Develop Bugs

Birthday reminders in the calendar

I must say that I love my Desire (have had it for about a week), except for some small kinks and I'm not the big fan of the HTC Sense lock-screen (I don't like the vertical "handle", I would much prefer the default Android one.. [any tips to get it is welcome]).
But there is one thing that annoys me, and I don't understand why they didn't implement. And that is birthday "reminders" in the calendar..
I like the HTC Calendar and I "love" the integration between Google Contacts (& Calendar), the phone and Facebook... For me (as a developer) it couldn't be much more work to integrate that into that calendar as well (the data is already there, you just have to show it [more or less..]).
Anybody know if there's a way to "fix" this (a setting I've missed) or a better calendar app that can handle this?
I know that you can include birthday info in your Google Calender from your Google contacts, but that's not "good enough". For one thing, I don't have all my friends (that I have on Facebook) in my Google Contacts and I have no intention to add them to it (or go through them and add their birthdays..)
I'm glad for any input..
All the best to you..
/Chris
(I used "Google [Service]" to be clear on what I was talking about)

I have the same problem. How do i make my device remimd me of my contacts b-day?
thanl you
Sent from my HTC Desire using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk

You have to do it via Google.
First you have to sync your contacts with your Google contacts. The birthday and anniversary details will be carried up to your Google contacts from your phone.
Then switch to your Google calendar. On the left hand side in the Other calendars section, click "Add", select "Browse Interesting Calendars" and click the "More" tab. From the displayed list click the "subscribe" link against "Contacts' birthdays and events."
This adds your contacts' birthdays to your Google Calendar, which when sync'd with your phone will appear on you phone's calendar.
I admit this is not straightforward and I would have liked to have seen the phone do this by itself.

And what can we do with the contacts stored on the phone and no as a gmail contact?
Thanks!

meson1 said:
You have to do it via Google.
First you have to sync your contacts with your Google contacts. The birthday and anniversary details will be carried up to your Google contacts from your phone.
Then switch to your Google calendar. On the left hand side in the Other calendars section, click "Add", select "Browse Interesting Calendars" and click the "More" tab. From the displayed list click the "subscribe" link against "Contacts' birthdays and events."
This adds your contacts' birthdays to your Google Calendar, which when sync'd with your phone will appear on you phone's calendar.
I admit this is not straightforward and I would have liked to have seen the phone do this by itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wonder if someone could help me with this. I had this all setup and it showed my birthdays fine.
Then I added a couple more birthdays to contacts and they didnt show even after syncing rebooting an taking off the calendar and putting it back on.
Now I cannot at all get the calendar to show ANY birthdays. Ive got it all set up right, and i;ve syncd. They show on the google calendar on the laptop here, it shows all tasks and birthdays, however the calendar on the phone doesnt show anything other than uk holidays. Ive messed with every setting possible...HELP!

Julian1984 said:
And what can we do with the contacts stored on the phone and not as a gmail contact?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On your phone you have three types of contacts: SIM contacts, Phone contacts and Google. Obviously, SIM contacts reside on your SIM card; Phone contacts in the phone and Google contacts on Google Mail.
As you have pointed out only Google contacts will synchronize with your Google Mail account. But all is not lost. You won't have to type in all your contact details again because you can link contacts together in the phone.
What you do is to create Google contacts that duplicate each of your phone contacts. Just create each Google contact on your phone with the same name as each existing phone contact. You do not need to include any details, just create them as empty contacts. Once you've done this, they will appear as two separate contacts in the contact list.
Now the magic. For each person, edit either one of their two contacts. You will see that you can link each contact with another contact. If you've used the same name for your Phone and Google contacts it will already be suggesting that these two can be linked together. So link them.
Now you will find your two linked contacts now appear as one in your contact list. And these linked contacts will now synchronize with your Google Mail account contacts and carry all the details from your original Phone contact with them.
Hope this helps.

eboBirthday from the Marketplace. Free.

kevano22 said:
Then I added a couple more birthdays to contacts and they didnt show even after syncing rebooting an taking off the calendar and putting it back on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had this too. Only birthdays that were assigned to contacts at the time I created the calendar online show now.
I'm going to try and delete that calendar and re-create it but something is definitely wrong when you subsequently add birthdays after making that calendar.

