Develop Bugs

Messenger / Windows Live - Contacts sooo annoying!

Fellow xda people...
I'm a ms messenger addict, well I like it anyway and I've been looking forward to using it on my vario over uk T-mobile web'n'walk...I'm running black 2.5 so now I have the "windows live" thing on my today screen and I'm signed in...
thing is, seems to work...but i CANT STAND the way it insists on putting all my MSN contacts into my contact list! Does this annoy anyone else? Anyone found any clever work arounds?
Typical of microsoft trying to integrate an app and take over the whole machine - horrible?
cheers
bb

its so annoying...almost makes me want to use a different messenger client?

using black 2.0. cannot sign windows live from yesterday until now. it said no internet connectivity but i am connected with gprs and also wifi. can surf net also. it the mobile server different from the desktop?

I'm talking about the contacts in particular....

anyone else use messenger - windows live....polluting my contacts !

I had the same problem when I first used the live messenger beta a few months back. The final version does have the "sync contacts" optionality but as you say it still syncs them and creates duplicates and rubbish!
The only work around I found was to use outlook to copy and paste all the relevant info from the original contacts details into the new contacts created by messenger and then deleting the old one. This then avoids the duplication next time you flash and set up live.

unwired4 said:
The only work around I found was to use outlook to copy and paste all the relevant info from the original contacts details into the new contacts created by messenger and then deleting the old one. This then avoids the duplication next time you flash and set up live.
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That seems to work the best for me, I don't have to many contact and it wasnt that hard for me to delete them all and put them back in again - when you do this it asks what sort of contact you want - I think MS should have included a wizard that goes through your contacts when you first install them asking if you want Outlook, Contacts List and/or Messenger for each contact.
Another problem I found was everytime it synced from phone to computer, it would change my Messenger contacts, I found that if you edit the contact in Windows Messenger and make sure the name info is the same as what is one the phone has stored, it solves this problem, my contacts sync OK now.

I have the same issue, so i just reverted to using Pocket MSN...

Someone posted a workaround in the following thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1236933&postcount=22
Don't know if it's working since I didn't have time to install Live Messenger and try it out. Can someone try it?

My Workaround ...
Yeah,
I had the exact same problem. And i have HEAPS of contacts both messenger and outlook ... and of course ... i'm ridiculously anal about having everything exactly perfect ... so i fixed my contacts and reinstalled my phone ... hah
What i found worked for me, was before syncing the first time, make sure that you have outlook contacts corresponding to the email addresses of your messenger contacts. (ie: if windows live messenger sees you have an outlook contact with the same email address, it will just attach the msn display pic etc to that contact.
- Phixx

cheers for this...infuriating !
I have now taken the route one approach...deleted all the daft MS Messenger contacts and removed Windows Live from my today screen (I would delete it if I could)....Hope I never see it again!

The best way to deal with it is to make sure all of your contacts in MS Live have contact entries in Outlook. It sucks, but once you have all of your contacts sync'd up, it's pretty cool: you can see people's online status anywhere you see their contact info on the phone.

BTW; no matter what route you take, you MUST back up your Live contacts and your Outlook contacts on your PC. Seriously. Do it now. I made the mistake of not doing that, and during one of my many reloads, I somehow managed to wipe out my entire Outlook contacts list *and* my Windows Live contact list. It was not a fun day restoring that.
Go to Contacts->Save instant messenging contacts in Windows Live on your PC.

yeah, but i don't want my instant messenger stuff anywhere near my contacts...to me it's a separate app! (or it should be) MS trying to be too clever by half.

What would be nice is if it put the messenger emails in contacts under "emails" Ie personal / business and email catogries.
It really is quite annoying when sifting through the contact list to find a phone number and having to sift through 100's of mail addresses too.
Of course I do try to use the smart dialing but they still come up.
Just having to do these work arounds every reinstall / HR e.t.c is tedious at best.

LeoBadhan said:
I have the same issue, so i just reverted to using Pocket MSN...
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I want to do the same thing, only I can't find the install for pocket MSN, the only one I could find was on the MS site where you have to pay for it.. it came with my TyTN so I don't want to pay MS another €15 for it!
Can you please provide me the install file? whether it is in PM or in the thread
Thanks alot man

I quite like the way it works.. It's a little bit annoying if you have contacts who have really messed up their details online so that it can't link them to a phone contact, but other than that I really like it.
It would be nice if there was an advanced sync option where you could somehow pair orphan people on MSN to people in contacts on the phone so that it was aware they were the same person.. but I'm not gonna complain too much.

or just give you an option to turn it off.

