[Q] [THINK-TANK] Facebook Syncing problems.. fix? - Captivate General

First off, I have searched, and havent found anything thing like this for our phones. Al I could find are things like this
Let me start out by saying- the Captivate's general social networking sucks.
I am talking about syncing via the MediaHub (as some call it aka Built in Accounts) my contacts from Myspace, Twatter, and Facebook. I am not a ruhtard, I know it will sync via the accounts page but that account app syncs everyone and thier mom on facebook/twitter/myspace. which being anal about my contacts, DO NOT WANT!
For people like me, and others as I have read, we don't want Joe blow from elementary school populating into our contacts. For example, I went from 150 to well over 500 contacts because of the oh so awesome built in Sync. Now of course I can disable that then I lose the pictures/updaets/etc of the peopel I do care about. Or I can do a grab all and blow my contacts out of the water- then google syncs them all as actual contacts- then I have a bloated gmail account as well. It turns into a never ending contact editing fiasco. Confused yet?
So, the preferred way to do it would be from the actual Facebook app and skip the whole built in sync with contacts. With other phones, like my old G1, Facebook allows contact syncing. For some reason on the C(r)aptivate its no dice- This happened to the G1 before the latest update to the Facebook app. People were borking in the Nexus' as it was originally the first to get this feature. But eventualy the app was updated to allow all almost everyone else to do it. I checked my buddies EVO and he doesnt have this "feature" either.. so maybe this will work cross-platform if we can get a fix, but I digress. The reason this is the preferred method for syncing is it will only sync KNOWN CONTACTS or people already in the address book and auto update thier pic ect.
On the G1 some cat's put together a script that does this. You can view the code below. The question is how do we mod it to our devices? I have been trying to "hack" it into our phones but havent had any luck. I have modified the build.prop entries and pushed them to the system but havent got anywhere. Am I missing something? Does our contacts not work in the same way to even possibly allow this app to mod them? Devs, help me out here as I am only a tinkerer and noob to the Cap. I did a few of my own scripts for the G1 but apparently I am nowhere close to comprehension of my Cap and the way it works. I assumed (you know what they say bout that) that it was similar as it's android.. and I can find the same structures.. and and and and..
What are others thoughts on this? Do you feel this is even necessary? I personally would like the option to disable the contacts in the media hub and have my full blown facebook app do the syncing for me. Twitter app allows this.. wtf? Also an annoyance is every so many days my media hub biffs up all my linked contacts disappear- thus causing me to remove and re add the whole thing then resync the friends....
Here's the code: credited to SilverSurfR and Skri11a and this is taken from Firerat's "Patch" for the G1.
Code:
fb ()
{
# Edit trout.prop to get sync option in Facebook 1.2.x
# Credits : SilverSurfR and Skri11a
prop=/system/build.trout.prop
if [ `grep -q "Facebook 1.2.x Sync" $prop;echo $?` != "0" ];
then
remountrw
sed \
-e '/ro.product.name=kila/ i #ro.product.name=kila' \
-e '/ro.product.name=kila/ i #Facebook 1.2.x Sync on G1 Credits : SilverSurfR and Skri11a' \
-e '/ro.product.device=dream/ i #ro.product.device=dream' \
-e '/ro.product.device=dream/ i #Facebook 1.2.x Sync on G1 Credits : SilverSurfR and Skri11a' \
-e 's/ro.product.name=kila/ro.product.name=opal/' \
-e 's/ro.product.device=dream/ro.product.device=sapphire/' \
-i $prop
printmsg "$prop Patched for Facebook 1.2.x sync\nchanges will take effect on next boot\nenable sync in Facebook app settings"
else
printmsg "$prop appears to have already been patched"
fi
return
}
other threads of similar content:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=781307&highlight=facebook+sync
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=695025
oh an sorry for the long post

So as an update to this thread...
I have tried to build.prop stuff, the modding the apk... and then I did some more googling..apparently this is a KNOWN BUG in the facebook app. It has to do with our devices, well samsung in particular. The capability is there.. its just broken.
I noticed that when I installed the application it applies another SYNC option at the bottom of all my accounts. I noticed that when you try to use that option it just kicks you back to the same screen. The twitter app also has this feature located right above my facebook and works flawlessly. When I am talking about these, I am talking about true apps, not the built in sync accounts.
If you install the facebook app on the device, on first login it will go to a TIPS page- if you press your back arrow you will see the screen I am talking about when choosing what to sync. The bad thing though is this doesnt work. I
Ok, I could wait for Facebook to fix it.. but I hate waiting. Sooo my next step is to use the APKTool and try to decompile the APK cross compare some of the stuff twitter app does and try to make the facebook app work. I'm headed to the house now (leaving work) so I will post my progress if any later.
dont hold your breath though.

