaws.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't find any semblance of sync software built into mine, is there some kind of key combo or something you have to use to unlock it? If this is true, it'll be good for a lot of people.
- 2B
Touchdown syncs over the air (OTA) with Exchange Server - which means I don't need USB sync anymore. I use Office 365 which comes with Exchange.
But as I said I can't find a reliable, full-featured Exchange Activesync client now for Android. I guess Touchdown is the closest but it's not perfect - or at least it doesn't work the way I like.
So that's why I'm now considering some form of USB or Wifi sync option now.
MyPhoneExplorer sounds interesting, especially since it's free. But what I'm not crazy about is that you have to install some desktop app/client which you need to open/run - correct me if I'm wrong?
SYNCRONIZATION Reply
UKC1 said:
Touchdown syncs over the air (OTA) with Exchange Server - which means I don't need USB sync anymore. I use Office 365 which comes with Exchange.
But as I said I can't find a reliable, full-featured Exchange Activesync client now for Android. I guess Touchdown is the closest but it's not perfect - or at least it doesn't work the way I like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is Exchange server like a free software I can install?
UKC1 said:
So that's why I'm now considering some form of USB or Wifi sync option now.
MyPhoneExplorer sounds interesting, especially since it's free. But what I'm not crazy about is that you have to install some desktop app/client which you need to open/run - correct me if I'm wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't too excited about that either, but the good news is that it isn't a resource hogging program on the desktop end, and on the mobile end, it only installs a sync, tasks, and notes client (unlike some software that also supply a redundant calendar and contact software). You can choose to run the desktop or mobile software 24/7, but I only run them when I'm using them for the most part. The really cool thing about MyPhoneExplorer is that you can read and reply to text messages in real time right on the computer without having to use the more primitive input from the phone itself.
- 2 Bunny
Any updates on this?
Thanks.
- 2B
SYNCRONIZATION UPDATES Reply
Anyone found any updates on this?
Thanks.
- 2B
I went round this whole loop when I first moved from Windows Phone to Android, and after many years of being able to synchronise my data between my PC and my Phone, I also couldn't believe how difficult it was under Android.
I'm also old school, in that I like to manage my data myself and I don't trust the cloud.
After trying just about every solution out there, I now use VCOrganizer Pro. The developers seem to have put a fair amount of effort into improving it over the last few months, and it now synchronises Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Categories and Notes. There are also useful Android apps included (especially where Android doesn't have a native solution) and some widgets that I quite like.
Frustrating choices
Philip said:
I went round this whole loop when I first moved from Windows Phone to Android, and after many years of being able to synchronise my data between my PC and my Phone, I also couldn't believe how difficult it was under Android.
I'm also old school, in that I like to manage my data myself and I don't trust the cloud.
After trying just about every solution out there, I now use VCOrganizer Pro. The developers seem to have put a fair amount of effort into improving it over the last few months, and it now synchronises Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Categories and Notes. There are also useful Android apps included (especially where Android doesn't have a native solution) and some widgets that I quite like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too have been in serious bewilderment over Microsoft's choice to downgrade the scope of synchronization with Outlook when Winmo 7 arrived. What a joke! Picked up an HTC HD2 running Winmo 6.5 just to satisfy my business synchronization needs. Now, surprise, surprise, surprise, Winmo 8 is still impotent in regards to categories, which I use regularly. My HD2 has been a great phone but is now sliding into home plate. So, I have been scouring the web to find out which if any phone can sync with Outlook like Winmo 6.x does. At this point I have my fingers crossed for Blackberry 10, which is reportedly getting unveiled in a few days.
@Phillip: Can you please expand on your experience with VCOrganizer Pro? ie. accuracy/buggines and maybe how it compares to Winmo 6.x syncing if you have experience with that OS. Thx.
Android-Sync
I have been using Android-Sync (sorry can't post links, new user) for about 6 months now with my Motorola RAZR HD.
It syncs with Outlook via USB cable. So far I have not had any issues. No duplicates. No unexplanable deletions. It has worked very well so far.
It creates a generic "Android-Sync" account on your phone that syncs your Calendar, Contacts, Notes and Tasks. Or you can set it to sync with your Google account. I have only used the Android-Sync account, as that is the recommended. I am currently contemplating trying the sync to my Google account to try and get my Outlook contacts into my Google contacts.
Calendar and Contacts are synced to the stock Calendar and People apps in the phone. Notes and Tasks are synced to new apps called Android-Sync Notes and Android-Sync Tasks respectively.
You can set-up how much or how little get synced. For example you can sync all your calendar items or "Don't sync items older than ___ days."
Go through the setup page here: (sorry can't post links) which has a number of screen shots that help in explaining a lot.
I have used Blackberry Desktop extensively in the past and this is quite similar.