I'm having an absolute nightmare with this!
I really like the idea in concept and want it to work.
I deleted the contacts it added to my phone adress book cos it looked messy not realising that when I sync'd with my PC it would delete them all (85) from messenger!
So I started re adding my msn contacts being careful to also have a corresponding Outlook contact and all was going well. I was getting them linked up nicely. Now all of a sudden, they've all gone again from my MSN on my PC!
I want this feature to work, I don't simply want to turn it off as some of you have done. How should I go about this?

Yes, me too.. There are nice features in Live messenger for WM, like showing display picture, voiceclip, sending files, pictures, etc, but this contacts problem is so darn annoying! I wish some wizzguy could look into a hack or solution
Greetz.

Yahoo folders in outlook mobile

Hello all
I'm wondering if there is any way to be able to view the contents of yahoo email folders in outlook. as far as i can tell the only thing i can see is my general inbox.
So far the only solution i have found is to use yahoo Go! but this does not display the conents of my email on my home screen. in addition i have to load the program ever time i want to check my work folder, as well as manually connect. its very cumbersome and the software is bloated with graphics and crap i just dont want to see or use.
In reality, the only thing i want to see is the contents of my folder labeled "work" the rest of my email i will gladly deal with when i am at a computer. idealy, i would like outlook, or a whatever program it is to display the contents of just my "work" folder on my homescreen. if anyone can point me in the right direction here it would be greatly appreciated.
oh also ive heard that google is much better for mobile email. my yahoo account is 15 years old, so i cant give it up, but im considering trying to rig things up so that all of my work email forwards to a gmail account so that i cant then get it displayed on my homescreen.
thanks again guys

ok, this may or may not help. are you using pop3 to connect to yahoo? if so, i think that's your problem. try connection with imap. you should be able to find the connection info on the yahoo site. you may have to do some funny business to make it not automaticly pick up the pop3 settings. i had to for my gmail account. they may actually have a winmobile 6+ tutorial (gmail did). but i know that imap supports folders.

Hey ,
Yahoo gives u pop and imap only if u have a paid account ,, not to free accounts

wow, how restricting. i'm glad i dropped them 5yrs ago for gmail.

thanks for the help. yahoo are real bastards. still trying to ride along on a restrictive model that was good enough back in 1995, but is a joke with the likes of competitors like gmail in this day and age. i too wish i could just dump the damn yahoo account, but ive had this email address for about 15 years, and i also use the thing for work, so it really wont cut it. can anyone tell me if some sort of forwarding to gmail of just my work contacts' email could resolve my problem? if so, is there any special trick i need to be doing?

Noraf83 said:
thanks for the help. yahoo are real bastards. still trying to ride along on a restrictive model that was good enough back in 1995, but is a joke with the likes of competitors like gmail in this day and age. i too wish i could just dump the damn yahoo account, but ive had this email address for about 15 years, and i also use the thing for work, so it really wont cut it. can anyone tell me if some sort of forwarding to gmail of just my work contacts' email could resolve my problem? if so, is there any special trick i need to be doing?
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Yep forwarding works just look in Yahoo Mail options, i have old yahoo accounts all forwarded to gmail, as just like other users was fed up with the dog a** service provided....

stylez said:
Yep forwarding works just look in Yahoo Mail options, i have old yahoo accounts all forwarded to gmail, as just like other users was fed up with the dog a** service provided....
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Sorry, but forwarding is like POP/IMAP in Yahoo. Only available on the paid "Yahoo Mail Plus" accounts. I've switched 95% over to gmail, but check the Yahoo free account once a week.

gnatd said:
Sorry, but forwarding is like POP/IMAP in Yahoo. Only available on the paid "Yahoo Mail Plus" accounts. I've switched 95% over to gmail, but check the Yahoo free account once a week.
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I think there is a difference between .com & .co.uk or it's that my account is donkey years old as have forwarding on free accounts

Well, gmail or Yahoo, or whatever other, there is no way to keep the email folders and related messages in the Android phone memory and use them offline like in the PC Outlook! That's really missing as one can't consult messages if out of wireless connection range!!!
That's the application Android is missing!