Right, one thing I've found is that the birthdays I've added on the phone have NOT made their way back into Google's cloud. I've re-entered them in GMail online and re-created the calendar to show birthdays but they still aren't showing, not online and not in my phone!

Right, just re-added the calendar again online and it's now showing in the web calendar. After a refresh of the calendar on the phone, it's now showing there too.
So numerous bugs. If you want to see your birthdays, the process seems to be:
1) Enter them all online in your Gmail contacts
2) Delete then recreate your "friends birthdays" calendar in Google Calendar online
3) Refresh your phone
If you add any new birthdays, you'll need to do this all again. Pretty poor

tifosi256 said:
Right, just re-added the calendar again online and it's now showing in the web calendar. After a refresh of the calendar on the phone, it's now showing there too.
So numerous bugs. If you want to see your birthdays, the process seems to be:
1) Enter them all online in your Gmail contacts
2) Delete then recreate your "friends birthdays" calendar in Google Calendar online
3) Refresh your phone
If you add any new birthdays, you'll need to do this all again. Pretty poor
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sounds like a horror story - here was i thinking that someone would have written an app to read birthdays from built-in phone contacts ... :-(

mrdo said:
sounds like a horror story - here was i thinking that someone would have written an app to read birthdays from built-in phone contacts ... :-(
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it's certainly sub-optimal. I'd say the main bug is the phone not sending birthdays entered on it back to Google. The non-refreshing calendar thing I can kind of understand. I guess the additional calendars are assumed to be static (like UK Public holidays etc). Just a guess. I'd heard about the birthday syncing bug on another android phone, kinda hoped it would be sorted on the Desire.

tifosi256 said:
Well, it's certainly sub-optimal. I'd say the main bug is the phone not sending birthdays entered on it back to Google. The non-refreshing calendar thing I can kind of understand. I guess the additional calendars are assumed to be static (like UK Public holidays etc). Just a guess. I'd heard about the birthday syncing bug on another android phone, kinda hoped it would be sorted on the Desire.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks tif I will try it later. Got that birthday program and its cool but I'd like to see them in my calendar too!

tifosi256 said:
Well, it's certainly sub-optimal. I'd say the main bug is the phone not sending birthdays entered on it back to Google. The non-refreshing calendar thing I can kind of understand. I guess the additional calendars are assumed to be static (like UK Public holidays etc). Just a guess. I'd heard about the birthday syncing bug on another android phone, kinda hoped it would be sorted on the Desire.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me it takes about 12-18 hour until birthdays are synched with my calendar, but only when i refresh the calendar manually (menu -> more -> refresh)
Try to add a birthday @ google contacts, wait 24 hours, refresh the calendar.
The only way it works for me.
When i add a birthday to a contact (when creating the contact), the contact disappers lol.

@meson1: I thank you for your post, and I guess it could be helpsome for someone but as I said in the original post. I know that you can do that, bit I don't want that.. Don't want to go through and manually add a hundred people to my Google contacts.. First there are already too many posts in there, second: too much work for too litle result and för something that more or less should be given..
I will check out that app. But I'm still looking för a good solution to this problem.. (anybody know if there's än API för the calendar?)
Sent from my HTC Desire using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk

ChaosOfChris said:
@meson1: I thank you for your post, and I guess it could be helpsome for someone but as I said in the original post. I know that you can do that, bit I don't want that.. Don't want to go through and manually add a hundred people to my Google contacts.. First there are already too many posts in there, second: too much work for too litle result and för something that more or less should be given.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm afraid I don't know a way to do this for all your contacts enmasse. My experience with this stuff is limited. I looked into all this shortly after I got my Desire not having had any experience of Google Mail or Android before. After some experimentation that is what I have found.
I do agree that this part of the functionality is extremely lacking and it seems from other peoples' posts that it is also extremely buggy too. I do not like having to go via Google to do this stuff. I think this stuff should be integrated into the phone by itself and then linking to Google and anything else should be an extra.
It's all the more annoying that it's an obvious function to include, but that no-one has connected the dots. Or at least connected them in a technically competant fashion.
If I knew how, I'd knock up a really simple app to let you sync birthdays and anniversaries in the contacts to the calendar. As it is I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Android SDK and Java let alone doing anything practical.
Perhaps there's someone out there that is further up the Android Development learning curve that can put something together.