I have also used Companion Link for Outlook (sorry can't post links) with DejaOffice on an iPhone. (I have not used Companion Link to sync with my Android, so this is based on my used with iPhone)
This setup worked in terms of syncing, my only issue was with both the stock ios Calendar and Contacts apps the "Notes" fields would never display a full note, neither would the "Notes" fields the respective DejaOffice app, the note would just stop after a certain number of characters (kinda like twitter!). This was frustrating, as some of my Contacts have lengthy notes attached to them.
Neither Android-Sync or Companion Link are free though. I am fine with this, as long as it works.
Android-Sync is $29.99 and Companion Link is $49.99.
Android-Sync has a trial download here: (sorry can't post links) and also a 60 day full refund policy. I do not know if the trial version has limitations.
Companion Link also has a trial download here (sorry can't post links) which is fully functional for 14 days. At the end of 14 days you are asked to purchase a full license. They have a 90 day full refund policy.
Hope this was helpful.
Let me know if you have any questions. I'll try and help from my experience with these.
VCOorganizer but
Same here - VCOrganizer was more reliable than CompanionLink for me. I migrated to Android from Palm in 2009. non-cloud sync is necessary when traveling internationally, and to protect confidential client information. Sync by cloud, lose your license.
Still VCO sometimes does the wrong thing. It's almost always related to the Outlook interface (most recently after migration to Outlook 2013 which took me 2 months to unravel). So I would trust a Microsoft solution more than an independent. Lawyers and doctors can pay handsomely for this. Satya, are you listening? do you read xda-developers? Do any of your developers read this?
For what I read, direct synch with Outlook is not possible with Lumia 920, I would have to go through the cloud - which I refuse. Is there a go-around available? Please let me know such programs and explain how they work. Thanks for your most appreciated support.
nagging said:
For what I read, direct synch with Outlook is not possible with Lumia 920, I would have to go through the cloud - which I refuse. Is there a go-around available? Please let me know such programs and explain how they work. Thanks for your most appreciated support.
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MS Exchange? Hosted or otherwise...
Sorry, I didn't understand what you meant. Can you please ask a proper question? Thanks.
No, you cannot direct sync with Outlook. You will have to use your network connection to sync Mail/Calendar/Contacts. This will all be done through your Microsoft account (formerly Live account) on-line and over the network.
Didn't I say in my original post that I don't want to go through the cloud? I'm looking for an alternate (offline) possibilty - if there is one, please let me know how it's called and how it works.
nagging said:
Didn't I say in my original post that I don't want to go through the cloud? I'm looking for an alternate (offline) possibilty - if there is one, please let me know how it's called and how it works.
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This is not an easy thing to accomplish. Microsoft is pushing strongly to have you store everything in the cloud. The best solution -- if you're up for it -- is for you to create your own private cloud. You can do this with a "hosted exchange" service; it is still online, but instead of a public service like live.com or google, it's your private calendar/contacts/e-mail.
If you don't want to do that, try this answer from the Nokia forums.
Hi wobblybob,
Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting!
When you are told you can sync a Windows Phone with Outlook that would be correct. What you are really asking is 'can I connect my Lumia to the PC with the USB cable and sync with Outlook offline'. The answer to that would be no.
How you sync with Outlook can be answered in a short and long version. The long and extensive version can be found here. The short version is:
For Outlook 2003 and 2007 install the Outlook Hotmail connector and setup an account for your LiveID, for Outlook 2010 just setup the account and it will prompt you to install the connector. A step by step guide can be found here.
Hope this helps, let us know how you get on!
Kosh
Thanks for all those links. After reading through their lenthy, very interesting and even emotional contents, my conclusion is that there is no way to synching Outlook via USB or even Bluetooth. Akruto Sync (http://www.akruto.com/get-akruto-sync/) which had been mentioned can't synch via USB, too. Are there any other offline synching methods out there? Please let me know.
nagging said:
Didn't I say in my original post that I don't want to go through the cloud? I'm looking for an alternate (offline) possibilty - if there is one, please let me know how it's called and how it works.
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Sorry, I kinda thought my response was pretty clear. As of now, no, there is no way to do this. I know, I asked the product group.
Never understood why people still want to do such an antiquaited thing. Cables?!
Youre email comes via SMTP over the net anyway, so security cannot be it. Can it?
And almost all phones will have a data plan.
Intruiged (or not) to know the reason.
hwangeruk said:
Never understood why people still want to do such an antiquaited thing. Cables?!
Youre email comes via SMTP over the net anyway, so security cannot be it. Can it?
And almost all phones will have a data plan.
Intruiged (or not) to know the reason.
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Well, I would think it is security and privacy . . . same reason I've had to roll my own cloud solution.
Yes, SMTP is fundamentally insecure, but the primary way information in e-mail leaks is not through interception or snooping into SMTP packets, but rather through hacking someone's e-mail account. If I have all my e-mail stored in g-mail and someone gets my password through social engineering, or just by knowing me really well and guessing "m0nk3y" -- they've got all my info. If however I'm keeping it all offline in my local outlook and syncing it to my phone that way, the attack surface is a lot smaller.
