SERIOUS PROBLEM: Google Contacts Sync generates xxx amount copy of each contact! - G4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi all.
My set-up: LG G4, Lollipop 5.1, not rooted.
Google Account, Outlook.com, LinkedIn, Skype etc.
The proplem is that during my night-time, Google Contacts Sync starts syncing my contacts (to somewhere; the are NOT visible in my Google account) generating xxx copies of each contact. I have no exact timeline when this has started to realize, but by using Simpler Contacts 5.0.2 (paid version) I was able to clean that horrible mess (took overall ~5 hours with 55.000+ contacts).
Currently I have disabled all contacts syncing.
So should I:
1) Copy all my contacts to Google (already exported cleaned .vcf to my SD card) and import that to Google account?
2) Do something else, what?
What an earth is causing that!?!?
Much appreciated.
BR,
Timo

Any hints / thoughts on this?
Anyhow I will wait for overnight now to see if it still happens even that now Google contacts sync of OFF.
Additional wonder: I can not find those contacts synced to either my Google.com or live.com (Outlook.com) accounts, so it seems they to replicate locally on my phone... Which makes this even more weird.

tjsuominen said:
Any hints / thoughts on this?
Anyhow I will wait for overnight now to see if it still happens even that now Google contacts sync of OFF.
Additional wonder: I can not find those contacts synced to either my Google.com or live.com (Outlook.com) accounts, so it seems they to replicate locally on my phone... Which makes this even more weird.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In your gmail, try look in contacts tab..Its happened since kitkat, must be something with google services.

faizalotai said:
In your gmail, try look in contacts tab..Its happened since kitkat, must be something with google services.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just looked, there's (on Gmail contacts tab) basically only my Google+ contacts and some random e-mail contacts...
Any further tips?
//timo

tjsuominen said:
Just looked, there's (on Gmail contacts tab) basically only my Google+ contacts and some random e-mail contacts...
Any further tips?
//timo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try delete all contacts from your gmail then syncing once with phone, disabled auto sync, if you have update your contacts, just sync via account and sync in settings--->google>your email>contacts

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.accaci
Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

OK, still definitelly NOT working. What I did:
SCENARIO 1:
0) Ensured that all contacts syncs from my Phone were off
1) Cleared (= deleted) all contacts from my Google.com account
2) Started my [email protected] Contacts syncing from my phone
SCENARIO 2:
0) Ensured that all contacts syncs from my Phone were off
1) Cleared (= deleted) all contacts from my Google.com account
2) Imported the exported .csv file into my Google.com account
3) Started my [email protected] Contacts syncing from my phone
-->>
RESULT on BOTH sync scenarios:
NOTHING seems to sync to my Google.com account BUT on my phone contacts start to copy themselves... Generating duplicates, triplicates...
Syncing is working OK for other parts: various E-mail accounts, Calendar etc.
My analysis: my Phone's google.com CONTACTS account is NOT somehow connected to my account on google.com - weird...
I did NOT yet do this (advise from https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=42641):
Clearing out the Contacts Storage. Settings > Application Manager > All, went into "Contacts Storage", force stopped it, and cleared the data. When I went to re-sync, Google Contacts started syncing again.
I am afraid deleting the contacts data (although the CSV file has been exported successfully).
So any further help appreciated.
//timo

tjsuominen said:
Hi all.
The proplem is that during my night-time, Google Contacts Sync starts syncing my contacts (to somewhere; the are NOT visible in my Google account) generating xxx copies of each contact. I have no exact timeline when this has started to realize, but by using Simpler Contacts 5.0.2 (paid version) I was able to clean that horrible mess (took overall ~5 hours with 55.000+ contacts).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried a Factory data reset ? I know it's a bit full-on and will mean you have work to do, but might help ?

pcoulson said:
Have you tried a Factory data reset ? I know it's a bit full-on and will mean you have work to do, but might help ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, not yet.
Let's see if something else can be done to fix this prior doing that.
I might even wait as long as 6.0 update.
Frustrated, yes.

