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Help Contacts Integration and Management

D

Dom Orsler

Newbie
Many contact records on my phone get compiled from linked accounts in FaceBook, LinkedIn, Outlook, etc. Which is great, but the trouble is, I can't add to them if (e.g.) someone gives me their cell phone number and it's not in one of the linked sources. NOTE I am not expecting to be able to edit information that comes from a linked source - I appreciate why that is forbidden, as it would mean I'd be editing (e.g.) their FaceBook personal details.

I'd like to be able to do the following;

  • Compile all of my contact records into a single account master.
  • Determine which account would probably work best as the master (i.e. Google, Hotmail/Outlook or local Samsung)
  • Add to or modify contact records on my phone (obviously, as mentioned above, I'm not expecting to be able to change information linked to other contact records in LinkedIn, FaceBook, etc.)
This should NOT be rocket science and require (a) massive amounts of time and effort or (b) advanced architectural expertise worthy of a TOGAF master. If it does, I may be ditching the phone.

Thanks.
 
I suggest consolidating contacts into a kind of Master List in your existing Google account. This will give you immediate automatic backups, they will be available from anywhere and can be edited from mobile devices or a computer, basically anything with a browser. Even if deleted by accident, you can restore them online to any point they were at in the last 30 days. And restoring or transferring them to a new device is a snap.

I'm not exactly sure how you want to handle any contact lists you do not want to include in your Master List, say Linkedin, for example. That's for you to decide. But this little guide will get everything you want into one easy to maintain Master List. To do it follow the steps below:

1. Turn off sync in the phone. This is to keep it from interfering with what you're about to do by trying to sync again because it detects changes being made.

2. Export contacts on the phone to Gmail. Open the Contacts app and tap Menu. Select Import/export, then Export to storage. The contacts will be exported as a .vcf file. Do this for Google contacts, phone contacts, SIM contacts, Facebook contacts - all the contacts you want included in your master list. If you have any SIM contacts you will probably have to export them as a .csv file. That's OK, .csv files work fine. Make a duplicate copy of the .vcf and .csv files as a safety backup. before proceeding.

3. Delete all contacts on the phone that you exported. This so it can have a fresh start when you download your fresh new contacts list and old contacts still on the phone don't corrupt it. Then just for good measure do: Settings > Apps > Google contacts > Clear cache > Clear data. When finished, there should be no contacts on the phone except those contacts you did not include in the Master List.

4. Login to Gmail online and import the .vcf and .csv files into Gmail contacts.

5. In Gmail contacts, click on More and select Merge duplicate contacts. Then check the list for errors and do any needed edits. Unfortunately, there's no 'app for that' for this part. Anyone who figures out how to write one will be rich. Just gotta do some manual checking. When satisfied export a .vcf file copy for backup. You can never have too many backups.

6. Enable contacts sync on the phone and wait for the combined, corrected contacts list to download.

Done.
 
Went through the steps above (even though it's subtly different on my phone). I *believe* I exported to a .vcf file, but am not really sure, as I have no idea how to review stored files on my phone, despite a lengthy search. I created a Gmail account and tried to log on to it using my phone mail app and the Gmail app, but it helpfully tells me I can't, as it already exists on the phone. Not sure how to access it, though...

Seriously, I *work* in technology. I learned to code in machine language. I know C++, C#, Python and R. I understand complex system and data architectures. I've built enterprise systems for large corporations. If simple, basic contact integration and management is this freaking mysterious, inaccessible, protracted and difficult for me, how the f*%k to people like my mother cope? I managed all of this simply and quickly on the iPhone platform. This is a nightmare.

And I *really* appreciate your help.
 
Found the file! But when I open it, it's a tiny and seemingly random subset of contacts on my phone. When you say I need to run the export for Google contacts, FaceBook contacts, etc, do you mean create an export *from* a session in those apps or do you create it from the phone's contact app? I only appear to get the option to export device contacts while in the phone contact app and there's no-where from within FaceBook on the phone from which I can export/extract contacts...?
 
Dom Orsler said:
Went through the steps above (even though it's subtly different on my phone). I *believe* I exported to a .vcf file, but am not really sure, as I have no idea how to review stored files on my phone, despite a lengthy search.
Click to expand...
Install a file manager. My go-to app is X-plore, but FX File Explorer and Astro are also good.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lonelycatgames.Xplore
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nextapp.fx
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.metago.astro

I created a Gmail account and tried to log on to it using my phone mail app and the Gmail app, but it helpfully tells me I can't, as it already exists on the phone. Not sure how to access it, though...
Click to expand...
I'm just too thick to understand what you mean by this stuff. So I've got questions...
You no doubt had a Gmail (Google) account that you used to register during the initial phone setup. So what do you mean "I created a Gmail account..."? Did you try to create 2nd, separate account just for your Master List"?
You don't need to 'log in' to your email accounts. Just do the email setup and the email client takes care of the rest, just like on a desktop computer.
What do you mean "not sure how to access it"? Access what, your email or your Google account? They're really the same thing..
And I don't understand how you got the account "already exists on the phone" unless you had already added the account.
I guess I'm mostly just not clear on whether you're trying to deal with a single Google account or two.

