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Contacts on Android 6.0.1

JoeMammyBfammyTammy

JoeMammyBfammyTammy

Newbie
This should be really simple but it seems like a total scam. Just can't figure out how the perpetuator benefits from it.

Android 6.0.1 on a Samsung Galaxy J7 Sky Pro.

Need to buy a new phone.
All I want to do is backup my contacts. Text messages would be nice too but good God I can't imagine Lord Google allowing that.

Connected USB cable and copied everything to my pc.
No contacts.

Researched online and found some Google employee saying Contacts are in a SQLite file encrypted and only way to back them up is via a Google account.

So I log into the Google account from my desktop. Do everything I can to tell it to synch, backup, call it what you want, those contacts.
No contacts.

Searched everything I could find as to settings on the phone as to how to make this happen and did everything they said.
No contacts.

OK here we are better part of a day fighting something as stupid as backing up ONE FILE and zero progress.

WTF am I doing wrong?

WTF do I need to do to get my contacts backed up somewhere or to something so that I can go purchase a new phone?
 
I've always transferred mine with a VCF file.
On your old device open the contacts app, go to settings. Should be one that says backup. Backup to local...
Once done, use a file manager to copy the file to Dropbox, Google Drive or some other cloud storage.
Using a file explorer, copy the file to the new device.
When you click to open the file you should then be given the choice to open it with the contacts app.

Done.
 
As long as you've not disabled syncing between your old phone and your online Google account, your entire contacts listing will just be automatically imported on your new phone when you set it it.

If you did disable syncing and your contacts list only exists on your old phone, that's a really, really risky thing to do. If anything happens to that phone (stolen, lost, or it malfunctions) and you don't manually backup your contacts, which it sounds like you do not, than you'll lose them.
Start up the Contacts app, and depending on which version it is, tap on the three dot icon in the upper right or find the settings menu, and then just use the Import/Export option in the app itself to export a backup file of your contacts listing. Now open up whichever email app you use, and send an email to yourself with that resulting .vcf file as an attachment. Then you can use that vcf file to import your contacts into the Contacts app on your new phone. Plus you'll have at least one static backup. But I'd still recommend you leave syncing to your online Google account enabled, it's an easy way to have your contacts backed up automatically and continuously, and you can access your contacts with or without your phone.

You can also use Samsung's Smart Switch utility to backup/restore not just the Contacts app data but all your saved data:
https://www.samsung.com/us/smart-switch/

Given the stated problems you're having, you might want to think about just to taking your phone to a service shop and have them do this for you, or have a more tech savvy friend migrate your data from one phone to the other.
 
Thank you swim.

I set up everything possible to have it sync to the google account and still saw nothing there. I went and bought the new phone and logged in to my google account and the contacts appeared in my contacts folder.

This REALLY pisses me off. There is ZERO legitimate reason for Google to not give us access to that contacts folder via USB.
Same goes for Messages. All of my messages, containing important business information, are stuck on the old phone.
Again NO ACCESS TO MY OWN FOLDERS.

Google's interest in protecting my data is far inferior to my interest in protecting my data. I feel very unsafe not having control over my own data. It is bullshit. Total total bullshit.

How do they benefit from this?

As to "go to a repair shop and find someone more qualified" I guess 2 engineering degrees and a master's in physics is no match to a nine year old kid who sends pictures of butterflies and unicorns to grandma, which is what these POS devices are primarily built for.

Hopefully one day SOMEBODY will produce a TOOL for doing WORK.

/rant

Thanks to all who contributed.
 
As it's a Samsung, did you actually try Smart Switch? I have used that myself before now.

Also export/import to VCF should work, and it has worked and I do use that for every Android phone I've had. No idea why it doesn't on the Galaxy J7.

I don't actually use Google for my contact details myself.
 
I did not set up an account with Samsung and I'm not going to for reasons I can't divulge in a public forum.

To not have user access to these files is beyond outrageous. It's a scam all the way. They all want your data and they'll sell you out at any cost.
 
It's not that Google is targeting you and blocking you from doing any of this, for most people things are working much more seamlessly. Again, you might want to have someone more tech savvy look into this for you, it will lesson your anxiety and increase your quality of life if everything is set up correctly, there are literally millions of people who use this basic tech daily.
 
FYI you don't need a Samsung account to use Smart Switch, it can transfer data to another phone or a computer locally and directly, either USB, Bluetooth, or WiFi.