I somehow got mine to only do the ones i selected. I didnt enable contact sync for fb initially but later i went to a menu in the contacts main page and it said "get friends" and that let me sync only the contacts i selected. Not sure if thats helpful to you or not but maybe it will be.
sent from my Captivate

fooldog01 said:
I somehow got mine to only do the ones i selected. I didnt enable contact sync for fb initially but later i went to a menu in the contacts main page and it said "get friends" and that let me sync only the contacts i selected. Not sure if thats helpful to you or not but maybe it will be.
sent from my Captivate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw that, but the fact is its not at all like the actual FB app's sync. It works(well worked) flawlessly on my G1. It even attached stuff like Roxy to Roxanne and Chris to Christoper. I manually have to reattach them myself with the built in. Also the built in is somewhat sketchy. I have had to remove/re-add multiple times on different firmwares. The last time I had to re-import my outlook temp files to Google it spaz'd so much. My overall experience with the built in is less than satisfactory. When it comes down to it, I'm just being lazy...
So far I have mod'd a few things and recompiling. Not really getting anywhere though. I think I'll just either wait for a FB update or a firmware that will keep the links.

Related

Facebook Issues

I'm having an issue with the built in facebook support, I can sign in to flickr and twitter, but when I try to sign in to my facebook so I can link with contacts, it says that the service is currently unavailable....something I'm missing? I'm running fresh rom 0.7 with the patches.
I am having the same problem. Are you using the Hero or Eris? I have an Eris and am having this problem.
I'm seeing this post topic on all the boards right now. It must be down.
It must have something to do with the new privacy settings that Facebook just implemented.
tdavis42 said:
It must have something to do with the new privacy settings that Facebook just implemented.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i wonder if maybe you need to log in to facebook.com from your phone and accept the privacy policy?
Thats a no go. I just logged in to Facebook with the Android app and I still can't login through the Social network option.
Facebooks no privacy settings reset all of your privacy and app options. We may have to wait for an update for it to work properly, but mine doesn't sign in either, not even Bloo or Fbook.
not sure but....
after many...many....many retries it finally connected, that was weird, I just hope that I never have to go through that again (no more wipes for me unless absolutely neccesary)
Anyway, weird glitch, I could log in with the Facebook for Android app though, so not sure what would have caused that.
djsplitimage said:
after many...many....many retries it finally connected, that was weird, I just hope that I never have to go through that again (no more wipes for me unless absolutely neccesary)
Anyway, weird glitch, I could log in with the Facebook for Android app though, so not sure what would have caused that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure all that app does is interact with their website as opposed to using the API. Looks like the problems were with the API.
www.facebook.com is down as of right now. I tried from work internet and my phone 3g.
I imagine they are having some problems.
Good thing I found this post, I didn't notice a problem until immediately after installing unofficial MoDaCo 1.2c and I've been flashing recovery images all day trying to fix it.
It is working for me now. I haven't done anything to either my phone or Facebook options sense yesterday. Wonder what it was? Oh well, as long as it is working.
Facebook sync appears broken
To give you a little background, I've had a rooted Hero for quite a while now. I have been running Fresh 1.1 since it was released. I have also had my Facebook linked so I have all of my contacts with pictures and info in my phonebook.
Well after a few other mods on my phone like taskbars, icons, etc. I decided to wipe and go back to a fresh install of Fresh 1.1 again. I linked my Facebook profile again and after a few hours everyone was showing back up in my contacts list with pictures and such.
Last night my phone started acting weird and alot of things were FC'ing, maybe 3 or 4 things, but I didn't look at what specifically. Later last night I realized all my facebook stuff was gone again from my contacts list. I thought that maybe it was because of one of the processes that FC'd so I restarted the phone but as of this morning still a phonebook full of blank heads.
Anyone else had this issue? I've tried logging out and logging back in and everything. Any help would be appreciated, the phonebook looks so ugly without everyones pictures.
It may be a coincidence, but facebook itself has some severe issues right now. Some people are of a mind that the "new" viewing heuristics are themselves broken. You now view based on your history and interactions with/of your friends. My age there is 100 so it they write (email) to me personally.
Facebook Error
I am unable to sign into Facebook from the app it from HTC senses Facebook. I have tried wiping everything and various ROMs but im having the sane problem. any help would be appreciated
Sync Facebook Calendar
I am having a problem getting my facebook calendar to sync. I am running a Damagecontrol 2.1 Rom when I 1st set the phone up I'll see my facebook calendar entries in my calendar and eventually they disappear and the option to disply the facebook calendar also disappears. Does anyone have any insight?
facebook/google birthdays
i have some contacts that i have entered birthdays for in my google address book, however they are also friends of mine on facebook. i noticed within the calendar widgets that it lists the birthdays for these contacts twice once for the google contacts calendar and one for the facebook calendar. Is there a way to fix this so for linked contacts it only lists the birthday on one calendar.
ajaholic said:
i have some contacts that i have entered birthdays for in my google address book, however they are also friends of mine on facebook. i noticed within the calendar widgets that it lists the birthdays for these contacts twice once for the google contacts calendar and one for the facebook calendar. Is there a way to fix this so for linked contacts it only lists the birthday on one calendar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uncheck facebook in your calendars to show.
well i would like the birthdays of friends who i dont have on google to show up still, i just don't want duplicates and i dont want to go through all my google contacts and remove their birthdays.
Contacts facebook link
Is there a way to link all contacts with their appropriate facebook account automatically, i remember in 1.5 it would auto predict and suggest linking automatically for all the contacts, there is no option to do all contacts in 2.1...
anyone know of a way to go about doing that instead of painfully going one by one...

