After reading some comments and concerns around the forum and other interwebz sources, I’ve decided to attempt to answer, to the best of my ability, a good chunk of the unknowns. From the “Meet your Contacts on the Pre” article, we already know that the Pre can pull from Google, Facebook, and/or Microsoft Exchange. So picking up from there, I added 2 accounts in contacts while an existing account was already in there. I started by adding a Gmail account and then a Facebook account, and immediately my new mail messages were available while the 70 contacts from Gmail and 75 contacts from Facebook took just under 2 minutes to completely sync.
Adding the account in contacts also added them in mail and calendar so you don’t have to create accounts in each.
Currently there doesn’t appear to be any options for setting the time between syncs or any clear indication of when the syncs are done, but adding a contact in Gmail via the web took no more than 5 minutes to show up on the Pre. If you need it faster than the auto-sync, there is an option to Sync Now in the preferences, which will force the sync. Other options in the preferences allow you to add or remove accounts, and set a default account (where any new contact will be added).
Once your contacts have been imported you can see how the Pre handles contacts that are coming from multiple sources, for example this one shows being in both Facebook and Gmail, and puts a small 2 by the profile picture.
In this situation you can turn off 1 or the other of the accounts or let them merge, as they do seamlessly. In the case where names may be different or two contact profiles did not merge as you had hoped, you can choose to link more profiles and just pick the one from the list you want to join. Here an account with the name palm goon was attached to another account, and if you want the others to fall under palm goon on the contact list all you have to do is set palm goon as the primary profile.
So far everything functions surprisingly well, the only disappointment I’ve run into and not been able to solve involved deleting a contact profile. In the case where you may have a contact in your Gmail contacts, but don’t want them on your phone, there is no simple solution. After removing the contact from the phone it was removed from the Gmail contacts when checked from the web. The other problem I found, and something I find to be for more of an issue is that Facebook contacts cannot be deleted, so if you’ve got a bunch of college/work/high school Facebook friends that you really have no interest in calling you may want to avoid adding your Facebook account to the Pre. That’s not to say that a solution won’t be created or that it will be that way on launch date.
40 Comments, Comment or Ping
Miguel
Thank you for the info! Just one question. When you delete an account, are the contacts of that account deleted too? Is there an option to keep them or delete them?
Thank you so much.
May 25th, 2009
Aridon
The real question is does it sink from “All Contacts” or “My Contacts” in Google?
My Contacts has only the people you add and All Contacts is everyone you ever replied too. I certainly hope it syncs to My contacts or there are going to be some pissed off users getting a few hundred contacts they will never write or call. Not too mention the Facebook syncing is also pretty FUBAR without being able to specify who you want to sync.
May 25th, 2009
clayjm
@Aridon
It syncs with All Contacts instead of My Contacts, and there did not appear to be any options to change that.
May 25th, 2009
clayjm
@Miguel
when you delete an account you are given a warning of deleting the account and removing all synced information or keeping the account. Basically a yes or no, so unfortunately when you remove an account all of the contacts go away as well.
May 25th, 2009
Aridon
@ClayJM
Thanks but that really stinks. Palm really screwed the pooch on Synergy IMO, making it a key selling point and it really doesn’t work as it should.
Who in their right mind wants to import a ton of Face Book contacts that you will most likely NEVER want to contact on your phone? Simple solution is to let people select the ones they want synced and problem is solved.
Gmail, who on earth wants to have all the people they have ever replied to via email on their phone’s contact list?
Seriously who the hell is coding for Palm? No reason for this at all.
If it stays that way at release they will get pounded in reviews for it.
Still buying it so don’t neuter me any Palm Fanboi’s that can’t take legit criticism.
May 25th, 2009
encosion
I hope there’s a secret hack along the lines of: “Don’t want ALL your Facebook contacts synced with your Pre? Simply create a new friends list in Facebook called ‘Phone friends’ and only those contacts will be synced with your Pre!”
May 25th, 2009
clayjm
@ Aridon
That’s exactly why I decided to post this, I thought this information while not really a deal breaker, was important for people looking to drop $200+ on the device and lock themselves in for 2 years. However, keep in mind that it is completely possible that a solutions has been made or is in the works.
As easy as it is to search through the contacts, it may not really be that big of a deal to have hundreds on contacts, you more than likely know either the first or last name, or company and that is enough to start typing on the keyboard to bring up. If you can’t handle having that many contacts, maybe you should plan on not syncing your facebook contacts, and you should probably clean up your google contacts if you still have all the people you’ve ever sent an email to on your list.
