The synchronization function in Android is an integral part of absolutely all mobile devices running the OS of this family. For a complete understanding of how exactly such actions are carried out, it is necessary to clearly distinguish what exactly we mean by the term synchronization, since the actions performed for this, based on a specific situation, can differ quite significantly. Further it is proposed to consider several typical situations and synchronization methods for each of them.
Android Sync Types
First of all, let's find out what needs to be synchronized. Firstly, this may relate to connecting a mobile device (smartphone or tablet) to a desktop computer or laptop. Secondly, such actions may be related to the synchronization of Android accounts with additional services (for example, Gmail or YouTube video hosting). Thirdly, this may concern the synchronous operation of applications installed on a PC and smartphone (for example, a Chrome Web browser). Fourth, very often such actions may be required when transferring contacts or phone books to the cloud service.
Synchronization of "Android" with a computer
Connecting to stationary computer terminals or laptops is the easiest. Apparently, everyone knows that for this you can use either a USB connection or Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technology. The most common type of synchronization of "Android" with a PC is considered to be a wired connection via a USB cable.
In order for the computer to see the mobile device and the drives available on it, on the smartphone or tablet itself, it is initially necessary to activate the USB debugging function, and also when using a direct connection to a PC, use the MTP protocol data transfer mode (in older versions of Android, this function can be called USB Mass Storage) . In this case, both the internal drive and the connected SD card will be recognized by the computer system as the most common flash drives, with which you can perform simple actions to copy, transfer or delete information.
To install applets from a PC to a mobile device (and not only in these cases), you must activate the option to allow installation from other sources.
If you use specialized management programs developed by the manufacturers of mobile devices (for example, Samsung Kies, Xperia Companion and the like) to synchronize Android with a computer terminal or laptop, the actions are simplified even more.
But when creating backups in third-party general-purpose applications like MyPhoneExplorer, when connected to a computer, the mobile device must be switched to charging mode.
Account Sync
Regarding account synchronization, it is usually about Google registrations in the form of Gmail mail service addresses and corresponding passwords. However, such data is often used in additional services, access to which can be obtained from both the phone and the computer. By default, this option is enabled on Android systems initially.
However, if there are several different registrations, you will need to enter the accounts section provided in the settings of the mobile device, then select the desired Google registration, mark the items of services that need to be synchronized, and click the confirmation button in the upper right corner.
Similarly, just the synchronization of “Android” can be set to automatic mode. To do this, in the settings, scroll to the bottom of the menu or enter the section provided for this, and then turn on auto-sync.
There can be quite a lot of “accounts” (Google, Facebook, Viber, Telegram, etc.). When this option is activated, all accounts will be synchronized. If this does not happen automatically, log in to each registration. Tap on the button with three dots, and then from the menu that appears, select "Sync now."
Optimization of synchronized applications
With applications, things are much simpler. This can be illustrated by the example of the Chrome browser or the popular YouTube video hosting service, which use the link just to the Google account. When autosync is enabled, all changes will be recorded automatically, but at the same time, you must work with programs and services exclusively by logging in using such an account. In the same browser, bookmarks in the panel when they are added will automatically appear if you enter the browser from another device. The same goes for uploading your favorite YouTube videos, correspondence actions in Gmail, etc.
The synchronization of “Android” with “Google Drive” in the presence of the same applications on both the computer and the mobile device (or when entering the service via the browser) will also be performed in automatic mode.
Transfer and sync contacts
As for the synchronization of the phone book of a mobile device or contacts, for which other information is stored, the easiest way is to enter the contact settings and enable auto-synchronization there.
Alternatively, you can export contacts to a file, after which you can import them from Gmail in CSV or vCard file formats that you previously saved on your computer’s hard drive, SD card, or internal storage on your mobile device. After this, the changes will be made with automatic synchronization.
Additional solutions
In principle, to perform the simplest operations with any data type, except for the applications mentioned above, you can use third-party utilities like AirDroid, which install the bulk on a PC, and when connected to Android devices, transfer the client applet to a smartphone or tablet.
But specialized utilities from manufacturers of smartphones or tablets look more preferable in the sense that they can be used to update, replace or restore factory firmware, which for some reason causes failures, without the need to perform a reset on mobile gadgets.