If I had the time (and not already too many projects to work with) I could perhaps put something together (If I knew there was some nice APIs)...
But I tried eboBirthday and it works ok.. (Far from ultimate and I can't even call it "good"..). First it downloaded all the birthdays from Facebook (and displays it in a extremely plain interface). But I can't say that it went smooth.. It was a bit "buggy" and I got an error at the end (even if it seemed to have downloaded all the info fine).
Then by using eboBirthday Contact Sync (also free in the market) that match my Google Contacts with my Facebook contacts and updated them..
And when I looked at my Google Calendar, the info was already there (no need to remove the Contacts birthdays calendar etc).
And then I just synced my calendar in the phone and now, at least, got all the birthdays for my Google Contacts in my calendar (plus reminders from eboBirthday).

Calendar Sync Issue

My Desire seems to want me to really celebrate my friends birthdays!
I am syncing my contacts and calendar items from my PC. This includes all my contacts birthdays. I am using Outlook (2007) but no Exchange.
In many cases, I have between 5 and 10 duplicated birthday items in the calendar for the same person. However, when I look on the PC, there is only 1.
Looking on the phone under Calendar>Menu>Settings>More>Calendars, there are 3 calendars listed - My Calendar (no idea what that is?), one called my name (which appears to contain the items I have added on the phone) and PC Sync. The PC Sync is the one which generates the multiple entries, because if I untick this, all the multiple entries disappear.
I suspect the problem is to do with a combination of syncing and multiple calendars (although to my knowledge I only have one calendar on the PC).
Debating just removing the lot and starting again! Not ideal!
Any thoughts on how to rectify this problem?

Noone else?
I take it noone else is seeing this problem?
If I scrap syncing to Outlook Calendar, does Desire <-> Google Calendar work ok?

PeteW said:
I take it noone else is seeing this problem?
If I scrap syncing to Outlook Calendar, does Desire <-> Google Calendar work ok?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have exchange at all but have found the google calender to be excellent so far. If you want more specific options for an event, you get more on the web page than in the android options. However, it's synced fine and works very well so far for me.
I'm sure that it's a simple options issue being the reason you're getting loads of birthday entries but I don't know how to help on that.
What I do like about the google calender is that I can select which calenders I want to show on my phone and which I don't. Also I have a little call tracker app that posts all my calls and missed calls in a separate calender online... works great.

what's that tracker app called? Sounds useful - in app store?

Mark One: I use CallTrak, pretty good ...
and you might also want "SMS Backup", the same for SMS ...

Thanks - looks great. Dumb question (android noob) - how do you set it up to sync with another calendar. I have created a new calendar on the same google account but it doesn't show up as an option in CallTrak - I can only see my main calendar or UK Holidays.
Thanks, M1

No worries - I didn't leave enough time (like half an hour!) for the new Gmail calendar I created to sync with the phone.
Now working as it should. Thanks.

Google Calendar not syncing entirely with HTC Evo (facebook, subscribed calendars)

Ok, here is my issue.
Both my google and HTC calendar on my Evo show my facebook contacts' birthdays. Wonderful.
However, when I look at google calendar on my laptop, the facebook contacts' birthdays are nowhere in site.
I can add events from my Evo's HTC and google calendar's and have them show up on my laptop's google calendar so it is not a fundamental syncing issue it appears.
Furthermore, when I subscribe to a calendar on my laptop's google calendar (lets say the chicago cubs), the Cubs schedule does not appear on my Evo.
Anyone got any clues to these issues with Google Calendar syncing with the Evo's calendars?
...And yes I have searched and found nothing suitable for my problem.
Thanks so much for reading this.