Seriously, I *work* in technology. I learned to code in machine language. I know C++, C#, Python and R. I understand complex system and data architectures. I've built enterprise systems for large corporations. If simple, basic contact integration and management is this freaking mysterious, inaccessible, protracted and difficult for me, how the f*%k to people like my mother cope? I managed all of this simply and quickly on the iPhone platform. This is a nightmare.
Click to expand...
Actually, it's pretty simple if you don't make it hard. Bet that didn't make you feel any better. :^)

And I *really* appreciate your help.
Click to expand...
No problem.

Dom Orsler said:
Found the file! But when I open it, it's a tiny and seemingly random subset of contacts on my phone.
Click to expand...
Do the files you found end with the .vcf or .csv estension and have the correct creation date? If so, that's gotta be them. But I don't know what you exported, which contact lists or what is supposed to be in the exported files. You have to answer that, I wasn't there. But certainly, if the file seems incomplete, better try it again.

When you say I need to run the export for Google contacts, FaceBook contacts, etc, do you mean create an export *from* a session in those apps or do you create it from the phone's contact app? I only appear to get the option to export device contacts while in the phone contact app and there's no-where from within FaceBook on the phone from which I can export/extract contacts...?
Click to expand...
I meant to export each list whose contacts you wanted to include in the new Master List. I suppose that would be from the Contacts app, but you said you also have contacts in FaceBook, LinkedIn, Outlook, etc. I don't use that stuff so I can't walk you through exporting contacts in them. But I gather you have contact lists for them that are separate, I suppose within the apps for those. So yes, if that is the case, you would need to open the apps and export the contacts in them as .vcf or.csv files. Any app with contacts in it should have an export function somewhere.

I suppose I haven't been much help this time. More questions than answers.

To try and put it in a nutshell, just make sure you get all the contacts for your new list exported and mported to the Google account you want to keep the list in. Smooth sailin' from there!
 
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So this seems to have become sufficiently complex and confused that it might be time to invoke plan B; that is, to see if an app exists to tackle this slightly surreal problem. I say 'surreal', because the last time I experienced technology or architecture so utterly clunky and unfriendly, I was playing Space Invaders and listenining to The Smiths. And before anyone designates me a lazy luddite or something similar, I have recently discussed the matter with two friends of mine, both of whom are very smart people who work in technology, and they have a very similar problem, so I am now confident it's not all down to me being a tw@ (although there is always that...).

Can anyone recommend an app that will take care of all this contact linkage and sychronization BS?

Things are now so bad that all of my favourites now just exist as numbers. When close friends text me, if I don't have the context around the message I have to respond with 'who is this'. If I go in and somehow manage to re-add their mobile number to their contact record, it persists for a short while, then reverts to being a number again.

This is *SOOOOOO* bad and basic to the functioning of the phone that I am utterly stunned that this situation exists. It must be crippling sooooo many people (like I said, just from asking a few friends, they have the same problem.)

But, like I said, I do very much appreciate people trying to help.
 
By the way, in case you're wondering, plan C involves the ritual burning of my phone and a very expensive trip to an Apple store.
 
I've always found the contacts system in Google to be pretty straightforward and easy to deal with. None of my friends or family members seem to have serious trouble either. I don't know just what you've done to get to this point so I don't know how to help from here.

But if it's not working for you that's all that really matters. However, don't expect an Apple product to cure everything. It might. But I think the main cause of complication and confusion is dealing with contacts in so many places. I don't think Apple has a magic bullet for that.

Hope everything works out for you.
 
Ok, so how about this to make things simpler?

I get that I need to export/extract all of the contacts I can see on my phone into a file I then use to import them into Google. But when I follow the suggested steps, only a very small and odd list of contacts actually make it into the extracted file. I'm guessing that's because they are synched representations of linked contact sources, including mostly FaceBook, LinkedIn and Outlook. I was hoping the extract/export process would be smart enough to capture them as they are represented on my phone, but obviously not.