tjsuominen said:
Nope, not yet.
Let's see if something else can be done to fix this prior doing that.
I might even wait as long as 6.0 update.
Frustrated, yes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any further possible fixes for this?
Next: Should I try importing the exported .CSV to my Google.com account using the phone functionality (use file manager and select the created .CSV file -> import to my Google account?)
//timo

Related

Google Contacts

Ok, sorry for the double post (I started another thread, but pred text screwed up the title which (for some reason?!?!?) I can't edit?).
Anyway, if I add a new contact to my phone as a Google contact, it won't save, or rather, it initially appears to save, but then for some reason is removed from the contacts list.
I'm also unsure as to when the problem originated, but I have a feeling it's been happening for at least the lat 6 weeks, but unless it's a new contact which will be used frequently, it won't be spotted for a while, which is shy int's only recently I've noticed the issue.
so, any help would be great - this is a very infuriating bug.
Edit: I should add - I have upgraded to Froyo (Tmobile OTA - initial german!?!?! release for UK market).
Cheers!
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Go to people>menu>view and see if Google contacts are set to visible. maybe that's the issue
I actually have a similar problem i hope somebody can hel with; i have 2 google accounts, one work and one presonal and even though i can save contacts to both accounts, and both are set to sync contacts, i can only see the contacts of one of my accounts, the other just won't show. I have set the "view" settings in contacts to show eveything but still, the contacts from one of my accounts just won't show.....!
Is there any possibility there is some setting in my google account that is not allowing it to share the contacts with my phone??
Thanks in advance
I have found a solution that will probably work in the cases stated above: in your google account go to contacts, and move or copy the contact you want on your phone from "my contacts" to "starred in Android", that did the trick for me!!!
Best of luck!
But the problem for me isn't adding contacts via a website - it's inputting them into my phone, and them staying there in the first place.
I don't know if it's random contacts that aren't storing because I've no idea how long the problem has actually been prevalent.
In People/Menu/View - I have SIM ticked (0), Google (364) ticked, Show auto Gmail contacts not ticked, Myphonebook (0) ticked, Phone (4) ticked (I'm not sure why I have 4 phone contacts as I don't recall entering any in as phone contacts), and Twitter (0) not ticked.
I've now ticked "show auto Gmail contacts".
I've just remembered something - I changed over from Googlemail to Gmail as my email address - could this be affecting things? Gmail addresses were only made available (allegedly) to UK users recently.
So, any thoughts on this people?
Cheers!
Just synced my gmail version of my account to my phone (I think) and no change.
Anyone know if the UK gmail email addresses are .com, or .co.uk?
ie [email protected], or [email protected]?
I've been on quite a comprehensive "google" and from what I've found, it sounds as though this problem has arisen from the Froyo update.
I have tried various things to fix it - dumping caches - exporting contacts to csv - clearing all contacts - syncing to clear - and then reimporting contacts into gmail, and the syncing again.
Again, this hasn't solved the problem...
Still at a loss.
subharmonic said:
Just synced my gmail version of my account to my phone (I think) and no change.
Anyone know if the UK gmail email addresses are .com, or .co.uk?
ie [email protected], or [email protected]?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had mine changed from googlemail to gmail and it stayed as .com
Heard somewhere you can change it to .co.uk be that's not the default change.
Sent from my HTC Desire
Solved the problem, but it took a factory reset to do it.
That being said, Froyo now seems a good deal quicker.
After reset, I had over 100 meg phone storage left (can't remember the exact number).
Any ideas what should be the phone storage on a just "cleaned" phone?
I've still got the dodgy german apps that I can't use on the phone, and these can't be installed from the phone.
What's the best idea?

