random questions about google stored sync data

[Sandgoose]

upgraded my phone and am not keen on the new sync stuff.

is there a valid reason for google to catalogue device imei numbers?

is there a also a way to wipe my old devices / imei that I don't own anymore from the device list? (list in google account dashboard)

by default it seems to snag contact lists, photo albums and much more that can be disabled in gallery > settings but is there a way to remove already synced contacts? I couldn't find the option on the dashboard.

if I removed my google account are there an side loading market alternatives ?

thanks

 

[MoodyBlues]

Hi there, Sandgoose. On my phone, I'm able to control much of what you're asking about via its settings.

For example, Settings | Accounts & Sync | [my gmail address] yields many options for what to sync (or NOT sync) with Google.

And Settings | Privacy has a "Back up my data" option which says, " Back up app data, Wi-Fi passwords, and other settings to Google servers."

Perhaps fiddling around with those will give you the results you're hoping for.

As far as downloading apk files and installing them via sideloading, I believe it can be done but is not recommended and/or desirable. For safety/security reasons, it's best to only install apps via Google's Play Store, but they don't offer an option to download apps. It's my understanding that sites that do offer that option tend to include malware and other crap in their files! I'd stick with Google Play if I were you.

 

[Sandgoose]

thanks for the response, I did disable it in those settings but in the time it took me to go online and setup the google account I think my contact list was already uploaded, if I had known about it before hand I would have done it the other way around

actually I think I just came up with a delete solution, edit all my contacts with false data and tell it to sync update the contacts, disable sync and put the real contacts back in my local phone

thanks again

 

[MoodyBlues]

You're welcome. And I'm glad you came up with a clever solution for the contacts issue!

BTW, ranty parts are okay. Many of us do that from time to time.