Phone contacts or Google contacts?

[nowucba]

Thank you for the useful software!

My android phone is connected via usb cable to a Windows PC running MPE 1.84. My phone is not connected to Google or the internet, and PC is not connected to Google.

In the sidebar under Contacts I see:

All [Contacts] = 150
Phone [Contacts] = 1
Google [Contacts] = 149

When I make a change to a contact listed under "All" and then "sync" with my phone, the change I just made with MPE is reflected on my phone. Very nice!

The problem I have is the 150 contacts should be listed in the PHONE category not the Google category, because all 150 contacts exist on my Phone but not necessarily on Google. This is most confusing.

Earlier today I signed into Google via my PC and made a few changes to my contacts that ARE NOT showing up in MPE under the Google listing. There is confusion by using MPE to sync MPE Phone [Contacts] with contacts on the Phone and labeling these as Google [Contacts].

When I add/create a new contact with MPE and sync it with my phone, it correctly appears in MPE as a PHONE contact. So now I have 151 contacts but only two of these showing up as Phone [Contacts]. More confusion for me.

I respectfully suggest any contacts synced with the Phone be listed in the Phone category, not the Google category. This further makes sense because many users for privacy reasons, don't use Google. And what would happen if I delete all my contacts from Google servers. Would I end up with only 2 contacts? Even more confusion for me.

Thank you.

[spile]

I agree that it is all very confusing. Even more so now that Jelly Bean has done away with the Phone Only option! I'd love a graphic explaining visually how contact (or should I say people!) Google, MPE and Android phones all interact.

[FJ]

If MyPhoneExplorer does show them as Google contacts then they are stored in your Google Contact account of the phone. Not more and not less. It does not mean that this contacts are already synced to the Google-Servers, this is another story and has nothing to do with MyPhoneExplorer.

[nowucba]

Thank you for the clarification.

While I deeply appreciate MyPhoneExplorer and all of the hard work developers have put into it, I invite you to consider this: When developing software you must consider designing in logical ways that work with the way most logical users think, not in ways that force users to attempt to think in the way you were thinking when you thought you were thinking how you thought things should work. Fortunately, most of MyPhoneExplorer is logical and easy to work with. The Google-contact issue is the exception.

Is the Google Contact account the only place MyPhoneExplorer is able to read contacts from on the phone?

The comment " It does not mean that this contacts are already synced to the Google-Servers, this is another story and has nothing to do with MyPhoneExplorer." adds confusion as the normal user in only interested in syncing contacts between MyPhoneExplorer and the Phone, regardless of Google. I for one prefer not to sync with Google. So how am I supposed to proceed so I can sync my Phone contacts with MyPhoneExplorer? Are you saying Google account on the Phone is the only method MyPhoneExplorer can sync with?

I believe the confusion arises with the terminology of "Google" in MyPhoneExplorer. I still don't understand the difference between Google and Phone in MyPhoneExplorer. You have not clarified this for us.

Thank you.

[dvhttn]

If you read the FAQ and also 'search' the forum first, your queries about how MPE functions will be answered. On the phone, in the MPE app settings you can choose which contacts account that new contacts are added to. I used to sync all my contacts to the 'local' account, I now sync them all to my Google account BUT do NOT sync my Google account with the cloud.

Each 'contacts app' on the phone will have different ways to display your contacts also, with the ability to display, or not, the various contacts accounts.

As for making MPE "idiot proof" as you suggest, it would be nice but you cannot account for all idiots ... As an example please explain the changes that Google themselves made to Android contacts and accounts for Jelly Bean.

Oh, and if you do not understand the difference between "Google and Phone in MyPhoneExplorer" then you definitely need to read around the subject more as these are not terms related solely to MPE but to any and all apps that manage contacts on your phone.

HTH.

[videophile]

Sorry, but I feel like I belong to the group of idiots :
- If I have Google contacts in my phone, they are referred to as "Phone" contacts in MPE.
- If I have Phone contacts in my phone, they are ... ignored by MPE.

As mentioned above, this is a serious issue (I have just posted a question on that matter http://www.fjsoft.at/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18874), because like many users, I use MPE for privacy reasons. I DON'T want any Google contacts, even with the sync disabled.

I like MPE, I even consider a donation, but not before this bug is corrected.

[nowucba]

Anmeldedatum:

We appreciate your efforts at clarifying this but the message is simply not getting through to us.

I don't see a setting in MPE that allows me to specify syncing contacts from my android device to PHONE CONTACTS in MPE. Nothing more.

As for "idiots @Google" I agree.

Thank you!

[nowucba]

I can add a new contact under MPE-Google-Contacts and another new contact under MPE-Phone-Contacts. Both contacts get added to the device (so I presume both MPE locations are syncing to the single device-Google-contacts location on the device). But when I sync again, both new contacts do not appear in the MPE-Google-Contacts on MPE. They both appear as MPE-Phone-Contacts. Confused?

Edit:
I manually added, one by one, all MPE-Phone-contacts to MPE-Google-contacts, and then deleted them from MPE-Phone-contacts. I only have contacts in MPE-Google-contacts but they show up as MPE-Phone-contacts not MPE-Google-Contacts.

On device:
In MPE client/Settings: Contacts-accounts to sync, I have only ‘Google’ selected.
In MPE client/Settings: Add new contacts to: ‘Google’ is selected.

I do not have any contacts in MPE-Phone-contacts, but I only see MPE-Phone-contacts listed in MPE (this should be Google because I am only adding contacts via MPE-Google and only Google is selected on device to have contacts added to. I believe displaying 'MPE Phone-contacts instead of MPE Google-contacts the is the source of confusion.

May I suggest MPE combine both MPE-Phone-Contacts and MPE-Google-Contacts into a single MPE group (call it what you want) so all contacts that sync between MPE and the device-Google-contacts sync between only one location on the device and only one location in MPE. This would end the confusion users are having with the two groups in MPE.

Thank you.

[videophile]

I'm with you, nowucba! See my post dated January 31 in this topic

[nowucba]

I'm with you, nowucba! See my post dated January 31 in this topic

Thanks videophile.

Yes, I read that thread before my prior post!

[FJ]

@videophile: If all contacts are in the same account then MyPhoneExplorer does show in the sidebar always "Phone" to make it for the user more simple - Phone has in this case the meaning "Device". This has also historic reasons from earlier supported SonyEricsson phones where you could select between "Phone" and "SIM" - the time before Android and their contact account strategy. If there are contacts displayed from different accounts then you can filter the view based on the account name. In this case the "Phone" has the meaning local account. Its maybe also a unlucky translation.

I like MPE, I even consider a donation, but not before this bug is corrected.

This is the wrong way to request changes in MyPhoneExplorer. Please keep your donation for another freeware project where the developer does make all your wishes become true.

@nowucba:

I can add a new contact under MPE-Google-Contacts and another new contact under MPE-Phone-Contacts. Both contacts get added to the device (so I presume both MPE locations are syncing to the single device-Google-contacts location on the device). But when I sync again, both new contacts do not appear in the MPE-Google-Contacts on MPE. They both appear as MPE-Phone-Contacts. Confused?

If you are able to reproduce this issue then post the logfile after sync.

@all: Its also possible to make the column "Account" visible, just rightclick the column header.

[ecci]

i'm working through a lot of posts, where it has been said, you can set in individual account to not-sync. but i don't see how. please help me on this.

[FJ]

You can define in the settings of MyPhoneExplorer Client on the phone which contact accounts you want to sync with MyPhoneExplorer. The setting is called "Contact-Accounts to sync..."