As far as jumping all over Palm for making huge mistakes, don’t forget you are buying 1st Gen, and this is to be expected, it’s taken 2+ years for Apple to add features that are common on the freebie phones like MMS. There will be bugs, there will be fixes. They’ve created a complete OS from ground up, using cloud computing which has never really been done on this scale yet, so the fact that there isn’t an option to delete certain contacts is minor compared to the achievements they have made.
May 25th, 2009
encosion
Alternately, do you know if there is a way to have a customised contact list on the Pre itself? I don’t mind syncing all my Facebook (and maybe gmail) contacts with my Pre if I could customise some sort of ‘active’ contact list of people I’m more likely to contact on a regular basis. As it is, I have close to 400 friends on Facebook, of which, only a handful would be active contacts. I don’t want to lose people from my Facebook account, I know all of them, I just don’t want / need to contact them…
And Gmail contacts in Gmail are very poorly / cumbersomely managed unfortunately… Let’s hope they beef this up sometime soon too…
May 25th, 2009
encosion
@clayjm I hear your defences and agree. If we can imagine senarios where this type of syncing will be a problem (having never touched the device), surely Palm with their months of testing and refining would have encountered and solved the same problems… Perhaps universal search is a valid solution after all!
Off topic, but do you know if you can go straight into a websearch via universal search even if it does find a contact in your list matching the search term? For example, I want to search of a friend of mine’s website, or something related to that… From what I’ve seen, it only lets you do a web search once it’s exhausted it’s own database of contacts etc… Say for example you you wanted to search for someone famous and one of your friends had the same name? You’d have to launch the webapp first in this instance? It could take a little off the shine of the universal search if this were the case…
May 25th, 2009
Xyg
How old is the build on the emulator you have?
May 25th, 2009
Miguel
Thanks clayjm. I agree with aridon. I don’t want “all contacts” of gmail sync with the phone. Hope they fix it soon.
May 25th, 2009
WizardHowl
Thanks for the news. The whole idea of synergy is now ruined for me. I don’t understand how Palm could let such a mistake happen, it makes it completely useless. No one wants to 1000 random emails (including ebay emails, craigslist emails, etc.) in their phone, even if it is easy to search through. Completely pointless…
May 25th, 2009
youssef
still the question isnt answered nor is it mentioned in the previous article. cant you get contacts from your sim and then it adds them if they have email or facebook??
May 25th, 2009
Gekko
are the Contacts portable? in other words, if i have all my Contact in my employer’s MS Exchange account and i’m syncing with that account via EAS and someday i leave my employer and that account gets deleted, am i able to take my accounts with me on my PRE? how do i do this? i assume there is always a local cached copy on the PRE but how do i copy an entire set of Contacts from one account (MS Exchange) to another (say Gmail)???
THANKS!
May 25th, 2009
mikemick
I disagree with most of the assessments made here in the comments. Like most things with this phone, I think we need to realize that this phone does things differently. Gone are the days of scrolling through endless contacts to make a phone call. Universal search seems to solve all of those problems. Even if you have 1000 contacts, you can type 3-4 letters and automatically have a manageable list of contacts (with no menu/app button presses).
I am a web designer, and the one thing I’ve realized when building an app for someone, is simpler is better (even though as a power user myself, I would appreciate advanced features). Having all of those filter functions for Synergy seems like a great idea, but then the app becomes more complex and requires a larger learning curve. I think starting off with a basic simple model is a good thing. Roll out more features as the service matures (a la Gmail). You have to remember, no other phone is doing anything like this. I feel that Synergy is FAR from being broken.
If someone told me 10 years ago that I was going to be walking around with a device called an iPod, and it would hold 20,000 songs, and I would be able to navigate to any song withing 10 seconds, with a circular dial and one button, I’d call them crazy. Sometimes you just have to get the technology in your hands before you can make a final judgement.
May 25th, 2009
Sergio
Thanks for the explanation, I suppose some “pre-work” in my contact list from my different accounts is going to be essential… but what the hell, I haven’t really clean my contact list since my Palm Vx… I think it’s time to get updated… what about Europe release???? please!!!!
May 25th, 2009
Rick
I have to agree, I hadn’t looked at my gmail contacts list for ages. Sure, there’s over 400 addresses in there, but WHAT DO I CARE? I -never- look at that list, I type a few characters of a name, Gmail pops up a list, I pick one and go on. It’s seamless.
Ditto my thunderbird email. I just looked at that. 1500 addresses. Who knew? I hadn’t looked at the list in a couple of years. I type a few letters, Thunderbird pops up a short list, I pick one, and I’m off.