So, my question is, how do I get an export of all of the records represented on my phone? The kind poster above said;

"Export contacts on the phone to Gmail. Open the Contacts app and tap Menu. Select Import/export, then Export to storage. The contacts will be exported as a .vcf file. Do this for Google contacts, phone contacts, SIM contacts, Facebook contacts - all the contacts you want included in your master list"

It's the bit that says 'Do this for Google contacts, phone contacts, SIM, FaceBook" etc that I don't know how to do. Where? In FaceBook? In LinkedIn? All I can do is go to 'Contacts' on the phone and export to a .vcf. How *do* I do the same thing for all the linked contacts, as they don't seem to be actually *on* the phone, locally. They are synched, read only representations of records on LinkedIn, FaceBook, etc.
 
You misunderstand.

When you export contacts to a .vcf file you are exporting ALL of the data in the contact list. It is not a representation, links to a remote database, thumbnails, nothing like that. A .vcf is fully transferrable and complete. You can take a .vcf and import it to another phone or computer and fully restore the contacts, including photos without an internet connection to fetch additional information. It's all in the file.

No matter whether you're dealing with a Windows PC, a Mac, an iPhone, Linux, Android, Outlook, Thunderbird - it doesn't matter. A .vcf file is the same for all of them. That goes for .csv files also, the alternative to .vcf.

You need to export a file for each separate contact database. If Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn contacts are all synced into one place, then they will all be in a single .vcf file. If they are in separate databases, only accessible in each app, as in Facebook contacts are only in the Facebook app, LinkedIn contacts are only in the LinkedIn app (or the websites), then to combine them into a single database they must be exported from their respective apps (or websites). It's gonna be basically the same procedure regardless of what OS or devices you're using.

In a nutshell, export each presently separate list. Import all resulting files into one place. It's not complicated. Don't over think it.

Apparently...

A. Something is going wrong with exporting files or...
B. You're expecting more data to be in the files than you should, maybe because you have only very basic contact information or...
C. You're not seeing everything in them.

For example: Most of my contacts have more than one phone number, physical addresses, email addresses, websites, birthdays, misc notes and maybe a photo. I have several hundred such contacts, and if I export them it makes a .vcf file of 2.12Mb. That's everything including photos.

We need information to help.

1. How many contacts are in the .vcf files?
2. How large are the .vcf files?
3. Did you have much information for your contacts?
4. How many Google accounts are you dealing with? It's not clear on whether you're trying to deal with a single Google account or two.
5. What else can you tell us about your files?
6. Exactly what have you done?
7. What happened when you did it?

If you can answer even some of those questions maybe someone here can help.
 
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With utmost respect, I may not have communicated well, but I have not misunderstood. I ended up exporting my outlook contacts and importing into gmail contacts as that was the biggest source. Now my phone only synchs with that. Exporting from the phone results in a small subset of what I can see in the phone's contacts app. Don't have the time or inclination to work out why. I'll now use gmail/Google as my contacts repository.

One more question.

I still can't edit contacts on my phone that have been synched from gmail. If I do, it gets overwritten at next synch. I understand why. I do not 'misunderstand' ;-)

So, how can I access Google contacts directly on my phone so that any updates get made to the 'record of truth'? The app my phone came with, called 'Contacts' does not, apparently, let me do this but only shows me a synched, derived (slave) version of Google contacts.

Could it be something crappy to do with Rogers? I have started to detect a trend, after all, among the android faithful to blame the provider shell if anything is less than perfect ;-)
 
Dom Orsler said:
With utmost respect, I may not have communicated well, but I have not misunderstood. I ended up exporting my outlook contacts and importing into gmail contacts as that was the biggest source. Now my phone only synchs with that. Exporting from the phone results in a small subset of what I can see in the phone's contacts app. Don't have the time or inclination to work out why. I'll now use gmail/Google as my contacts repository.
Click to expand...
Well, that doesn't sound right, but at this point I have no inclination to work out why either.

One more question.

I still can't edit contacts on my phone that have been synched from gmail. If I do, it gets overwritten at next synch. I understand why. I do not 'misunderstand' ;-)
Click to expand...
That should not happen. They should not get overwritten. It's not happened to me.

So, how can I access Google contacts directly on my phone so that any updates get made to the 'record of truth'? The app my phone came with, called 'Contacts' does not, apparently, let me do this but only shows me a synched, derived (slave) version of Google contacts.
Click to expand...
Since Android 1.0 I have made all changes to the contacts from the phone using the contacts app without any such problems. I don't know what to tell you.

You could use a browser on the phone to log into Gmail and edit contacts.

Could it be something crappy to do with Rogers? I have started to detect a trend, after all, among the android faithful to blame the provider shell if anything is less than perfect ;-)
Click to expand...
Anything is possible I suppose, but I honestly don't see how Rogers could figure into this.

You have problems I've never seen and don't have an answer for. Something's not right but I dunno what.
 
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