And that's just e-mail . . . outlook also manages calendar, and people may not want their calendar items listed in a google or outlook account, but rather kept locally, again for similar reasons.
From what I understood reading between the lines, you guys are talking about different aspects.
Syncing is always done between the client and the mail provider. In that aspect it is useless to try to sync with your Outlook, which is only an application that manages your mails, calendar and contacts.
In my case, my Outlook has accounts for my work mail (through a dedicated MS Exchange server), my private (through a leased MS Exchange in the U.K.) and Google & Hotmail. The syncing is been done directly at the servers for the exchange accounts, which guarantees a perfect sync between my phone, laptops and desktops at home & office. No clouds involved here, so this is the perfect solution. Downside of having a leased MS Exchange server: the price tag!
Google, Yahoo and Hotmail accounts all go through the Cloud.
If you really want to have a grip on your data, I can only suggest to buy a NAS (i.e. Synology with Mail Server add-on), rent your own domain name, and set up your own mail server. A bit tricky, but worthwhile in the long running
reg's
Jo
Bringing an old issue back on top
I'm bringing this topic on top again by asking if there has been found a solution in the meantime. What I want to do: Synchronize Outlook and files via a USB cable (or via Bluethooth), therefore NOT going through the cloud. How about if an xda-developper would create an appropriate software (something like Mobile Device Center 6.1 that worked perfectly under Windows Mobile 6.5)?
nagging said:
I'm bringing this topic on top again by asking if there has been found a solution in the meantime. What I want to do: Synchronize Outlook and files via a USB cable (or via Bluethooth), therefore NOT going through the cloud. How about if an xda-developper would create an appropriate software (something like Mobile Device Center 6.1 that worked perfectly under Windows Mobile 6.5)?
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Nope. Not possible with email. The phone is a first class device now, as that's where the market took the functionality. People don't want to have to sync. Sync bad.
For files, there is no file explorer on Windows Phone. You can copy media to/from the device via USB, but not "files".
Only the contacts can be imported directly to the phone via Bluetoth without any sync with outlook or cloud. For the rest is not possible. For contacts I did this: I saved the phonebook from my old phone, copied to Nokia 6303c and after that I copied it to NL920 via Bluetooth.
All my 1051 contacts was in the phone without problems!
Some of you are plain wrong.
check out HTC's website. The HTC 8X can usb-sync with outlook through HTC sync software.
The Lumias with 7.5 and older can, too, with Nokia Suite.
but the Nokia win phone 8s can't (yet)
fuzzifikation said:
Some of you are plain wrong.
check out HTC's website. The HTC 8X can usb-sync with outlook through HTC sync software.
The Lumias with 7.5 and older can, too, with Nokia Suite.
but the Nokia win phone 8s can't (yet)
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thaks for this answer.
Contact sync in the cloud seems enough tricky, as you loose your contacts pictures (I read). personally I just tried to put my contacts on my microsoft account unsuccessfully, having the error "too many contacts" I tried to sync half of them (about 450) and I never succeeded. tricky is tricky.
Till this kind of stuff is not resolved, I'll never get a Windows 8 phone.
With Android, it is also tricky as Google creates contacts on every email you send, and even if you disable this, groups are tricky in google accounts. for example I exported my Outlook contacts to my Gmail account. I lost the contact pictures and for every contact included in more than one group (for ex : friend music medical ) Google creates a new group called "friend,music,medical" , so if I search in friend group, I won't find that guy who is musician friend and doctor. Google is smart, no?
the good solution for me, as I have an Android phone, was to use MyPhoneExplorer that syncs perfectly (I mean all elements) Outlook and phone contacts. this can be done by cable or by WiFi been on the same network with a password.
A program called Akruto sync is the closest solution to this problem. It does not work over USB, but it will work over your local wi-fi connection. Assuming you use WPA2/AES with a strong password, there is little chance of your data being intercepted while you are synchronizing. It basically simulates Exchange ActiveSync on your PC, allowing you to use any mobile device that supports an Exchange account to synchronize with your local desktop installation of Microsoft Outlook. I've been using it for a couple of months now and it works flawlessly. They plan to implement synchronizing of notes in a future release. It is a 100% cloudless sync. As for privacy of cloud-based e-mail, there's always encryption.
The average user doesn't understand the true risks of using the public cloud. Those of us who do take the necessary precautions to protect ourselves. The unfortunate fact is that the other mobile devices on the market have similar native or third party cloudless synchronization options available, and better overall integration with Microsoft Exchange/Outlook. As an example, Windows Phone 8 does not utilitze the categories from Microsoft Outlook, though it synchronizes them in the objects through EAS. As a result, there are a myriad of users who choose a non-Microsoft device simply because it works better with Microsoft products. . Ironic and saddening that Microsoft doesn't seem to recognize this. It's likely the primary reason why all post-WM6.5 devices have trailed behind the competition. It is hurting their reputation and ultimtately results in lost revenue.