Facebook.

Has anybody else been having issues with the built in Facebook app on Nexus? Every time I try to retrieve notifications I get an error telling me it cannot retrieve.
Getting the same issue. Uninstalled using root explorer and tried reinstalling - no dice. The other version was from the Droid dump.
I wasn't ever able to get notifications working on my MT3G on the Facebook app.
Yes, I think it is some bug Google didn't quite work out before the release. I emailed them and got the standard response that they are aware of the problems...ie facebook...ie...polar clock dynamic color...and is working on it! Let's see how long they take to get it fixed!
I am having exactly the same problem with the facebook app on my hero. Its not a phone specific problem here, but either a facebook issue or an issue with the app itself.
It worked fine on my MT3G, just not so great on the N1 hopefully a patch rolls out soon
works on my N1
Facebook- Synced Contacts Name Issue
After syncing Facebook contacts with phone contacts, it changes the name of the contact to whatever it is in Facebook and 'overrules' whatever other name you have in phone.
I.e.- if you have your dad saved as 'Dad' in your phone and sync with his Facebook contact, it will overrule the name 'Dad' in your phone and display it as his full name a la his Facebook name.
This is ANNOYING as who searches parents by full name?? and others of course.....
Any help??
I don't like this either... there needs to be an option in the settings to make Gmail contacts the dominant/controlling information.
Eager for a solution to this.
lp1527 said:
After syncing Facebook contacts with phone contacts, it changes the name of the contact to whatever it is in Facebook and 'overrules' whatever other name you have in phone.
I.e.- if you have your dad saved as 'Dad' in your phone and sync with his Facebook contact, it will overrule the name 'Dad' in your phone and display it as his full name a la his Facebook name.
This is ANNOYING as who searches parents by full name?? and others of course.....
Any help??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im still trying to figure out how to sync facebook with my contacts. can you help me figure that out? no ones nexus really came with a manual lol.
Yeah...found out about this the hard way too Oh well..now I have no idea who is who in my phone.
RussianSolja said:
im still trying to figure out how to sync facebook with my contacts. can you help me figure that out? no ones nexus really came with a manual lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into your contact list. Hit menu, then accounts. Add an account, select Facebook.
Don't think it's a FB Client for N1/Android. I'm having issues with checking notifications directly on the facebook mobile client (which I prefer). This isn't the first time that FB have made changes to the interface without notifications and somethings things are broke for awhile.
My notifications were working again, last night, both the FB Mobile and FB for Android for a very short time and are now broken again.
It's not your phone nor the client. it's the FB developers.
running android on my touch pro (winmo device), facebook app worked fine. facebook status update, when checked online thru pc, says 'status updated with facebook for android). widget works fine too, scrolls right through everyone's status
Yeah, getting the same errors, too.
Facebook Pics + Sync with contacts?
Is the Facebook app that is installed supposed to take a facebook profile and sync and apply the picture with a contact card on the phone? I notice that it adds a facebook section when editing a contact and you could choose to use the facebook picture, however, it doesn't sync the picture to the contact. I check google.com/contacts to verify and there is either 1) no picture, or 2) an old picture that can be updated. I know it mentioned facebook syncing in the app for pictures, status, and contact info, however, the picture doesn't seem to get applied to the contact.
So, did some poking around and found the SyncMyPics. Is this app redundant to what is featured in the facebook app? Or, is it necessary to achieve what I would like?
Thanks!
I'm not sure why you are having that issue. Mine worked perfectly. The only issue I had was where I got dupes because names were incorrectly spelled.
I know that with the Hero ROM on my G1, not all of my contacts would sync pics from Facebook. It probably has to do with the level of security those users have. I'd say only a third of my contacts' pics from FB would sync. This could be the same issue? Are only some of your contact pics syncing?
Well...
My previous phone was a Touch Pro and using custom ROMsm I would use the facebook feature a lot where it would update the FB picture to the phone contact, then, it would get synced to Google using MS Exchange.
I just noticed a few friends changing their pictures. Did a force sync under accts and sync and noticed the contect picture didn't get changed... Sp, I'm wondering what is going on here?
Basically, shouldn't the FB app be updating the contact icons when there is a change.. then syncing them with google contacts?

Anything to automatically restore FB/Contact Links?