[Q] I have a situation regarding multiple contacts under same name/phone number

I'm not sure how this could've happened, but here's the deal:
Under the majority of my contacts, there are SEVERAL profiles merged together. These profiles all have the EXACT same information. This makes texting almost like a scavenger hunt.
For example: I want to text "andrew", so I type in "andrew" in the To: field, and a popup comes up with:
Andrew 555-555-5555
Andrew 555-555-5555
Andrew 555-555-5555
Andrew 555-555-5555
Andrew 555-555-5555
etc etc
Andrew A 777-777-7777
Andrew A 777-777-7777
Andrew A 777-777-7777
etc.
Andrew B 888-888-8888
Andrew B 888-888-8888
Andrew B 888-888-8888
etc.
I've tried deleting all contacts but as soon as it syncs with google, the problem re-arises. I've looked through my google contacts (through gmail) but there's no repeats! So really, i have no idea what the issue is, but would love to resolve it asap.
Thanks in advance.
EDIT: I should note that I "deleted" all contacts by going to settings -> applications -> manage -> all -> and clearing data from contacts and contacts storage
Do you also synch with your PC? Have you had to replace your phone recently? I had this happen when I did my first sync to the PC after getting a new phone. I had to remove all the duplicates on the PC to stop it from duplicating on the phone.
My other thought is it may be your friends from Facebook. Do you have Facebook set up on your phone? If they have phone numbers in their Facebook profile the phone will add them.
Finally, if neither of these apply I would do into each duplicate contact and find out where the phone says it is coming from. For example, if the contact info was synced from your Gmail account it will say Gmail under the name. If it was manually entered into the phone and/or synched from your PC it will say Phone under the name. If it was pushed to the phone from an Exchange mail account it will say Exchange under it. Maybe tracking down where the duplicates are coming from will help you get it resolved.
I had the same issue so I went to menu>accounts & sync and made sure I only had one profile syncing contacts. After that I went through and deleted all contacts. Then go to gmail(if you created a gmail account for your phone) and pull up the contacts section. Go through and delete/merge your contacts. Then go back to menu>accounts and sync, and sync your gmail contacts after the modification.
mdixon4az said:
Do you also synch with your PC? Have you had to replace your phone recently? I had this happen when I did my first sync to the PC after getting a new phone. I had to remove all the duplicates on the PC to stop it from duplicating on the phone.
My other thought is it may be your friends from Facebook. Do you have Facebook set up on your phone? If they have phone numbers in their Facebook profile the phone will add them.
Finally, if neither of these apply I would do into each duplicate contact and find out where the phone says it is coming from. For example, if the contact info was synced from your Gmail account it will say Gmail under the name. If it was manually entered into the phone and/or synched from your PC it will say Phone under the name. If it was pushed to the phone from an Exchange mail account it will say Exchange under it. Maybe tracking down where the duplicates are coming from will help you get it resolved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have never synced with my PC, but this IS on a new ROM. I didn't ahve this issue on the old ROM. Also, these are all gmail contacts. I checked my gmail contact list, and there's no duplicates.
ryandoubleu said:
I had the same issue so I went to menu>accounts & sync and made sure I only had one profile syncing contacts. After that I went through and deleted all contacts. Then go to gmail(if you created a gmail account for your phone) and pull up the contacts section. Go through and delete/merge your contacts. Then go back to menu>accounts and sync, and sync your gmail contacts after the modification.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have two profiles that sync on my phone: facebook and google. Manually deleting the contacts would take forever, and I'm not sure if that would fix the problem, considering that deleting contact data previously didn't.
Also, as stated previously, I checked my contacts list through gmail and there were no duplicates.
I think this problem stems from myself accidentally hitting "import all" when choosing which vcf file to import. I've made several over the course of the last half year, so that may be the reason.
Another interesting thing I've noticed: If I manually delete a bunch of duplicated on my phone, the numbers STILL show up when I'm entering a name into the "To:" section. So I'm down to just one "Andrew 555-555-5555" in my contacts app, but when I type in Andrew to send him a text I still get:
Andrew 555-555-5555
Andrew 555-555-5555
Andrew 555-555-5555
Andrew 555-555-5555
etc.
It may seem that way...
You may want to drop the facebook contacts, it doesnt add anything except a picture maybe a phone number if the person entered it and email address.
I know deleting your contacts sounds like a pain on the phone but just do all of them. when you log onto Gmail it has some simple tools that make a large task take about 5 minutes. I had 500 contacts on my gmail contacts and it took me less than 5 minutes to compress it to 150.