Why would I do anything with the palm but import ALL OF THEM? I -might- want to email someone some time… and if not, the total space it takes up is bupkiss. Who CARES?
Palm did this just right. It’s just that people are thinking about their OLD cell phones with limited memory and horrid scrolling lists of contacts. I have 200 names in my existing cell, and it’s a PAIN to find the right person. Real keyboards solve that.
Rick
May 25th, 2009
Christopher
Only gMail & Facebook?
What about Yahoo, Hotmail, Apple Mail, etc? How am I going to get my contacts from them into the Pre?
May 25th, 2009
Art
@youssef Sprint is a CDMA network so their phones don’t use SIM cards.
May 25th, 2009
Devron
Thanks much for posting this. Like many of the other folks, this ‘Facebook synching all contacts’ thing is a problem, but Palm seems to be listening…. hit them up on the @Palm on Twitter… after all — isn’t that what they got on for? There has to be a solution that they can push to the devices — hell, maybe even in time for launch.
See, this is what makes me so frustrated with companies. You’d think that they would hand out a few devices to folks like some of us in this enthusiast website and make us sign NDAs and then solicit feedback that could help these types of inconveniences from being overlooked.
May 25th, 2009
Gekko
@mikemick
who scrolls through contacts now? palm has had contact lookup search to dial on their smartphones since the treo 600 and maybe before. on my centro, i can even type first or last name or even two initials of a contact and it will find it for easy quick dial. this is nothing new.
May 25th, 2009
mikemick
@christopher
For sync to work, you’ll have to export those contacts from your service provider and import them into a service like Google Contacts. I think however, you’ll be able to export your contacts from one of those apps and get them onto your Pre during the initial setup (not 100% sure). You just won’t be able to keep it synced and up-to-date automatically without having them attached to one of the supported services.
Obviously this isn’t ideal for non-Google users. I would assume eventually more services will be added to the list. I think they wanted to tackle the big dogs first, Google, being the current king of cloud services, and Facebook, the current king of social networks.
Also, the lack of integration to other services might have been a lack of cooperation from the other companies. Maybe they weren’t offering Palm the tools they needed to get it done, or more likely there just wasn’t enough time to integrate everything under the sun. This is just speculation on my part.
I would expect to see those services added as Synergy matures.
May 25th, 2009
Ryan
not jumping all over palm because this is a 1st gen os? They’ve had 13yrs with a phenomenal PIM, and they’ve managed to disregard it in this 1st gen OS. They’re forcing you to leave it (Palm Desktop) in favor of an inferior online PIM so you can magically sync with the cloud. An online PIM that people only use if they use gmail. Granted that’s a lot of people, but not all of their “fat middle”.
To the web designer: Step out of your bubble. I’m in sales and have well over a thousand contacts that I use on an ongoing basis. I don’t remember everyone’s name, but I can look them up by where they work, what their job title is and so on. I have them categorized by the type of facility they work at and what their profession is. To lose categories is utter BS. Palm seems to have created the smartest dumbphone or dumbest smartphone if this is what synergy and their PIM is.
May 25th, 2009
mikemick
@Gekko
Totally agree. I don’t work that way either (scrolling through contact lists). But some people still do. And when I hear concerns about there being “too many” contacts on a phone, I assume those people might not be aware or taking advantage of those search features (or maybe their current phone doesn’t offer that functionality), so I just wanted to point it out to them.
A great example is “Vista Instant Search”. Essentially it is the same thing as WebOS’ Universal Search. 90% of the people that I deal with that use Vista don’t understand Instant Search, nor do they utilize it, even though it might be one of the single coolest features of Vista. I still see people digging through their Start Menu trying to locate a program they want to find, instead of just hitting the Windows key on their keyboard, and typing the first few letters of the application. For example, I know if I hit windows, S-T-A and then click enter…Starcraft launches… Mmmm, Starcraft, I love that game.
May 25th, 2009
mikemick
@Ryan
Stepping out of my bubble, I see that this solution wouldn’t be best for you (or everyone). It is hard to make a device for everyone. In the Sprint business docs that were leaked (on this very site, among others) it said that the Pre isn’t for everyone. I would say that’s a fair statement.
Also, I think you are able to search your contacts via “Company” using Universal search. So say you had a client that worked at Pepsi, if you started typing “Pepsi”, everyone with “Pepsi” as their company would be searched I believe. I don’t have the device so I can’t say 100% sure if this is how it works, but I think I recall someone demoing that somewhere. Maybe that would help your needs?