One of the bigger time wasters I have when I'm updating my rom to the newest version (using Cognition right now) is going through all my contacts and linking my Gmail contacts with my Facebook ones and whatnot. It's just annoying. Not a deal breaker or anything. I was just curious if there was any way to back up those links and restore them after a rom update. Anyone know?
Thanks.
I want to know that too!
Anyone know this??
Didnt realize that the links wouldn't be saved that's pretty huge for me considering the number of contacts I have and the time I spent fixing it all up... Ugh. There must be a way to save this across flashes?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I896
Usually I have my contacts synced to google, but for some reason after I restore everything the contacts are all mixed up. One person's facebook will now be linked to another person's email and to another's phone number. It is annoying and I sometimes call the wrong person.
I'm looking for an app to do this as well - either that, or an app that can automatically link your gmail contacts to their Facebook accounts if one exists. I thought about writing such an app myself but I doubt my android programming skills are good enough haha.
Haha this too bothers me :x.. Considering my 600+ friends on FB
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
It works if you are willing to pay
I use fonebook and gsync to get the profile pics into Gmail. I'm not sure it will work with the media links but it keeps the profile pics up to date without manual intervention.
Anyone?
Really? No one has a solution for this?? I've flashed about 6 roms so far and EVERY TIME i have to manually relink my FB contacts to my phonebook. It's quite useful to have them linked but no more rom flashing until I can restore these links more easily. My phone needs to work for me, not the other way around.
when you add the fb account just select the "add all friends" option. this adds all and joins 97% of my fb and google contacts.
this will, of course, add ALL your fb contacts. I enable "display only contacts with phone numbers" in the contacts settings.
If you just want pictures, SyncMyPix in the market works like a charm.
I wish
I have asked this question a few times. No replies, so all I can add is if someone does make this app I will pay for it.
To help your situation some, what I have started to do is change my contact names to start matching their facebook names and the auto sync does it's thing. kinda lame I know
allted said:
I have asked this question a few times. No replies, so all I can add is if someone does make this app I will pay for it.
To help your situation some, what I have started to do is change my contact names to start matching their facebook names and the auto sync does it's thing. kinda lame I know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, I keep most the names the same and it auto links the accounts. For the few I have named differently it takes all of 3 min to link them.
I use Titanium backup and IIRC, when I restore my contacts with this app, the facebook linked contacts are intact. It is the one under the system data batch called contact storage.
in facebook, i use androgyny:
http://apps.facebook.com/androgyny/
You link your facebook contacts with your gmail contacts and it puts the profile pic directly into your gmail contacts, which in turn wirelessly syncs with your phone. so far its working pretty well for me.
one issue: it doesnt auto-update. So you'll have to manually update the app in order to pull in any new profile pics.

