[RyanGermann]

There are certain aspects to the way GMail contacts are synced to BB10 that don't work the way I'd expect them too.

When I log into Gmail through a Web browser, and access my Contacts, and make and edit to a contact, if I go to my BB device, use the Action overflow menu to show just the Gmail contacts, swipe down from the top of the screen and touch "Refresh", I would expect that almost instantly any changes I made to the contact on Gmail in the web browser would show up on the BlackBerry. Is that right, because it's not what I'm experiencing.

Also, if I merge contacts do the contacts get PHYSICALLY merged in that one contact record is 'deleted' and the other is preserved with additional email addresses / phone numbers etc. in the other contact? Or is it some kind of flag where the two separate contacts are still retained, but they are related by a pointer from one contact record to another and the display on Gmail Contacts masks this by just merging the data?

[Ecm]

There are certain aspects to the way GMail contacts are synced to BB10 that don't work the way I'd expect them too.

When I log into Gmail through a Web browser, and access my Contacts, and make and edit to a contact, if I go to my BB device, use the Action overflow menu to show just the Gmail contacts, swipe down from the top of the screen and touch "Refresh", I would expect that almost instantly any changes I made to the contact on Gmail in the web browser would show up on the BlackBerry. Is that right, because it's not what I'm experiencing.

Also, if I merge contacts do the contacts get PHYSICALLY merged in that one contact record is 'deleted' and the other is preserved with additional email addresses / phone numbers etc. in the other contact? Or is it some kind of flag where the two separate contacts are still retained, but they are related by a pointer from one contact record to another and the display on Gmail Contacts masks this by just merging the data?

Re Contact Sync: Your contacts from Gmail web will sync to your device (and vice versa), based on the Sync Interval set on your device. Accounts > Gmail > Contacts > Sync Interval. It can be set from 5 minutes to 24 hours or "manual". Mine is set for 5 minutes and is pretty close to that consistently.


Re Gmail contacts merging: If you're referring to the web Gmail; contacts merge function, it is a physical merging of two or more records. I checked this myself by exporting the full list to a CSV file after a merge and purge, then checking it in Excel.

Hope this helps.

[RyanGermann]

Yes that helps a lot, thanks... I have another question; when I compose an email then click "Cancel" it offers to save the message... does it not sync that message to the "Drafts" folder on whatever account I've designated as the "From" address? If not, is there a way to get it to do that?

[Ecm]

Good question. I can't remember the last time I had a draft message.

I suspect that a draft created in Gmail (web) would sync to the device, but not vice versa. The device is like an email client -- only when it's sent does it hit the Gmail server. Like when I use Thunderbird on desktop.

I could be wrong, I'll have to try it when I get back to my PC.

[Ecm]

a draft created in Gmail (web) would sync to the device, but not vice versa. The device is like an email client -- only when it's sent does it hit the Gmail server.

I've tested this and unfortunately, it appears I was correct. Drafts sync from Gmail (web) to device as expected, but not from device to server.

Not an issue for me, since I rarely have a draft message. But this may be a missing feature for some.

[RyanGermann]

Thanks for doing those tests.

I use drafts to transfer content between devices and my computer without sending data through the 'public' Internet. I know that sending an email to the "from" address should not send email outside a server, but I have no control over that so I just prefer to create a draft and open that draft on another device (this works very well between computers in different physical locations) so it would be nice to have that working.

Posted via CB10

[Ecm]

Hmm...
What you're describing there is a different usage from what I was assuming. When I'm writing a report (etc.) and adding/editing on PC and/or devices, I use Evernote/Remember. Remember (syncing with Evernote) on my BlackBerry devices, and Evernote web on my desktop or laptop. It works great for my purposes.