[Request] Stand Alone Contacts List

I use a calendar program called Jorte. It allows me to either save my events on my phone or sync with Google Calendar. I refuse to deal with Google anything (except GMail) and Jorte saves the day.
What I cannot find is a Dialer with Contacts List that DOES NOT sync with Google Contacts. I really do not want my contacts residing on someone's server. I know it is too late and they now have the data, but new and future contacts I prefer to keep private.
So, a Stand Alone Contacts List that will link to the dialer and reside all contacts either on the phone or SD Card (for XT1045 owners). Is there anything out there that already exists or could one of our fantastic developers throw a simple apk together for us?
Thanks for reading.
I don't like my contacts to be on server, too. You just don't sync. Furthermore, I also use standalone calendar which doesn't sync with Google.
jazzh said:
I don't like my contacts to be on server, too. You just don't sync. Furthermore, I also use standalone calendar which doesn't sync with Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jazzh, if I don't sync, or disconnect from my gmail account, my contact go away. Did you find a work around for that? I wonder if I were to put them in the favorites they would be basically saved to the phone. Hmmm...
Which rom do you have?
On every rom I had I could do what I described. And my contacts are not being deleted in any way...
jazzh said:
Which rom do you have?
On every rom I had I could do what I described. And my contacts are not being deleted in any way...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still using stock ROM.
Use the Export to Storage setting from the phone app , disconnect from gmail , import the contacts from the internal storage and done
Hir0xM said:
Use the Export to Storage setting from the phone app , disconnect from gmail , import the contacts from the internal storage and done
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I thought I had done that before but did not work. I just tried it again (per you recommendation) and now it worked. I cleared out my Google Contacts list and the phone still shows the contacts. Thanks.
Glad it worked out for you . Cheers !