Exporting AND SYNCING contacts stored on phone to google

I've contacts that are stored on the 'Phone'. Is there some way to copy AND SYNC them in future with Google And Microsoft Exchange Activesync(Hotmail) ? Is there any app which does this ?
Any help guys ? Of late , xda doesn't seem to be providing me with some useful solutions :-(
And here we are , bumping once more.
Hi looks like you need help.
Well, I'd say there's not much in terms of apps that I know of that can do this all in one go (if anyone finds one, post it? If i find one, ill post it too), but I do know of a pretty simple way to do it:
1.) Using the built-in Contacts app or whatever other app that you want, export the CVS/vCard file of your current address book for your phone into your SD card.
2.) From here, upload it to your Gmail by either throwing the file into your computer and loading the file from your harddrive to their servers, or just do it through the mobile browser (if you have problems with the mobile website since I haven't tried this myself, try using Dolphin Browser HD definitely a great app)
3.) Viola! Everything should be synced and in order
It's true that this is not a one-click solution to your problem. There is one for HTC phones built into their ROM, but it has a bug which prevents syncing if you have the birthday field filled out or something like that. If you could tell me what phone it is, maybe I can help a bit more. In the meanwhile, I'll look for some apps. If you could make do with this for now, you should be good to go (though 3 clicks isn't really all that bad )
-EDIT- Forgot to mention, you can also use that CVS/vCard file and easily just dump it into Outlook. Another 2 clicks, but it ain't so bad now, is it?
-EDIT2- Well, after a few more searches, it seems that Google is supposed to auto sync contacts 2-way on all phones with their gmail accounts associated with the device. I don't know if they apply to contacts you've gotten through Facebook, but it does seem to work for the most part. As for the ActiveExchange thingy, I think this app might suffice if you're willing to shell out a small bit of money: http://www.androidtapp.com/exchange-by-touchdown/ Didn't test the app myself, so ask around first and read up on it (Google ).
If you're willing to shell out a good amount of money (hefty 25 buckaroos), here's a supposedly good app: http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-fea...-of-corporate-exchange-contacts-and-calendars
IMHO, if i were you, I would just stick to the whole 5 step process. Not sure if the ActiveExchange can accept vCards/CVS (never had to use it), but you save yourself 25 or so bucks. But, that's just my two cents on it. Your choice
~jojojohnson7410
Hey thanks for your help first off
I've a HTC Legend.
Ok , I get your point. If I sync it with GMail , will ALL the alternate contact numbers , group info , Facebook Profile pics , their birth dates be synced ?
abhishek_turbo911 said:
Hey thanks for your help first off
I've a HTC Legend.
Ok , I get your point. If I sync it with GMail , will ALL the alternate contact numbers , group info , Facebook Profile pics , their birth dates be synced ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have an HTC phone, so the contacts and stuff SHOULD be synced with your HTC account/google account too. Just in case, I'd double-check right now.
As for if it will back up ALL that stuff, the answer is yes. This is because vCards and CVS are able to handle various amount of data, so it should also be recognize by Google, at the very least (but its standard so it should also work with Outlook/whatever other program). The only thing that won't be synced is the facebook pictures only because they can change, but if you were to add your facebook account to your phone, it will automatically take care of this, so you shouldn't have to worry about it.
As usual, if you're willing to shell out a bit of cash, here's a solution to your FB photo problem. Hope everything works out for you
~jojojohnson7410
jojojohnson7410 said:
You have an HTC phone, so the contacts and stuff SHOULD be synced with your HTC account/google account too. Just in case, I'd double-check right now.
As for if it will back up ALL that stuff, the answer is yes. This is because vCards and CVS are able to handle various amount of data, so it should also be recognize by Google, at the very least (but its standard so it should also work with Outlook/whatever other program). The only thing that won't be synced is the facebook pictures only because they can change, but if you were to add your facebook account to your phone, it will automatically take care of this, so you shouldn't have to worry about it.
As usual, if you're willing to shell out a bit of cash, here's a solution to your FB photo problem. Hope everything works out for you
~jojojohnson7410
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will not be using Outlook , firstly. No , the contacts are not synced with the GMail (Google Account). I am under the presumption that only contacts SAVED on Google Account can be synced. Since they are saved on the phone memory ... I don;t know. But please enlighten me.
abhishek_turbo911 said:
I will not be using Outlook , firstly. No , the contacts are not synced with the GMail (Google Account). I am under the presumption that only contacts SAVED on Google Account can be synced. Since they are saved on the phone memory ... I don;t know. But please enlighten me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, well, if you check it out here, you'll find the thing you might need for the corporate sync since you're not using Outlook (my bad. like i said, don't use it too much) and if this link doesn't work, you might need an update then.
