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Where do you store your contacts?

S

spman

Android Enthusiast
Hi all,

Just wondering where do you store your contacts? What are the Pros and Cons?

I am a newbie in smartphone and from what I understand is that the contacts can be stored in 1) Google account 2) SIM card 3) Phone, but I am not sure which one is the best.

Extra new question:
If I am using google account, does it mean that if I change my mobile plan to a non data plan, I will not be able to connect to google account and therefore I will not be able to see the contact list in google account?
 
Personally, I store them in Google. They are always there and can easily be sync'ed with your next device.
If you store them on the phone or sim, then lose the phone, they are gone. :(
With Google, they are in the cloud :)
 
Google. I keep a back up in internal memory and on home computer.

Google - always have contacts in the cloud and can down load to any device. Also, keeps data in all fields for each contact.

SIM Card - only keeps name, one phone number and has a limit amount of storage.

SD Card - always have a backup in case you can't login to google.
 
Extra new question:
If I am using google account, does it mean that if I change my mobile plan to a non data plan, I will not be able to connect to google account and therefore I will not be able to see the contact list in google account?
 
spman said:
Extra new question:
If I am using google account, does it mean that if I change my mobile plan to a non data plan, I will not be able to connect to google account and therefore I will not be able to see the contact list in google account?
Click to expand...

Correct. You need data to access Google account. Just like your PC needs Internet service to access the Web.
 
If I store contacts in Google account, does it mean the phone is always logged into (signed in) to Google? Or everytime I unlock the phone, I need to login to Google?

If the phone is always signed into Google, does it uses data plan continuously? For example if I am using the phone other functions e.g. calculator/camera, is Google still constantly running at the background and using data?
 
Mikestony said:
If you store them on the phone or sim, then lose the phone, they are gone. :(
Click to expand...
Not really.

Last week I got S4 at work and returned LG Spectrum. Before I returned LG I opened Contacts and then exported them all to SD card as one Contacts.vcf file. When I got S4 I put the same SD card in and then imported all contacts. Nothing was gone.:)
 
I use Google just because it's basically automatically backed up and because I can have Google sync to Outlook on my desktop, which makes it another backup.
 
spman said:
If I store contacts in Google account, does it mean the phone is always logged into (signed in) to Google? Or everytime I unlock the phone, I need to login to Google?

If the phone is always signed into Google, does it uses data plan continuously? For example if I am using the phone other functions e.g. calculator/camera, is Google still constantly running at the background and using data?
Click to expand...

No. You have a Synced copy of the contacts on your phone. You can toggle your data off. Still have your contacts & can make & receive calls to them with data off.
Be careful though. Some Google services will run in the background and result in heavy battery consumption. Google Now & Google location services I turn on only when I want to use them.
 
You can also still access your contacts from a PC by logging into your GMAIL account.

I do this when I want to make any changes to my contacts.
 
spman said:
Extra new question:
If I am using google account, does it mean that if I change my mobile plan to a non data plan, I will not be able to connect to google account and therefore I will not be able to see the contact list in google account?
Click to expand...

There is always WIFI to connect if you decide to change to a nondata plan
 
spman said:
If I store contacts in Google account, does it mean the phone is always logged into (signed in) to Google? Or everytime I unlock the phone, I need to login to Google?

If the phone is always signed into Google, does it uses data plan continuously? For example if I am using the phone other functions e.g. calculator/camera, is Google still constantly running at the background and using data?
Click to expand...

Question 1: Yes, if your phone requires a gmail acct. to use. (You can turn off data and still use your contacts.) Any changes that you made would need data turned back on so that the changes can sync up to Google.

Question 2: No you don't need to login to Google everytime you unlock your device.

Question 3: Yes and no. It all depends on what apps your using. Gmail, flipboard, facebook, Google Play Store, games, etc. all use data. If your concerned about data, use the phone stock data manager to turn off data at certain range.
 
itsallgood said:
Question 1: Yes, if your phone requires a gmail acct. to use. (You can turn off data and still use your contacts.) Any changes that you made would need data turned back on so that the changes can sync up to Google.

Question 2: No you don't need to login to Google everytime you unlock your device.

Question 3: Yes and no. It all depends on what apps your using. Gmail, flipboard, facebook, Google Play Store, games, etc. all use data. If your concerned about data, use the phone stock data manager to turn off data at certain range.
Click to expand...

Does it mean that the first time you access the gmail acct, the phone have a copy of all your contacts so you do not need data plan to access the contacts again, if you want to make changes to contacts then data plan is needed to sync to gmail acct?

Where is the phone stock data manager?
 
spman said:
Does it mean that the first time you access the gmail acct, the phone have a copy of all your contacts so you do not need data plan to access the contacts again, if you want to make changes to contacts then data plan is needed to sync to gmail acct?

Where is the phone stock data manager?
Click to expand...

Question 1) Only if you set up your phone to sync contacts from Google. Once they are synced to your phone, you won't need data to use the contacts and they will always be there. (You can always use wifi to sync as well.)

Question 2) From your home screen pull down the notification bar> settings> connections> data usage. You will see two options: Mobile Data and Set Mobile Data Limit. Slide the orange bar, up or down, to your desired data limit. (Make sure to select both Mobile Date and Set Mobile Data Limit.) Once done, when you hit your limit, your mobile data will be turned off automatically. (I believe it can be overriden, if needed.) Also, make sure you know your data plan cycle, which day it starts and ends.
 
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