I do have access to all my contact data. And quite frankly it sounds like the problems you're having maybe specific to your J7, or it's pilot error?
 
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Work around If all fail but it gets the job done, Go to your contacts and whatever and do a screenshot of all your contents on your device and transfer the pictures to a designated location. Now from that point you can view all that you want to save and put it in a file of it's on.
 
svim said:
It's not that Google is targeting you and blocking you from doing any of this, for most people things are working much more seamlessly. Again, you might want to have someone more tech savvy look into this for you, it will lesson your anxiety and increase your quality of life if everything is set up correctly, there are literally millions of people who use this basic tech daily.
Click to expand...

Google is targeting everyone on the planet. That's how they get their money. They are indeed blocking us from accessing these folders. Otherwise it would be as easy to copy the contacts folder as it is to copy the images folder.
 
Ahhh, then given your trollish, negative stance on this you should not be using an Android device. Since everything Google does is a conspiracy to you, it's not good for your mental health to intentionally expose yourself to it.
 
No rotten apples here thank you. Divorced them about a week after those iPods came out. Bought 10 of them as Christmas gifts for at-risk youth I mentored back in the day, then found out even though we had 10's of 1,000's of mp3's Apple was holding hostage wanting $1 per song per iPod. F that and F them! Finally found a work around but it was an unpleasant Christmas day for all those kids.

As to Google, they sell everyone out. That's how they make their money. If you're using their services and you're not paying, you're the product. Everything you do is logged and analyzed and they sell data. It's what they do.

As to not allowing user access to those files, that is very much by design. It could be no other way.
 
JoeMammyBfammyTammy said:
Google is targeting everyone on the planet. That's how they get their money. They are indeed blocking us from accessing these folders. Otherwise it would be as easy to copy the contacts folder as it is to copy the images folder.
Click to expand...

(Not true) Only the ill-informed have issues with Google or its some type of software issue. But on a common everyday basics Google works perfectly bcuz I've never had any issues with it as long as I follow the rules of engagement interacting with Google apps.
 
maybe a blackberry is in your future. i have nothing to hide. i do understand privacy and your right to it. but i don't have any issues with google. i mean i would have more of an issue with amazon. the whole alexa listening to you and have what you say recorded is more creepy then anything google has done.
 
You can easily access your contacts: from the contacts app use the "export" option in its settings, then copy the vcf file anywhere and load it into any contact management app on any platform.

If it won't work for you that's either a very odd problem with your specific phone or you are somehow doing it wrong. Because it works on every other android device I've used or heard of.

And for what it's worth the reason why contacts are stored the way they are is that it allows you to control which apps can access them. Of course most people are so careless about permissions and privacy that they just allow any app that wants access to have it, but that's their fault. If contacts were stored the way you want then literally any app could access them without anyone knowing.
 
Hadron said:
You can easily access your contacts: from the contacts app use the "export" option in its settings, then copy the vcf file anywhere and load it into any contact management app on any platform.

If it won't work for you that's either a very odd problem with your specific phone or you are somehow doing it wrong. Because it works on every other android device I've used or heard of.

And for what it's worth the reason why contacts are stored the way they are is that it allows you to control which apps can access them. Of course most people are so careless about permissions and privacy that they just allow any app that wants access to have it, but that's their fault. If contacts were stored the way you want then literally any app could access them without anyone knowing.
Click to expand...

Thank you Hadron for that explanation. I'm not a "app" person. I have 2 apps which are utilities. These phones obviously are not made for me. They're made for children. The very fact they call the app library a "play store" says it all. I'd much rather have a device where they have a "library" and a "toolbox" geared to doing.... oh wait... I might offend snowflakes here... work!

Thanks again and have a wonderful day!
 
The Google app store was originally called the "Android Market", which most of us thought was a better name. Google rebranded it as "Play Store" when they started getting into selling video, books etc. At that point it was understandable why they replaced "Android" with "Google", since it wasn't necessarily about Android apps any more, but why they thought that "Play" was an appropriate word has puzzled some of us for a long time.

I do remember one member here complaining that his IT departmentl had blocked access to it because of the name, so you are certainly not alone in the impression it gives.
 
If you want to backup contacts on Samsung, we can backup to Google, or backup Samsung contacts to SIM card if SIM card has enough storage. Also we can use Eelphone Android Transfer to backup Samsung contacts to computer directly by selecting contacts as the backup data type.
Or we can transfer contacts from Samsung to new phone directly by connecting two phones to computer via USB cable via Eelphone Mobile Transfer.
 
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