As for the Google sync problem, I did a bit of researching. Apparently, its 2-way syncing, but like you probably noticed, it's not doing so hot. After fooling around for a bit, I finally got it to work pretty well. Apparently, you need a couple of conditions set in place in order for it to work nicely:
1.) Have the GMail app and set it to use your default email
2.) Make sure that under Accounts > [email protected] settings, you check sync next to Contacts (and if it still doesn't work, then try also syncing GMail.)
3.) If your phone has a Battery Manager (mine does) make sure that the setting you choose does not put restrictions on sync! (if it does, then you'll see a lag between syncs. For me, it was 15 minutes)
Thanks to Darth_Penguin for the first two tips.
Last but not least, the strangest thing I've encountered yet: Export your phone contact's list and import it into Gmail at LEAST once. Here's the reason why:
It seems that Google is syncing your contacts that you make. It works very well and doesn't seem to have a hitch pulling stuff that you have on your contacts book. However, there's a flaw: it doesn't play so nicely with Facebook. Most of us have Facebook synced onto our devices and we forget about that. It's true most of our contacts aren't in our gmail, but that's because we never had all of those FB friends names in our gmail either. That's why it seems it's not syncing right. if you want it to, I would suggest this: Import your entire contacts into your SD card through the menu button in your Contacts program, then export it out. Sync that file with Gmail, and you should be good to go. Sometimes, we sync it to Facebook, but it doesn't mean it'll sync to Gmail. Haven't tested out whether or not you'll end up with doubles, but i'll update if i get a chance (planning out beach day!) =D let me know how it goes for you (but that should work. In the odd chance it doesn't, at least we've tried something)
Good luck!
~jojojohnson7410
jojojohnson7410 said:
Okay, well, if you check it out here, you'll find the thing you might need for the corporate sync since you're not using Outlook (my bad. like i said, don't use it too much) and if this link doesn't work, you might need an update then.
As for the Google sync problem, I did a bit of researching. Apparently, its 2-way syncing, but like you probably noticed, it's not doing so hot. After fooling around for a bit, I finally got it to work pretty well. Apparently, you need a couple of conditions set in place in order for it to work nicely:
1.) Have the GMail app and set it to use your default email
2.) Make sure that under Accounts > [email protected] settings, you check sync next to Contacts (and if it still doesn't work, then try also syncing GMail.)
3.) If your phone has a Battery Manager (mine does) make sure that the setting you choose does not put restrictions on sync! (if it does, then you'll see a lag between syncs. For me, it was 15 minutes)
Thanks to Darth_Penguin for the first two tips.
Last but not least, the strangest thing I've encountered yet: Export your phone contact's list and import it into Gmail at LEAST once. Here's the reason why:
It seems that Google is syncing your contacts that you make. It works very well and doesn't seem to have a hitch pulling stuff that you have on your contacts book. However, there's a flaw: it doesn't play so nicely with Facebook. Most of us have Facebook synced onto our devices and we forget about that. It's true most of our contacts aren't in our gmail, but that's because we never had all of those FB friends names in our gmail either. That's why it seems it's not syncing right. if you want it to, I would suggest this: Import your entire contacts into your SD card through the menu button in your Contacts program, then export it out. Sync that file with Gmail, and you should be good to go. Sometimes, we sync it to Facebook, but it doesn't mean it'll sync to Gmail. Haven't tested out whether or not you'll end up with doubles, but i'll update if i get a chance (planning out beach day!) =D let me know how it goes for you (but that should work. In the odd chance it doesn't, at least we've tried something)
Good luck!
~jojojohnson7410
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, the top most segment does not work. I have tried the last para. Here's what I did,
1. I imported the contacts to my gmail account by the vcf file.
2. All my contacts have come up but not their profile pic
3. Now what ? I did'nt understand this segment.
" Sync that file with Gmail, and you should be good to go. Sometimes, we sync it to Facebook, but it doesn't mean it'll sync to Gmail. Haven't tested out whether or not you'll end up with doubles, but i'll update if i get a chance (planning out beach day!) =D let me know how it goes for you (but that should work. In the odd chance it doesn't, at least we've tried something)"
ALSO, now if I want to 'sync' do I always have to do this way of exporting the vcf file ?
Okay the reason why you don't have the profile pics are because those don't get saved into the vcf files. Only textual data. The pictures came from facebook and unless you use an app or program or service, you can only get the pictures synced to your contacts by syncing with facebook. And as for the loading the vcf, you only need to do this once to sync all contacts from across all your services (facebook, gmail, etc.). So long as you only add contacts through your contacts app, you should have no problems with your gmail.
however, do note that if another third party app/service syncs in a new contact for you (e.g. Facebook), it will NOT sync with gmail as they don't support third party companies. If it's a problem, either sync your device with your third party company (e.g. Facebook) our just do the vcf trick I taught you every once in a while to synchronize all your services/contacts
~ jojojohnson7410
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App