As far as I know the Facebook calendar should be independent of the Google sync, I think of it as an overlay of such if that makes sense. With the Cubs calendar are you selecting it on your phone? Ie with your calendar open push menu -> more -> calendars and make sure its checked there? I have personally had to remove calendars and go back and re add them to get them to show up when they are new, hope this helps you out.
sent from my EVO from the dark side

ju5tiiv said:
As far as I know the Facebook calendar should be independent of the Google sync, I think of it as an overlay of such if that makes sense. With the Cubs calendar are you selecting it on your phone? Ie with your calendar open push menu -> more -> calendars and make sure its checked there? I have personally had to remove calendars and go back and re add them to get them to show up when they are new, hope this helps you out.
sent from my EVO from the dark side
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, that make sense (pun not intended) that the facebook calender + sense is an overlay. Wish there was a way around it. For consistency's sake, I would like my phone's calendar to be the same as google calendar's on my laptop.
With the Cubs Calendar, I was adding their schedule through my laptop's google calendars (do not think there is way to do this via the Evo directly...Google Calendar > settings > calendar settings > calendars > browse interesting calendars > subscribe
Via this method, my Evo's calendar would not update with the google calendar which includes the Cubs schedule.

Okay so I tried exactly what you did and I did not get it to work either
Here is a solution I found from androidforums
Goto MySportsCal.com and download the schedule and import into a new calendar, then sync and voila. Worked flawlessly on my phone using this method!

For the record, not all of the Google calendars you can choose on a PC are able to show on a mobile device. It says it somwhere on google, but it was hard to find when I was looking. (Had the same probelm trying to get the buckeyes' schedule lol)
And yes, Sense is putting facebook in, which is why you cant see it on a PC.

ju5tiiv and Bp3dots,
Thanks guys. I actually found the answer a few minutes after you posted that. funny coincidence....anyway worked for me too.
So I guess have both my questions solved. Good stuff guys, thanks.

You betcha, not a problem at all! oh and I gotta say this in good fun lol Go A's haha jk!

Problems with Exchange Sync and Recurring Meetings

Gang,
Full disclosure - I've lurked here for the past few months, but have only just been stirred to register to try and resolve this issue. I'm thinking that if anyone can help me resolve this, it's you guys. That said, I hope to be able to contribute some myself going forward.
OK, now that I've got that out of the way...
Recently, I've been having problems with recurring meetings from Exchange on my Incredible's ActiveSync calendar. Specifically, the problems seem to start whenever I modify one instance of a recurrence (move one to another day, for example) inside Outlook on my PC - (not on the phone). What seems to be happening is that although that particular changed instance shows up on my HTC calendar in its new spot, the rest of the recurrence disappears and - even worse - I can no longer get ANY recurring meetings to sync to the phone, even if I create new ones.
If I remove the ActiveSync account, delete Calendar Data (Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > Calendar Storage > Clear Data and ...Calendar > Clear Data) and re-add the account, I still have the problem and - what's worse - ALL my recurring meetings are gone (but any exceptions to them remain - WTF?!).
Before anyone asks, all recurrences have end dates (I've read plenty about recurrences w/o end dates causing problems).
To date, the only way I've found to completely fix this is to do a factory reset (yuck). Of course, the minute I modify an instance of a recurring meeting, the problem starts all over.
Anybody else see this? Provided there's no fix, is there a better way to fully flush calendar data to see if I can avoid resetting the phone? There's GOT to be something I'm missing in terms of cleaning out the calendar data, because a factory reset fixes it. Like I said above, I clear out two spots in Manage Applications: Calendar and Calendar Storage.
It's killing me. I'm clearly not doing enough by clearing data for Calendar and Calendar Storage, but I'm thinking a factory reset HAS to be overkill. Anybody know how to more fully flush the calendar data?
Thanks in advance to anyone with ideas. I'm pulling my hair out over here.
-K

I've had this problem as well, except with Google Calendar as I personally don't use Exchange.
Clearing Calendar and Calendar Storage fixes my problem, but I think the issue is that HTC had to bridge the gap left by Eclair to sync with Exchange servers. So, my thought is to perhaps try clearing the Sync Service or Sync Feeds (tired brain has trouble with memory recall) in addition to Calendar and Calendar Storage.
Good news is reports indicate that the FroYo update contains a fix baked in by HTC.
Hope that was in any way helpful.

