2.3.3 android contacts accounts sync mess

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r0b0
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 9:09 am

2.3.3 android contacts accounts sync mess

Post by r0b0 »

Hi,

I've just upgraded to Birdie Sync 2.3.3 and I'm getting all sorts of warnings about changes in the way contacts are synchronized. I don't want a new "birdiesync account on my android device" to hold my contacts. Also, I've never had any problems with the way it worked before so apparently the issue that forced you to change this behavior doesn't affect me.

Could I have the old way of contacts syncing back, please? For the time being, I'm only syncing events.

Thank you,
Robert

Birdy
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Re: 2.3.3 android contacts accounts sync mess

Post by Birdy »

Changing the way contacts are synchronized was a carefully considered decision. Actually at first, it seems it was possible to avoid using a BirdieSync account to synchronize contacts and huge efforts were made in that sense in previous versions of BirdieSync. But unfortunatelly, all the Android devices on the market don't behave in the same way because each manufacturer decided to customize the operating system... It was tried to synchronize contacts in the local default contact account of the mobile device. But with some devices the following problems could occur:

- If a Google account or another account was created on the mobile device, then contacts could only be created in this new account and no longer in the default contact account. Note that synchronizing with a Google account could stop the synchronization with Google remote server.
- A contact created in the default contact account could be moved to another account after a reboot of the mobile device.
- A contact could only be created in BirdieSync account which was not synchronized.
- The default contact account name needed to be "hard coded" because it was not possible to detect it
- Etc.

So in order to solve most of these problems, it was necessary to finally synchronize with BirdieSync account to offer a common solution to all Android devices on the market. Furthermore it respects Android philosophy which wanted to separate synchronization adapters in independent accounts.

Now I understand that this introduces an important change for people who are happy with the previous solution and don't consider the new one as necessary. That's why a beta version of BirdieSync 2.3.3.0 has been posted for 1 month to get feedback from users. Until now, this feedback was positive.

Reverting to the behavior of 2.3.2.2 (offering the possibility to use the default contact account) from my opinion leads to an important problem. If the possibility to use the default account is offered, it will not work with some Android devices, and in some cases could lead to the loss of data during the synchronization. And it would be really complicated to make a complete inventory of all the devices on the market to know on which ones it works and on which ones it doesn't.

I did my best to give you a clear explanation of this evolution. Wouldn't it possible for you to use BirdieSync account instead of the default contact account ? Would you have a particular reason which would prevent you from switching to this new account ?

Thanks.
Birdy

r0b0
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 9:09 am

Re: 2.3.3 android contacts accounts sync mess

Post by r0b0 »

Thank you for your explanation.

OK, I've now clicked "Yes" on question "Do you want to import contacts from another account?" on BirdieSync on my phone. I get a selection of accounts:
  • #1 pcsc (75 contacts)
  • #2 <my_gmail_login>@gmail.com (118 contacts)
  • #3 <My Last Name First Name> (77 contacts)
  • #4 <my_nickname> (33 contacts)
I think #2 is my GMail contacts - I don't want to sync those. What is #1 and #4 I don't quite know. Do you have an idea? Is #3 my "Phone" contacts? I would like to sync my "Phone contacts".

Thank you,
Robert

Birdy
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Re: 2.3.3 android contacts accounts sync mess

Post by Birdy »

Actually, if your Android device has already been synchronized with BirdieSync 2.3.2.2 and your Thunderbird contacts are up-to-date you shouldn't need to use the import function.
At the very first synchronization with 2.3.3.0, BirdieSync will reset contact synchronization and restart it from scratch with BirdieSync account: it means that all contacts present in Thunderbird will be transferred to BirdieSync account on the mobile device (you could choose "Replace" option for instance if the BirdieSync account is empty).
But since your contacts were also present in the default contact account (previously synchronized with BirdieSync 2.3.2.2), BirdieSync synchronization should ask you if you would want to remove the contacts in the default contact account ("pspc" in your case) to avoid having duplicates with the new contacts synchronized in BirdieSync account. So you may answer yes to this question.