Noob's question on HTC Sense - Sorry if it seems dumb!

I just got my Sensation after jumping from the "magick Kingdom of Apple (tm)" and an old iPhone 3G.
I'm so pleased with the Sensation, the screen is amazing and so responsive but - since I'm used to Apple's - "My way or the Highway" approach, some of the freedom has me totally confused.
On the 3G there was one mail app - I see I now have GMail and HTC Mail and that's before I go near the Market.
I had a simple contact app but now I'm pushed towards HTC People which is flooding in my facebook contacts and their posts when mostly I just want folks names and numbers to phone or txt them. If I want facebook I'm happy to start a Facebook app, other than that I really can't be ar$ed reading the piles of crap that too many "friends" are putting on.
I read that I will have some things sync'ing via Google "automatically" and the phone keeps pestering me to sign up for an HTC Sense account while online forums are saying don't have a Sense account running as it will eat up your battery...
Maybe if HTC provided a manual with more than 10 miniature pages to start explaining all this!!!!
Can someone please explain in noob friendly English what is the best combination of general apps / syncing to get mail, contacts, SMS and calendar working so that they are automatically backed up but without trying to sync every 10 mins and running the battery down quicker than my car drinks petrol (which is pretty damn fast!). I don't care if its the HTC apps or Google Apps, I just one to be running one mail client, 1 calendar etc and be able to get all that data back should I need to.
I'm not a complete idiot by the way, I ran the 3G JB'd and unlocked for 3 years through every update Apple put out and I am here because I will root and load a custom rom eventually, but I'd like to learn my way about before doing anything too adventurous.
Anyone offer me any advice or point me to a website offering a class in "HTC Sense 101".
Thanks
BelfastLad
I second this question, starting new on a sensation this week and.... somehow my facebook wants to link with my HTC facebook.... wtf? Didn't realize the sense account was wasting my battery... should I disable it?... Basic configuration theory regarding all this Sense stuff would be useful... thanks.
BelfastLad said:
I just got my Sensation after jumping from the "magick Kingdom of Apple (tm)" and an old iPhone 3G.
I'm so pleased with the Sensation, the screen is amazing and so responsive but - since I'm used to Apple's - "My way or the Highway" approach, some of the freedom has me totally confused.
On the 3G there was one mail app - I see I now have GMail and HTC Mail and that's before I go near the Market.
I had a simple contact app but now I'm pushed towards HTC People which is flooding in my facebook contacts and their posts when mostly I just want folks names and numbers to phone or txt them. If I want facebook I'm happy to start a Facebook app, other than that I really can't be ar$ed reading the piles of crap that too many "friends" are putting on.
I read that I will have some things sync'ing via Google "automatically" and the phone keeps pestering me to sign up for an HTC Sense account while online forums are saying don't have a Sense account running as it will eat up your battery...
Maybe if HTC provided a manual with more than 10 miniature pages to start explaining all this!!!!
Can someone please explain in noob friendly English what is the best combination of general apps / syncing to get mail, contacts, SMS and calendar working so that they are automatically backed up but without trying to sync every 10 mins and running the battery down quicker than my car drinks petrol (which is pretty damn fast!). I don't care if its the HTC apps or Google Apps, I just one to be running one mail client, 1 calendar etc and be able to get all that data back should I need to.
I'm not a complete idiot by the way, I ran the 3G JB'd and unlocked for 3 years through every update Apple put out and I am here because I will root and load a custom rom eventually, but I'd like to learn my way about before doing anything too adventurous.
Anyone offer me any advice or point me to a website offering a class in "HTC Sense 101".
Thanks
BelfastLad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cbutters said:
I second this question, starting new on a sensation this week and.... somehow my facebook wants to link with my HTC facebook.... wtf? Didn't realize the sense account was wasting my battery... should I disable it?... Basic configuration theory regarding all this Sense stuff would be useful... thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gmail is the official google app for Gmail. By default, Gmail will show your google account stuff when you first sign into google account and link it to your phone.
HTC Mail is a mail client that you can configure to show any of your emails. For example, I have my Gmail specifically for my gmail (I could funnel my hotmail and exchange account to my gmail, but I don't want to), and I use my HTC Mail specifically for my Exchange account.
Now, with Facebook. I linked my Facebook account with Facebook for HTC Sense. You don't have to do this, but if you like using Friend Stream instead of the official Android app, do this.
If you go to settings > Accounts & sync > Facebook for HTC Sense, you can sync live feed, calendar, and/or contacts.
I sync my contacts so that my Gmail contacts come up with facebook pictures.
With the official Facebook app, it'll ask you if you want to sync contacts. I choose no because it funnels ALL of your Facebook friends into your contacts account, something I don't like.
If this is all confusing, you can just go to contacts, hit menu, hit view, scroll down to options, and uncheck the Facebook so that they don't show up in your contacts.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you want more info.
Just use the gmail app for email (assuming you only use gmail) go into accounts and sync, add your google account and it will auto sync your mail, contacts and callendar. Dont worry about battery drain gmail uses push email.
Unless you want to use the htc fabeook or friend stream widgets I would avoid facebook for htc sense, just add your facebook account in accounts and sync, it will import your facebook friends into your contacts (if you want), shortly after youll get a notification about matched contacts and you can link your existing contacts with your facebook contacts, so all information (phone, email, address, facebook etc) is under a single contact. This same process can be done using your twitter account.
As for calendar there are several calendar apps on the market, I personally use Jorte calendar, it will sync with your goole calander and has some nice widget options and nice UI.
The only things I have auto syncing on my phone are google, facebook and twitter and weather. Like I said, unless you want to use the htc widgets I would avoid syncing anything "sense" related.
Thanks for the pointers so far
Thanks to the Mod who helpfully moved my thread. I'll watch that more carefully in future.
And to the guys who've posted some good helpful advice, much appreciated.
By this time next week I'm sure I'll be well sorted. The week after I'll probably be getting itchy fingers to get rooting!
Thanks for the help but I'd still echo the 2nd posters comments. A guide to initial set-up and recommended first tweaks would be great if some "expert" could ever find the time to write one.
- Any takers?????
A "quick" guide to HTC Sense
I will try to make this as simple as I can. Feel free to fill in the gaps if I miss something.
Initial Setup
It's nice of HTC to include a personalised version of that Android initial setup, but I recommend you skip through as much as you can.
- Select you language --- pretty straight forward, right?