Thanks for the advice. Tried it, but to no avail.
That said, I'm an avid Tasker user and happened across a new thread in the Tasker Google Group that sounded awfully familiar. Did some troubleshooting and was able to prove that if I have a profile that monitors my calendar (whether this profile is enabled OR disabled), the recurring meeting problem crops up. Sucks, because I really liked my "Don't be a Jerk!" profile that automatically put my phone on vibrate when I had a meeting with "1:1" in the title.
Go figure!

That is interesting to learn! I'm a fellow Tasker and couldn't live without the program.
Hmm... I wonder if a usb sync via HTC Sync and Outlook would be a temporary fix to "reset" your calendar when it goes haywire? It's rather left field, but worth a shot.

I have the same issue and not only with recurring appointments. sometimes the reminder doesn't show up -and sound- even if it's not a recurring appointment.
the funny think is that it happens only with the appointents that I created... it's becoming really frustrating.
I never connect my phone to my PC to synch it

Known issue. Reported and confirmed by HTC along time ago. They "hope" to have it corrected in new release. Work with all recurring events from outlook or OWA, don't attempt to alter, move or do anything to them from the INC.
If you use Google connector and sync to google you are OK, but pretty lame for a phone that was suppose to be exchange compatible. HTC said it's due to the "Sense" interface and the way it connects to the phone's database.

MLT2004 said:
Known issue. Reported and confirmed by HTC along time ago. They "hope" to have it corrected in new release. Work with all recurring events from outlook or OWA, don't attempt to alter, move or do anything to them from the INC.
If you use Google connector and sync to google you are OK, but pretty lame for a phone that was suppose to be exchange compatible. HTC said it's due to the "Sense" interface and the way it connects to the phone's database.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So HTC has confirmed there's an issue when you modify appointments from the phone? Not a big issue for me, because all I ever do is accept others' invitations and MAYBE set up a quick meeting here and there. All my calendar work is in Outlook directly. Thanks for the heads-up, though. Seems silly that a UI layer would introduce issues in database connectivity. Sounds like some of the projects that go on at work - LOL.

Wow, I just now realized that I have a similar problem: ANY recurring appointment disappears from my calendar. Regardless of how I make it recurring (on the phone, on my PC, OWA, etc.) This is positively infuriating.

I actually have the recurring meetings on my phone; however the reminder is gone and the phone is not reminding me that is very annoying. for corporate users this is an awful limitation.
I'm trying to manually add the reminder to the appointment (on the phone) and see if it helps.

xmkgenzo said:
I actually have the recurring meetings on my phone; however the reminder is gone and the phone is not reminding me that is very annoying. for corporate users this is an awful limitation.
I'm trying to manually add the reminder to the appointment (on the phone) and see if it helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried creating the recurring appointments on the phone, which is a pain and you have extremely limited options for recurrences. The second I saved the appointement, it disappeared from my phone, but appeared on my exchange calendar online... I'm thinking about attempting to just export my recurrences from exchange to my google calendar...

ValhallaSky said:
I've had this problem as well, except with Google Calendar as I personally don't use Exchange.
Clearing Calendar and Calendar Storage fixes my problem, but I think the issue is that HTC had to bridge the gap left by Eclair to sync with Exchange servers. So, my thought is to perhaps try clearing the Sync Service or Sync Feeds (tired brain has trouble with memory recall) in addition to Calendar and Calendar Storage.
Good news is reports indicate that the FroYo update contains a fix baked in by HTC.
Hope that was in any way helpful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clearing those two items worked for me!

I setup all my appointments with my laptop; using the phone just screws it up. then the meetings appear on the phone without reminder.
MLT2004 confirmed it's a known issue.
for me it's mainly an issue with the reminder (VERY annoying for me since I rely on it a lot) but should I need to setup meetings on the phone I would be in trouble.