Now to answer your question:

The default contact account on your Android device is "pcsc". Don't you have an HTC device ? If yes, this account is used by the Android contact application when creating new contacts on the phone. With BirdieSync 2.3.2.2, contacts were synchronized in this account.
So you may import only these contacts in BirdieSync accounts. But not that it is not necessary if your contacts are up-to-date in Thunderbird since the new synchronization should transfer Thunderbird contacts in BirdieSync account.

I don't know what the other accounts are. Maybe it could be a good idea that BirdieSync displays the type of the account as well as the name to better identify them...

Again, ensure to have a BACKUP of your contacts before proceeding.
Birdy

r0b0
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 9:09 am

Re: 2.3.3 android contacts accounts sync mess

Post by r0b0 »

Thank you for the trougout explanation and reassuring stance.

I've stopped worrying, made a backup, click through all the default answers to all the questions and - everything is fine! All my contacts are in sync, no duplicates, no problems!

Thanks to all the support team posting as Birdy on the forum and all the programmers making the software :)

R.

sstoffel
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 11:06 pm

Re: 2.3.3 android contacts accounts sync mess

Post by sstoffel »

Please let the user decide if he wants a new account, on his own risk if it doesn't work. The old way contacts were synchronized was the one I paid for.

pointe
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 6:06 pm

Re: 2.3.3 android contacts accounts sync mess

Post by pointe »

Ähhh - Sorry - aber kann jemand die Info von Birdie evtl. auch auf deutsch übersetzen?
Mein Englisch reich für den Urlaub und kleine Unterhaltungen - aber hier bin ich aufgeschmissen ;-)

Ich habe leider so einige Probleme mit der Steuerung über meine Bluetooth Freisprecheinrichtung - dort werden plötzlich viele Kontakte vertauscht.

Danke aus Hamburg

Peter

blue-wj
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2011 1:05 pm

Re: 2.3.3 android contacts accounts sync mess

Post by blue-wj »

sorry ganz verstanden hab ich es auch nicht
aber der Consens ist klar:
birdiesync synct nur noch Thunderbird zum Android in birdiesync contacs
und das hab auch ich nicht gekauft und bezahlt
Nachdem ich mich maßlos geärgert hab, da meine Kontakte alle verwurschtelt waren
habe ich nach alternativen gesucht und bin fündig geworden "MyPhoneExplorer"
ist freeware und sogar in deutsch

Birdy
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Re: 2.3.3 android contacts accounts sync mess

Post by Birdy »

@Peter: Sorry, I don't speak German. I'll have to answer in English. What do you mean by "vertauscht." (reversed). Is it a problem with the order "First name/Last name" ?

Based on your feedbacks, a solution is being investigated to give the possibility to choose which account should be synchronized and so still use the classical contact application if preferred...
Birdy

jpshev
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:09 pm

Re: 2.3.3 android contacts accounts sync mess

Post by jpshev »

I am outraged. There was NO PROPER warning before upgrading on my phone!
The previous version worked fine on my HTC Desire Z, now I will have to spend hours restoring and I cannot find the previous version to "downgrade".
Please make an APK available for those that wish to go back to a version THAT WORKS!
Julian

Birdy
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Re: 2.3.3 android contacts accounts sync mess

Post by Birdy »

I had a direct contact with Julian to solve his problem...

A new beta version of BirdieSync has been released which no longer uses BirdieSync account to synchronize your contacts. So you should now be able to use the stock contact application again to manage your contacts.
For more flexibility and to still address some problems with some specific Android devices, you can now choose the accounts you wish to synchronize (Phone, Google, BirdieSync, etc.).

The beta version is available for Thunderbird 5.0:
http://www.birdiesync.com/forum/viewtop ... f=1&t=1514

And for Thunderbird 3.1:
http://www.birdiesync.com/forum/viewtop ... f=1&t=1534

Please quickly report any problem you have with this new version or comment you have. Don't wait for the official release to do it !
The release cycle is intended to be short.
Post the version of Android you use and the model of your Android device.

Thanks.
Birdy

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