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Sync with mobile devices and other PC's

Sync with Mobile Devices and Other Computers

Overview

Synchronization uses your Google account as secure cloud storage. If you already use Google to manage your contacs, EZ Contact Book becomes an extension of that same information. If you do not have a Google account, you will need to create one to utilize this feature. You are not required to use Gmail or any other Google services if you choose not to.

To sync contacts between all connected devices or computers, ensure they are all set up to connect to the same Google account. An Internet connection is required for syncing.

Syncing contacts through Google is as secure as accessing any Google service; all communications are encrypted. Your Google account username and password are not stored anywhere on your computer. You only need to enter your Google credentials once in a browser window when you initially sign in to set up synchronization.

Info

EZ Contact Book and its creator have no relation with Google other than being a user of their services. EZ Contact Book is not a Google product. Crucially, it does not transmit your contacts to any servers operated by the creator of EZ Contact Book.

How to Enable Sync

  1. Select Settings > Log in to Google Contacts from main menu. This will open your default web browser with Google sign-in page.

  2. Enter your email and password, clicking Next after each step. The following page will ask you to allow EZ Contact Book to manage your contacts:

    Google prompt to allow EZ Contact Book access to manage contacts

  3. Click Continue. Upon successful authorization, you should see the following text in your browser:

    Google login successful message in web browser

  4. You should also see a confirmation message in EZ Contact Book:

Google login successful message in EZ Contact Book

Important Lockout Detail

The EZ Contact Book window will be locked while it waits for you to sign in via the browser. It will unlock once you have signed in, or automatically after two minutes if no action is taken. If two minutes is insufficient, close the sign-in page and try the steps again.

Google Security Alert

After logging into Google, you should receive a security alert email from Google informing you that EZ Contact Book was granted access to your linked account. This is normal and expected behavior.
The Google email provides a "Check Activity" button if you need to verify your actions. Alternatively, Google may send a confirmation code via text message for verification.

Success!

The toolbar button and menu option Data > Sync are now enabled and ready for use.

Setup Sync on iPhone, iPad, Android or Mac computer

To setup synchronization on a mobile device or Mac computer, use the following external guides:

Important Note

If syncing with iOS devices, ensure you check the option Enable support for iPhone/iPad in the Settings > Sync with Google Contacts first.

For mobile devices that do not support contact groups (like iOS), you may need to check the Enable support for iPhone/iPad option in the Settings > Sync with Google Contacts. See Special Instructions and Limitations below for detailed information.

Sync Modes: Manual, Semi-Auto and Auto

Sync offers three modes: Manual, Semi-Auto and Auto.

  • In Manual and Semi-Auto modes, you must manually trigger synchronization by clicking the toolbar button or selecting Data > Sync.
  • In Auto mode, sync runs automatically at regular, set intervals.

How Sync Works

When you click , the program compares your local contacts with the contacts in your Google account and detects any differences.

Manual Mode (Default)

The program will not resolve the differences automatically. Instead, it presents them in the Resolve Conflicts window, allowing you to manually decide whether to apply changes to your local database or Google Contacts.

When to Use it

Manual mode is the default when the program first installed. It is ideal when you anticipate significant initial differences between your local and Google contacts. Once you have reviewed and resolved these initial differences, you can switch to Semi-Auto or Auto mode for greater convenience.

Semi-Auto Mode

Most recent changes are applied automatically in both directions, including:

  • Updated contacts
  • New contacts added
  • Deleted contacts

Manual intervention is only required if a contact was modified on both sides without syncing first(a true simultaneous conflict). In this case, the Conflict Editor dialog will show the conflicting changes side by side, allowing you to:

  • Choose which version to keep.
  • Merge changes to update both he local and Google contacts.

After a sync operation, you will receive a summary report:

Sync summary report dialog

Auto Mode

  • Any changes made locally (additions, updates, deletions) are synced to Google immediately.
  • The program periodically checks Google Contacts for changes made on connected devices and automatically updates your local database.
When to Use it

Auto mode is best if multiple users update contacts frequently and you want all synced devices to have up-to-date information — similar to using a shared database. Because syncs occur frequently, the Conflict Editor rarely appears.

How to Resolve Differences

Occasionally, EZ Contact Book may require your attention to resolve conflicting changes between your local data and Google Contacts. When this occurs, you will see a screen similar to this:

Screenshot of the Conflict Resolution editor

There are two categories of "out-of-sync" conflicts: Unmatched and Conflicted contacts.

Unmatched Contacts

These are contacts that exist on one side (either local database or Google Contacts) but not the other. This typically happens if:

  • A contact was recently added in EZ Contact Book but not yet synced to Google.
  • A contact was deleted in Google but still exists locally.

Example of resolution options for Unmatched contacts

How to Resolve
  • IMPORT the contact to local database or ADD to GOOGLE using the green button.
  • DELETE LOCAL or DELETE from GOOGLE using the red button.

Info

Contacts deleted within EZ Contact Book do not appear in the "Unmatched" list; they will be automatically deleted from Google during the next sync.

Conflicted Contacts (Having Differences)

These contacts exist in both your local database and Google but contain conflicting modifications. They are displayed side-by-side for easy comparison.

Example of highlighting conflicting modifications

How to Resolve
  • Differences in individual fields (highlighted in yellow) can be resolved using the arrow buttons to choose the data you want to keep.
  • Once the last differences in a contact are resolved, the contact will be updated and disappear from the list.
  • To accept all changes from Google, click the Update ALL local button.

This process is similar to resolving conflicts in import, except here you can update either side or perform a partial update to both sides.

In Auto sync mode, you are highly unlikely to see this screen, though it can appear in rare cases where the same field on the same contact is modified simultaneously on both sides.

Special Instructions and Limitations

When using Google Contacts across different operating systems, you may encounter some limitations.

Google Contacts on Apple Devices

  • iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS X do not support multiple contact groups. Instead, they sync only with generic "My Contacts" group in Google (which cannot be deleted).
  • To ensure all contacts appear on these devices, you must enable "Support for iPhone/iPad" under Preferences > Sync with Other Devices. This setting copies all contacts into My Contacts, regardless of their original group.
  • Most Android devices do support multiple groups, so this option is usually unnecessary for them.

Birthday Display Issues

  • On iOS devices (iPhone/iPad), birthdays entered with unknown year will display with artificial "year" 1.
  • On Android devices, birthdays always appear, regardless of whether year is known.

Google-Specific Fields & Group Syncing

  • EZ Contact Book supports all standard Google Contacts fields. However, some of the Google-specific fields are not currently available, such as certain phone types (Main, Home Fax, Google Voice, Pager, Custom) and website types (Profile, Blog, Custom).

Group Type (Personal or Business) in EZ Contact Book is not transferable between PCs via Google Sync because Google Contacts do not support this attribute. After the initial sync (or when adding a new group), you must manually set the desired Group Type on other connected devices.

Unexpected Contacts Appearing After Sync

If you use Gmail, you may notice new contacts appearing after syncing that you did not add in EZ Contact Book or on any other device. This happens because Google automatically adds new email addresses (along with contact names) to your contact list when you interact with them.

To disable this behavior:

Sync Preferences:

Preferences - Sync settings

How to Disable Sync

To temporarily de-authorize Sync on your computer, select the menu option Settings > Log out from Google Contacts.

To permanently remove EZ Contact Book's access to your Google Contacts:

  • Log in to your Google account.
  • Go to Sign-in & security > Connected apps & sites.
  • Click MANAGE APPS,
  • Find EZ Contact Book in the list of apps with access to Google Contacts, click on it, and then click REMOVE.