Downside to syncing contacts with Live

I've had a hotmail account for more than a decade. Probably 13 or 14 years. But I didn't use it often, and never stored contacts online (I use Outlook for my mail, and sync it with gmail, and don't store contacts online there). But now, in order to sync Outlook contacts with Windows Phone 7, I set up hotmail to sync with Outlook, and now all of my contacts have been sent a spam email through my hotmail account. Spam is why I rarely used hotmail to begin with. GRRR!
Thumbs down to MS for making us use Live.com!

looks like you have a trojan on your PC. Check your anitvirus and check if you have all the Windows and Outlook updates installed.
Sorry, but this is not a problem with live.com it is with your computer.
BTW, you can sync your contacts without configuring/syncing mail etc... check out http://www.soocial.com/

You also may want to change your hotmail password to something you don't use (and have never used) elsewhere.

GRRR...
Ok... I guess I was too quick to blame Live... Malwarebytes is running now, for about 15 minutes, hasn't found anything yet, but we'll see. Password changed as well.

My Live contacts contain the same amount of contacts as my gmail account for many years and never got spam emails for that. It is typically caused by malware on your PC that uses your outlook (or even worse, outlook express) as gold mine to send out spams.

One thing I've noticed is that in my call log all the entries are numbers. Numbers don't seem to match up to names and show the Names and Pictures - like... ever... They're just a bunch of numbers and who the hell remembers all of everyone's phone numbers (some people have home work and two mobiles ).

Almost done with the second scan - still nothing found. :/

Probably caused by one of your emails that contains malware and you clicked on it. The embedded malware will execute (sending out emails from your address book) and it will be gone afterwards. I'll be supprised it can be detected by any software. Besides, a few trojan I encountered in the past can't be detected by anything either. But those are much more dangerous than just sending out the spam mail.

I find Live Service is really helpful on Storing my contact. I don't have to worry about backing 'em up on my simcard. I can have all my contact number even i change the simcard...

hopmedic said:
Almost done with the second scan - still nothing found. :/
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try Microsoft security essentials. I have found it to be quite good with detecting things that went unnoticed with my previously installed software (mcafee)

Before I synced my info I went through and did some cleaning on my contact list on live. I love that it is all on live and I can remotely wipe my phone and have my contacts on a new phone in a matter of minutes.

i love the live sync as well, i was not for it until i got my HD7...

arkavat said:
looks like you have a trojan on your PC. Check your anitvirus and check if you have all the Windows and Outlook updates installed.
Sorry, but this is not a problem with live.com it is with your computer.
BTW, you can sync your contacts without configuring/syncing mail etc... check out http://www.soocial.com/
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Click to collapse
Windows Phone 7 is not supported on their website yet..

Thanks for all the good input.

I see that Calendar and Contact sync is good in a way it quickly transfers necessary data to your new device.
But WL has two big down sides.
* Limitation of about 1000 contacts. If you go above that expect errors
* You can't sync separately Email, Contacts and Calendar when you want but just all at once.

Also: they *don't* force you to use Live to sync your contacts. You can sync them to Gmail or any number of similar services, as well as anything that supports the Activesync protocol. I sync exclusively to Google Contacts and have since the day I got the phone, problem free

Purple11 said:
Windows Phone 7 is not supported on their website yet..
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that's for syncing outlook contacts to Live contacts or any other service. Once you sync your contacts to live or gmail account, Windows Phone 7 can sync with them.

doministry said:
* Limitation of about 1000 contacts. If you go above that expect errors
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I've had more than 1500 contacts since day 1 and haven't had an issue. I used Outlook Connector to sync the to my Live account and my phone was automtically populated with all of them.

wspaw said:
I've had more than 1500 contacts since day 1 and haven't had an issue. I used Outlook Connector to sync the to my Live account and my phone was automtically populated with all of them.
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So you're lucky! 1000 contacts limitation is well known in Hotmail accounts.
In my case until I cleaned manually my Contacts list the phone was performing looped sync of contacts resulting in endless sync (reaching 25000 contacts synced and still going on......)

Windows Live is always evolving and like other limitations, the 1000 contacts do not exist anymore, and its going to be at least 2 years now that limitation does not exists...

[Q] Best way to sync with Outlook?