I always thought it was and activsync problem. I had this problem for 2 years with my Moto Q. Haven't had my Incredible long enough to see if this one is doing it too. Then again since I don't have to use Activesync with this phone I don't. Maybe it's the Activesync that's causing all this.

So now I seem to have a new problem, and I don't mean to hijack the thread (i'll happily start a new one if the OP prefers, but I suspect taht these issues aer related): All of my exchange appointments show up perfectly in my calendar. Even my recurring appointments. The problem is, my exchange calendar is not showing up, ie, the phone seems to realize that these appointments exist, but does not seem to "see" the exchange calendar. If I open an exchange appointment, I can see that it is, in fact, in my exchange calendar. However, if i go to "more" under calendar, I can see my gmail calendar, "My Calendar," "PC Sync," and "US Holidays." If I uncheck them ALL, my exchange appointments remain, but again, I cannot "see" the calendar, to add appointments, etc.

[Q] calendar problem - can see my wifes calendar on desktop gmail but not on phone

OK - first of all, I have multiple calendars and they all work. The problem I have is very specific.
My wife has shared her gmail calendar with me. We both use gmail & share calendars. I can see it great on my desktop - turn on, off, color coded, perfect.
However - I CANNOT see her calendar on my phone. All of my calendars show up, but not hers.
Any ideas welcome.

I am going to ask the obvious ...
Did you click on Menu -> More -> Calendars and select it?
Scott

tried that
Attached are two photos / screenshots:
1. From phone, shows all my calendars. My wifes is not shown.
2. From PC, shows my wifes calendar (in green, circled in red).
??

Just for grins and giggles, click on "settings" under her calendar in your Gmail calendar and make sure the box is checked under "show in list". Seems like I had a very similar issue and that was the resolution.

checked on "settings" in my gmail calendar, and her calendar was/is/continues to be checked as "show in list".

carlbettag said:
Attached are two photos / screenshots:
1. From phone, shows all my calendars. My wifes is not shown.
2. From PC, shows my wifes calendar (in green, circled in red).
??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The biggest clue is that her calendar is showing up under "other calendars" on your PC. You need to change the calendar permission in her Gmail account so that you are allowed to both "see events" AND "make changes". At present, I would guess you are only allowed to "see events". Once the permissions are correct, her calendar will show up under "My Calendars" in Gmail, and then should sync to your phone.

Yes - what he said. I have the identical set up on my calendar as well as my wife's. She needs to set you to "Manage changes" at least, maybe "AND Manage Sharing".
If this is a google apps set up, and you aren't on the same domain, there is a setting in the Google Apps Manage this Domain ...
Outside somedomain.com - set user ability
By default, calendars are not shared outside somedomain.com. Select the highest level of sharing that you want to allow for your users.
I have mine set to "Share all information, and outsiders can change calendars".
it was kind of finicky to set up!
Scott

I think that the issue is what Epicardium and spatton point out. I have an apps account, and my wife is outside my domain. Even with a little tweaking her calendar shows up as 'other calendars' right now.
Seems like I need to fiddle with the Google Apps Manage this Domain privileges to get her calendar onto 'My Calendars'. Once this is done, sounds like it might work.
I agree with spatton - managing the privileges for apps is a little unwieldy. I am sure it's great for larger businesses, but for small businesses it can be a little frustrating.
Thanks for the help guys - never would have figured this out myself. Will update when I can fix it

Being bored - stuck on a conference call - having a gmail, and several google apps accounts - I decided to tinker with this.
On *HER* gmail/google apps account, you have to set the sharing of the google calender to *YOUR* google apps account to "Manage events AND manage sharing". As soon as you do that, it will move to the top. You probably then have to do a sync and select that calendar.
Manage events wont do it ... goes to the bottom.

TEAM - WINS!
Thanks everyone. I checked my apps settings, which were correct. She set her calendar to 'Manage events AND manage sharing', and the calendar popped up into 'My calendars'. Then, on my phone, went in to calendar, hit 'Add Calendars', and hers was there.
Yay!! So - how many people does it take to screw in a google calendar?

You should try to get the calendars to sync on an iPad. It makes this seem perfect and simple!
Glad I could be of some assistance.