May 25th, 2009
mikemick
@Ryan
Also, they just released the Treo Pro only 2 months ago, so I wouldn’t say they are forcing anybody to jump to WebOS right now.
May 25th, 2009
Matt
The google contacts API supports queries restricted to groups, so that gives hope one day you might have the option of *which* groups to import.
May 25th, 2009
Gio
@CLAYJM
Is there any word on what exactly comes with a Facebook contact import? I am aware that the pictures and phone numbers are pulled from their profiles, but what about e-mail addresses that they have listed on Facebook?
May 25th, 2009
mikemick
@matt
Thats good news. Since WebOS programs are based on web technologies, and Gmail is a web service, so I would imagine that the developer community could manage to come up with a solution pretty quickly after launch.
@gio
In case he doesn’t respond to your answer, I don’t think it includes emails. The reason I think this is because I have worked with certain web projects that use “Facebook Connect” for login purposes, and it doesn’t allow you to pull in your Facebook registered email address. Hopefully I’m wrong though. Maybe since Palm and Facebook have developed a relationship, emails will be allowed.
May 25th, 2009
Andrew Christie
Change is difficult. You are always going to have people complain when something new and innovative comes out, even if it’s better! Sometimes it takes time for people to realize exactly how it’s better. And some people are threatened by the thought have having to change their ways or learn something different, even it it’s better in the long run.
I think Synergy is better than anything out there. Sure, not everyone will take to it right away. It’s different. We have to think different to realize it’s value. Not everybody can make that adjustment right away. At first I thought, ‘man… I have a lot unused contacts on Google, not sure I want all those on my phone.’ But then I realized that because it’s so easy to search in Google, it doesn’t bother me. If I have that same functionality on my phone, why would it bother me there?
I’m willing to embrace the new innovative technology and, although I may have to adjust, I’m certain it will pay off over the long run.
May 25th, 2009
Dave
I don’t always want to have to slide open the keyboard to find a contact. But that is exactly what I am going to have to do if the pre insists on syncing with Gmail’s All Contacts lists. WHY, WHY WHY not use the My Contacts list???
May 25th, 2009
loocas
@ryan
i think you might a little short-sighted about the potential of universal search. think about it this way… clicking on a “category” control widget to open up a list, then choosing a category, then scroll through the list to find a name = many clicks.
typing in the name of the category, is a lot more flexible (ex: WhereTheyWork JobTitle). see what just happened there? you’ve effectively done 2 category-filters by simply typing in what you want.
granted, none of us really know if universal search is capable of doing this right out the gate, but the potential and the model for such a behavior is there. it’s in OS X, it’s in Vista, it’s in Palm’s current OS (on a much much more limited basis of course). and because this is a software issue, it’s something that can be added on later relatively easy. we all know that the processor can handle it…
so… be a little more optimistic. give palm a little credit here. not everything may be there from the get-go, but it’s not like they’re completely stupid.
May 25th, 2009
Gio
UPDATE:
I watched some demo videos from a guy with the SDK emulator on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/user/PalmPreForumDotOrg
and he demonstrated that the facebook sync will import phone numbers as well as e-mail addresses, pictures, and birth dates.
May 25th, 2009
clayjm
@ryan
I can confirm the ability to search by first name, last name, job title, and company, you should have no problem with that 1000+ contact list and not knowing all the names of the people you want to call.
@gio
when connecting in facebook it did pull email, phone number, birthdate, and possibly other information that I didn’t see but I can confirm at least these.
May 25th, 2009
Gio
UPDATE:
Thanks, CLAYJM
I also noticed that inside the “Calendar” application you can sync with your Facebook calendar so that birthdays, events, etc will be Calendar events, as it does not add birthdays by default when importing from Contacts.
May 25th, 2009
Miguel
Do you see in calendar the birthday’s contacts? I mean the contacts you add manually.
Thanks.
May 25th, 2009
roneyii
I spent all last year trying to put all of my contacts onto my Centro. This looks SO much easier.
May 25th, 2009
roneyii
If one of my fb contacts *removes* contact info, do we know if I’ll still be able to keep it?
May 25th, 2009
Rick
@Dave
I think you need to realize that a bazillion community developers are going to give you an on-screen keyboard within the first month after the SDK comes out.
Having read the first 5 chapters of the programming guide on OReilly, I think this is just a matter of deciding WHICH on screen keyboard you’re going to want.
May 25th, 2009
jean
will there be 3rd party apps for PIM?
May 30th, 2009
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