[Q] How to maximize privacy on the Z1

Hi,
This might seem strange but I would like to configure my Z1 in such a way that Google knows at least as possible about my life. If possible, I would like to use only Gmail and nothing else from Google.
Recently, I activated sync for the first time because I wanted the state of mails to be the same on my phone as my computer which came with a number of unwanted side-effects:
- I got an error message that the number of contacts to be deleted was too large. I immediately said cancel as I did not want to delete contacts. Moreover, I do not want that my phone contacts were copied into my Google contacts. I see no reason why I would store phone numbers in my Google contacts, I only want to use Google for email. Clearly, it was too late: all the phone numbers are now also stored in Google contacts -- information I did not want to share with google.
- my complete calendar was copied in Google Calendar. When I started using the Z1, I deliberately choose the standard Calendar from the Z1 as I do not want that Google stores information about my calendar and find it very, very uncomfartable that my personal Calendar is now data stored on a Google server.
Is it possible to get rid of Google Calendar without losing Gmail?
Is it possible to limit sync only to mail itself?
I would appreciate any advice on how I can maximize my privacy while keeping my phone "smart".
Try to ask Munjeni in his thread about his privacy guard rom his is a master of privacy
Wysłane z mojego D5503 przy użyciu Tapatalka
Just open your Google account in the settings menu, under the sync options uncheck everything but Gmail. That should stop sync of your contacts, people, calendar, chrome etc...
dvandyck said:
I would appreciate any advice on how I can maximize my privacy while keeping my phone "smart".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Leave sync off, it only eats battery.
Just remember to press 'refresh' when you open the Gmail app. You won't get status bar messages about your Gmail, but if you check manually couple of times a day, then you've saved yourself all the syncronisation agro.
I had the same problem with contacts and I didn't want all my email contacts ending up listed as contacts in my phone, as it makes sending group texts impossible, it kept defaulting to sending MMS instaed, because some contacts were email addresses. Grr.
So I made up another gmail account, that's blank, has no contacts. Then I log into the phone with that and let the phone set up with that account. Once it's done all the syncronising I added my real gmail account, but set to not syncornise. I just manaully sync when I open the Gmail app, saves all the problems.
There are a couple of apps that can help.
Afwall+, which is a good firewall. You can set which apps use your wifi and which apps use mobile data, or just stop apps dialing out altogether.
There's a mention above of Privacy Gaurd, but it's very basic and I'm not sure it works with 'system' apps like google. I would recomend DonkeyGuard, it's by far the easiest and most comprehensive way of regulating what apps see what information on your phone. To make it work you will need to have a rooted phone, as well as having Xposed installed. But if you are serious about your privacy, then you know that it's worth the effort.
To have Google unaware about your phone contacts and calendar you need create contacts/events as device contact/event, not bound to Google account. There is setting for that, make it default.
First time I wanted separate google from my personal data I deleted google account on my phone as no other method worked, I lost all my contacts as by default they were assigned to google.
I was better than that. I had backup, restored contacts as device ones.
From this moment I have my info private (hope so, possibly information leaks in background but it is over anyone's head, some things are deeply hardcoded in OS then you can do nothing).
Sometimes you HAVE to give Google some information.
There is Xposed module which provides FALSE info in such cases. Sufficient solution for me.
Unfortunately it doesn't work for native applications (not sure about it).
spudata said:
Just open your Google account in the settings menu, under the sync options uncheck everything but Gmail. That should stop sync of your contacts, people, calendar, chrome etc...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I unchecked everything except Weather and news, GMail and Google Drive (I backup some important but not very private docs there).
F308 said:
To have Google unaware about your phone contacts and calendar you need create contacts/events as device contact/event, not bound to Google account. There is setting for that, make it default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I see indeed that when I create an event, I can choose the account to which the event is assigned. Google is standard for the moment.
Where can I set device account as the standard for contacts/events? I do not see such an option in the settings of Calendar or Contacts...
Also, it appears that I cannot change the account to which an already created event is assigned to.
Is it possible to move all created events in the Calendar from Google account to device account?
My phone runs on the 14.4.A.157 official build -- it is not rooted and I prefer to stay on the official Sony release channel.
dvandyck said:
Where can I set device account as the standard for contacts/events? I do not see such an option in the settings of Calendar or Contacts...
[...]
Also, it appears that I cannot change the account to which an already created event is assigned to.
Is it possible to move all created events in the Calendar from Google account to device account?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1.
Not sure. It was long ago. Cannot find now.
Maybe it will help you if I tell that I froze GoogleBackupTransport.apk, GoogleCalendarSyncAdapter.apk, GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk.
2.
I did it in such way:
a) made backup.
b) deleted google account from my phone.
c) defined acount again.
d) configured it as don't-synchronize (somewhere in synchronization settings).
e) restored contacts from backup. At this point I was asked if i want restore them to my google account or to device. I chose the latter.
F308 said:
1.
I did it in such way:
a) made backup.
b) deleted google account from my phone.
c) defined acount again.
d) configured it as don't-synchronize (somewhere in synchronization settings).
e) restored contacts from backup. At this point I was asked if i want restore them to my google account or to device. I chose the latter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that seems a very attractive approach as it does not involve re-entering things manually.
Did you perform the backup and restore with Sony PC Companion or did you use some other tool for this?
Does this mean that you also have the option to restore all events in Calendar and change the account to which they are assigned to as well?
dvandyck said:
Did you perform the backup and restore with Sony PC Companion or did you use some other tool for this?
Does this mean that you also have the option to restore all events in Calendar and change the account to which they are assigned to as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. In fact I do more than one type of backup.
You never know what will really work unless you try.
I used native Easy Backup app and exported contacts to file directly, there is such option when listing contacts.
Don't remember what else but you can find tons of applications of this sort.
I could restore calendar, too.
I think if you freeze apk's which I mentioned earlier - even Google will not be able to pull your info because will have no tool to do it.
If you want to delete your contacts from Google Contacts, you can go to https://www.google.com/contacts/, you can also export contacts to pc/phone
Well. Myself I am convinced that once they got information - they will keep it forever, you only will not see it.
F308 said:
Well. Myself I am convinced that once they got information - they will keep it forever, you only will not see it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the same too.
In fact it is lost case.
Security agency can compile information, add together Google info|Facebook|Twitter|LinkedIn|Microsoft (Skype) | phone number which I had to give Google | biometric passport photo | fingerprints required for passport and hell knows what else, DNA maybe.
Conclusion:
They know when to send you toilet paper because it has ended and you didn't notice.

