[Discuss] Syncing Android phones directly

[david at thekramers.net (David Kramer)]

On 07/01/2013 04:43 PM, Tom Metro wrote:
> David Kramer wrote:
>> ...how people sync the contacts/calendar/notes/etc from their phone to
>> SOMETHING.  That something may end up being Outlook under Windows, but
>> of course something under Linux would be better.
> Does the data actually need to sync with some other tool? You need a
> desktop GUI? And it has to sync - meaning you plan to modify records on
> the desktop?

Ideally, yes, but maybe I can get away without it.  A little more
background:

I am a overplanner.  A details person.  I take lots of notes and make
lots of lists.  I find that data entry on my iPhone is very slow and
very inaccurate, due to the size of the screen and my fat fingers.  It
drives me nuts that I can't walk around with my to-do list in my phone
because the data entry would be too painful.  With a screen the size of
the S4, and with much better (and customizable, and swappable) keyboard,
I hope to use my phone for more.  I have a coworker with an S4, and I've
played with it in the store, so I know I can do much better with the
keyboard, and the speech recognition isn't bad either.  So it may be I'm
happy enough do do everything on my phone and not having a desktop
client for at least Cal/Contacts/notes.  Maybe.

I will still need to back them up, and ideally have a way to export them
(without syncing) on occasion.  From what I gather, those can happen. 
If I get CalDav and CardDav working, then I'm in heaven.


> Most collections of data in Android are stored as SQLite database files,
> and if you rooted the phone, so you could do a full backup, among the
> files should be a SQLite database with your contacts.
>
> Once you have the file on your desktop, a generic SQLite viewer, like
> SQLite Manager[1] (a Firefox extension), could be used for occasional
> access to the data.
>
> 1. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sqlite-manager/

Yes.  I don't mind putting work into making this happen.  I'm hoping NOT
to root it, at least not at first, but the reasons TO root it are
growing as I do my research (in particular the Samsung and AT&T
non-removable bloatware taking up a huge amount of the internal storage).

>
>> Whatever I do, though, I don't want the data going through Google
>> servers, or to leave my intranet at all.
> If you're that protective of your contact data, I'd be reluctant to use
> the stock Google contact manager app. Even though you can disable sync
> for contacts in the settings, I still wouldn't fully trust it in that
> regard.
>
> Fortunately Android does let you swap out components, and replace it
> with another contact manager. (Some of the syncing apps you mentioned
> may even be contact managers.) Ideally one that encrypts and makes it
> easy to back up. I don't know of a contact manager that specifically
> meets those requirements. (I once looked for contact managers that
> encrypted, and found one, but didn't like it.)

I should clarify that it's specifically Contacts data, and to a lesser
extent calendar data, that I'm worried about.  Yes.  I know you can turn
off syncing contacts with GMail, but I had assumed if I turned that off,
then I wouldn't have to worry so much about them getting my contacts.  I
get the impression you all think that's not the case.  I'm not sure if
that's something I can figure out or not beforehand, but I'll certainly
be doing some experimentation with phony contact data first.

> Richard Pieri wrote:
>> Fact is, Android isn't a standalone device. It's not a PDA like Palm.
>> It's an appliance for Google's storage system. Everything that resides
>> on an Android device is a replica of what's stored in the Google account
>> associated with that profile. That's how Android and all of the
>> Google-branded applications are designed to operate. Google encourages
>> third party application developers to follow suit.
>> ...
>> If you're not ready to hand over copies of your data to Google then you
>> shouldn't go anywhere near Android. Or at least don't use it for

I know Soylent Green is made of people.  They sell these devices so they
can get your data.  And I'm OK with them getting some kinds of data. 
Hell, all cellphones are networked devices used to talk to other devices.

> I tend to agree. If your hope is to run the stock Samsung ROM and still
> keep all your personal data out of the cloud, I think you'll be
> disappointed. (Though you'll likely have no idea what data is being
> leaked, unless you really go digging.)
>
> If you can confine your sensitive data to just your contacts or a few
> other things that can be handled with specific apps that used encrypted
> storage (and you don't care about the rest), you might get close to your
> goals.

I'll certainly look for other contacts apps for a start.  Thanks.

If I load a replacement ROM, do my chances of keeping my data private
increase?  How?

> A third party ROM from a group that optimizes for data privacy (I don't
> know how well the well known ROM developers fair in this regard) would
> be the better option.
>
> An inconvenience, but I don't think there are any other smartphone
> platforms that are substantially different in this regard. Average users
> want to be able to login to a new phone after their old one falls in the
> pool and have all their data magically reappear.
>
>

Right.  I'm not Most People.  Not by a long shot.  Nor do I want to be
Most People.

When it comes to rooting, my main objections are not the inconvenience,
but reliability and support.  If, after some research, I find a ROM that
will solve my problems, has a great track record, and I can refresh to
factory if I need support, then I'm much more likely to use it.


Thank you all for your advice so far.  Please note that I've tried to
address others' emails in this reply too.