- Transfer my stuff --- it's a really great tool if you need to use it
- Internet connection --- choose "Mobile network or Wi-Fi"; I don't know if this is the case with the Sensation, but on older HTC phones this setting actually forces the phone to get the correct settings for APNs
- Scheduled sync --- choose "Automatically sync data"; don't worry, you can turn this off later if you want too, it will just help sync your data if you add an account later in the setup
- Set up Wi-Fi network --- choose your Wi-Fi network
- Use Google location --- it's all up to you here, but it does help to let your apps know your location. I recommend you leave those on
- Tell HTC --- as you can read on the screen, Tell HTC is software that runs in the background. It's something similar to reporting errors on Windows
- Set up accounts --- you can always add accounts later, so I recommend you skip this step
Google account
As this is Android, you will have to sign in to your Google account. When you do this, your email will be synced to Gmail, your contact will show up in the People app from HTC and your calendar will be synced to the Calendar app also from HTC. You can always choose what items from your Google account you want to sync from Setting - Accounts & Sync - Google. I personally use all their services, so I leave all on.
HTC Mail app
HTC have made their own mail app so you can easily view all your account (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Exchange or other POP3 services). This is pretty useful and it works great. I only have the Hotmail and Yahoo accounts connected here, since Gmail does the rest.
HTC People app
All your contacts in one place. Nice, right? Not quite... It took me about a week to figure this one out, but I finally got it to work just right. I keep my contact on Google, you know, family, close friends, work people... and all the detailes I need are there, but when you start to use Facebook, Facebook for HTC, Tweeter, Yahoo and so on, you get all these messeges to sync your contacts. Fine, I did that, now my People app is full of "friends" I haven't spoken in years. They just lay there. And above it all you get all kinds of messages in the status bar to let you know you can "link" you contacts. A huge list if I might add . So whats the deal here?
Sure, linking your contact is useful. Say you don't have a friends email adress, but he posted it on Facebook, or his birthday, or something else. You can get them from linking his accounts and you can find all this info in his Contact Info page. Beside that, you have quick access to conversation history (txt or email), updates, gallery or call history. HTC Sense is great at that And even though Facebook and Facebook for HTC Sense target both the same service, there are a few diferences. For instance, the simple Facebook only syncs contact, while Facebook for HTC Sense syncs live feeds and calendars too for you to use on the Friend Stream app/widget or in the Calendar. The same goes for Twitter.
But when you start linking people, you see that their photo is being changed to whatever profile picture they have on Facebook, Tweeter or other services... and even their name can change too. To resolve this you just go into a persons contact info page, tap the chain icon at the top right hand corner, from there, tap the picture and choose from the list. The same for the name. Sure, you get previews of posts or text messages next to someone in the People app, but you get rid of those "stupid pictures"
Also, I found that having people actualy stored on the phone and not on Google, makes this process a little bit harder, because every time Facebook for HTC synced, contact photos changed. Very annoying.
I find it useful to sync contact from all services, what the hell, let's go crazy, but I sure don't like seing them all in the People app, so just tap the menu button, then tap View. Here you can scroll down to Options and pick what you want to be displayed. You won't lose contacts you don't pick, or the links between them, they just don't appear anymore. Jobe done.
As for creating contacts, be careful. By default, the contact type field is set to whatever category you are viewing in People. If you chose "Phone" here, the contact information will ONLY be present on your phone and it WILL NOT SYNC to other services like Gmail. I'm talking about information that you put there, not the one that is being synced. So in the end you must back them up if you plan to install a custom ROM, or you will lose them.
Accounts & sync
Don't be scared to dive deep in these settings and choose only what you want to sync. Every account has it's own settings, so be pationd.
Here I have my Google account syncing everything, Facebook is syncing contacts, Facebook for HTC Sense is also syncing everything but once a day, HTC Sense (yes, I have an account set up, and it doesn't drain the batery) has only Update when opened checked and update schedule is manual, News, Show Me and Stocks are all manualy updated too since I don't use them at all, Twitter syncs all but manual, Weather is syncing automatically every hour (not much trafic there). All these settings where mare having in mind that I have Auto-Sync enabled. Yes, I know, not so good, but the ammount of data being used is very little because it only has to do the hard job of getting all the stuff to my phone once, then it keeps track if that is up to date.
I hope I've touched every aspect and doubt that you might have had about HTC Sense. Chears.
You COULD read all the long posts above about how to get Sense working....or you could do the simple thing and just use CM7. I say rather than trying to get your feet wet with Sense, just jump straight off the deep end and S-OFF+root your phone and flash CM7. With CM7 you experience Android as it was meant to be experienced by Google. No extra nonsense, no crazy background syncing hogging your battery, just pure, silky smooth Android. Facebook just syncs your contacts with their picture and any phone numbers or email addresses listed on their facebook profile. You can also combine them with your Google contacts, so say for example you meet some girl at a bar and get her number and put it into your phone as a contact. Then later you become facebook friends with her. You can combine her facebook with the contact you already put in at the bar as one unit, and now in addition to the phone number you put in before, you now have her picture from facebook associated with her in your contacts book as well as any email addresses or other phone numbers from her facebook. This is all extremely simple and easy to do with the vanilla no-sense UI.
Not to mention the rom in general is lightning fast and smooth like warm butter It also has CPU management built in as well as tons of other features. It's the perfect combination of performance and simplicity.
to the clown above me
nobody and I mean nobody reads your damn posts,why?simply because they can't.Now stop with the annoying cyan posting
Ughhh... my eyes !
Why the awful colour ?
Macklessdaddy said:
to the clown above me
nobody and I mean nobody reads your damn posts,why?simply because they can't.Now stop with the annoying cyan posting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed. i cant even look at the screen when his post is above another im tryin to read
Having ruined my eyesight reading the cyan post above, it wasn't worth the effort. Seriously, I like Cyanogenmod as much as the next guy, but it's not answering the OP's question.
To the OP: Have you had a look on your SD card? When I got my Desire there was a proper manual on there in .pdf format. I've not checked on my Sensation because I put the SD card from my Desire into it when I upgraded. Failing that you can download it from here: http://www.htc.com/uk/help/htc-sensation/#download

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