Automatically Contacts Saving into Contacts

Hello All,
I am frustrated with automatically contacts adding without name into my device contact.
For example I have John Doe contact saved already then same contact number will be saved without name automatically, and those contacts appearing into whatsapp and other apps and I cannot recognize the contact untill I remove it. I have disabled contact sync from all the accounts.
Some contacts I have deleted many times but they are added again and again.
Anybody else is facing this issue?
Many thanks in advance.
Shoaib.Khan said:
Hello All,
I am frustrated with automatically contacts adding without name into my device contact.
For example I have John Doe contact saved already then same contact number will be saved without name automatically, and those contacts appearing into whatsapp and other apps and I cannot recognize the contact untill I remove it. I have disabled contact sync from all the accounts.
Some contacts I have deleted many times but they are added again and again.
Anybody else is facing this issue?
Many thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never heard of that. Try changing which contacts to display in Settings. Also you could edit your contacts the way you want it (delete duplicates), save them on the phone as .vcf, clear storage/cache of Settings and import the saved file. I always save my contacts on the phone, not on Google and from time to time back them up to vcf.
Shoaib.Khan said:
Hello All,
I am frustrated with automatically contacts adding without name into my device contact.
For example I have John Doe contact saved already then same contact number will be saved without name automatically, and those contacts appearing into whatsapp and other apps and I cannot recognize the contact untill I remove it. I have disabled contact sync from all the accounts.
Some contacts I have deleted many times but they are added again and again.
Anybody else is facing this issue?
Many thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you use 'Google' contacts? Or some apps have access contacts that syncs automatically (i.e. Telegram syncs my contacts sometimes without permission, and I''m wondering my contacts are gone, sometimes duplicated )
Sometimes, it happens here, syncing contacts even when syncing turned off. I revoke 'contacts' permission on most apps (Telegram, Instagram, Messenger, etc.), not using Google's contact apps (I dunno if it's the default contacts app on stock, as I don't use stock) and that problem went away.
celrau said:
Never heard of that. Try changing which contacts to display in Settings. Also you could edit your contacts the way you want it (delete duplicates), save them on the phone as .vcf, clear storage/cache of Settings and import the saved file. I always save my contacts on the phone, not on Google and from time to time back them up to vcf.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did it many times but again everything messed up automatically. The same contact already available in phone memory and duplicate created with empty name and this duplicate contact act as default contact for every application. it happens only with around 50 contacts out of 200.
RFD80M-75679 said:
Did you use 'Google' contacts? Or some apps have access contacts that syncs automatically (i.e. Telegram syncs my contacts sometimes without permission, and I''m wondering my contacts are gone, sometimes duplicated )
Sometimes, it happens here, syncing contacts even when syncing turned off. I revoke 'contacts' permission on most apps (Telegram, Instagram, Messenger, etc.), not using Google's contact apps (I dunno if it's the default contacts app on stock, as I don't use stock) and that problem went away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Google contacts, MI A2 lite comes with stock Android 9 and stock Google apps. Let me try to revoke the contact permissions from all the apps.

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