I now have the T-Mobile Samsung GalaxyS2, but "live" in the MS Office Outlook world & have my own e-mail/server - I do not use Google mail or calendars or contacts, or anyone else's services. Critical syncs are contacts (@900), notes and calendar, w/recurring events. I know, I know, Android and MS Office don't like each other. But T-Mobile doesn't have the iPhone and I wanted a web friendly device (ie - not Blackberry). Have purchased Companionlink/DejaOffice and spent much time talking to their tech staff. They say the Samsung Galaxy S2 is especially difficult for their software to work with. Constant issues of duplicates and lack of true 2-way sync, even if settings look right. In the entire T-Mobile Samsung GalaxyS2 forum, I couldn't find a single match to "sync with Outlook". I thought everyone with a corporate job lived in Outlook. Is there some obvious solution I am not aware of? Please help. Also - what about upgrading to IceCream Sandwich? I heard this might have some sort of native sync with Outlook? Really appreciate any good advise. Thank you, AMWM

I've been using Touchdown for well over a year now and couldn't do without it. It's worth much more than the $20 license fee.

You say you have your own mail server, is it an exchange server??? If it is the built in exchange client works for me, provided the exchange server is configured correctly ..
I was syncing, Mail, Contacts, Calendar, and Tasks ... But I decided I did not like exchange , migrated to google hosted mail ....

Touchdown is worth the expense if you sync to exchange.
Using tapatalk on my Galaxy 2 to post this!

Syncing to Outlook - Touchdown not an option with real Office & POP3 server
Hello, and I really appreciate the three replies so far. Unfortunately, Touchdown doesn't seem to be an option for a true two-way seamless sync with real Office Outlook, for someone using their own POP3 server. I looked up Touchdown, and it indicates the following on the main page:
Note:TouchDown does not work with POP3 or IMAP servers
Note:TouchDown requires a server, and does not work with Outlook directly
I do not use Exchange, I use real Office, and my e-mail server is a POP3 server. And I don't want to "push" info, per se, I need a true "sync both ways" so that all info entered into my PC and all info entered into my phone will sync with each other, with latest changes kept. My old Palm Treo with Windows Mobile synced perfectly, Blackberries sync perfectly, and I am told the iPhone will sync perfectly as well. I just assumed Android would also - I thought regular Outlook was the most commonly used contacts/calendar/tasks/notes for professionals.
How is everyone else doing this?
p.s. I spent $40 on Companionlink, which is not working well. I am not afraid to invest in the right product, I'm just afraid that Android is inherently the wrong platform for me. But since I just spent $530 on this phone, I need to figure out how to make it work.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hmm having problem syncing my exchange mail too live.com too :s
Droiding from sgh-t989

There is another way to do it , not quite as seamless but it works just fine, actually there are a few apps that do it ...
Setup your gmail account on the phone , you need one anyway for the market ..
Setup one of the many apps to sync your outlook to your gmail ...
On the phone setup your gmail account to ONLY sync Calendar, and Contacts, uncheck mail ...
Setup the email on the app to pop your mail, make sure both phone and outlook are set to leave mail on server , for however long you need ...

Wanting to directly sync Android with Outlook...
Dear tcboo,
Thank you very much. I already have the Google acct set up on the phone, I have already purchased Companionlink, which will also sync Outlook with Google, and my phone already pops my mail directly, leaving everything on the server, so the mail is not a sync issue at all.
So if I use Gmail as an indirect sync facilitator.....What about Notes and Tasks? And how does this indirect 3-way sync insure that most recent changes are kept if the two devices don't speak directly? I've also now heard that Google calendar doesn't do well with all of the recurring calendar events I have on my Outlook.
So Android really won't talk to Outlook? If Apple can do it, why not Google/Android? It's not like Microsoft is better friends with Apple than they are with Google, and if they let the iPhone sync directly with Office, why can't Google get them to let Android sync directly? This doesn't make sense to me. I thought this could not really be the case, and I must be missing something obvious. But I guess Google isn't getting the kind of outcry or backlash I would have expected. Maybe all the Office people just stick with Blackberries and iPhones?
Any news if ICS will sync directly? I really do want a simple, direct fully functional (including notes and tasks & reoccurring calendar events) wireless sync, and it's sounding like I might have to limp along until I can justify a different phone & OS.
Again, though, I really appreciate your effort & advice.
Best regards,
AMWM

The trick is to make sure you leave outlook open and it is set to sync on change ..
I think the iPhone syncs directly , because they just want to put the slam on M$ where Android is not that worried about M$ ...
You would be surprised to find out how many corporations are going to Google hosted mail , M$ still rules it, but not by as much as they did ...
It is not a perfect solution, that is the problem when you are tied to a proprietary system like Outlook, you either pay through the nose to get software to force it to do what you want or , you adapt the way you do things ...
I never had any issues with the calendar, I will try and find the app I used to sync, I quit using outlook a while back but I may still have the link, if I can find it I will post it ...

Surprised Companionlink isn't working for you. It's pretty well rated. I'd be curious to know what it doesn't do well for you... Not sure there's another product out there which syncs Outlook to a phone.

Direct Outlook Sync Looking Up w/Companionlink!!!
You are right - Companionlink is the only game out there for what I want, at least according to my research. I have had Companionlink since Oct when I got my phone, with constant issues. They told me it is not an Android issue; it is specifically a Samsung GS2 issue.
Well, they are working hard to fix it. They have updated the Companionlink again, so I updated that on my PC. They have a Beta version of the DejaOffice App which they instructed me to down load from their website. Instructions are:
"First, please update to the current in-house beta of CompanionLink (companionlinkDOTcom/inhouse[/url]) and the beta of DejaOffice (dejaofficeDOTcom/androidapp)."
please sub DOT with . - it wouldn't let me post the actual websites
You have to make certain to allow downloading non-market apps on your phone, as this Beta version isn't in the App store yet. Also - make sure that your phone is set to save contacts to the Google acct, not to Phone. Well, I have done this, wiped everything on the phone, did an initial 1-way sync from Outlook to populate the phone (which always worked okay), & then tested some true 2-way syncs. Of course make certain the Companionlink sync set-up is correct (sync both ways, latest changes kept). Also - you cannot use Android calendar, and do not tell it to sync to Android calendar. just put the Deja Calendar icon where you want it. But you do use the phone contact button. Also, they recommend turning off the Google Sync, which I have done.
It is working!!! I am cautiously optimistic. I have just successfully 2-way synced changes to calendar, contacts and notes, and both phone & PC updated correctly. Also - I am doing this as a wi-fi sync, which is important to me. You just have to make sure wi-fi settings are correct. This is a first. I think the beta changes have fixed the major issues. So if you are going to buy Companionlink, make sure you are getting the beta of both Companionlink and DejaOffice - do not bother downloading the Android Market App of DejaOffice.
Good luck!!

gmail app for email dictatorship?

Hi everyone,
I tried adding other Gmail emails to my email app without adding accounts to the phone but no way even tried Microsoft outlook if you use other email addresses it is ok but if you try Gmail email apps you been diverted to google again to add an account to the phone. This awful google you already have info why trying to get synching everything on the second phone.
Another solution just listens the mr google and add an account for every email that you use and stop synching but I didn't like this because I read somewhere it keeps synching everything.
3rd party email like yahoo is ok but not really safe to me.
Here we go microsoft outlook if add from inside app at reader mode yes allow adding gmail.com emails.
so found my own solution.
inn outlook app hit top left and all the way down to wrench icon you ll see + add account (it is not adding google account just adding emails.
Great

Try the Nine email client - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ninefolders.hd3&hl=en
I use it for all my email addresses - Office 365, IMAP, and even an old POP address.
It costs $10 but good programs should cost money.

android became another ios dictatorship $10 is must be nothing for us residents but it is a lot money for to many ppl around world, this is insane google.
i just want to an extra email not account how many steps i walk how many fck i had what i m talking or thinking to buy.
There are no more judges in usa i guess this is long subject but so stupid.
i sent back google chromecast because new version not allowing to setup without location data people shoul show their reaction for those stupid actions from dictators like kim un google.

mustangy said:
android became another ios dictatorship $10 is must be nothing for us residents but it is a lot money for to many ppl around world, this is insane google.
i just want to an extra email not account how many steps i walk how many fck i had what i m talking or thinking to buy.
There are no more judges in usa i guess this is long subject but so stupid.
i sent back google chromecast because new version not allowing to setup without location data people shoul show their reaction for those stupid actions from dictators like kim un google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Aquamail. The first thing I always do is remove or disable Gmail and install another email app.

Tel864 said:
Try Aquamail. The first thing I always do is remove or disable Gmail and install another email app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
Microsoft outlook adding also, If you add from the main page it diverts you to straight add account at play store but if you click right top to accounts and all the way down wrench sign it is adding email without adding a google account.