Ask NerdGirl: Saving Your App Data, Better Outlook Syncing, and Clearing Up Some Past Info!

by n3rdg1rl Jun 3, 2010 7:40 AM – 1 Comment

Since I have a ton of questions still in queue I’m doing another 5 today! I’m getting some great questions and learning a lot doing the research for them and also through the comments from all the readers! Thank you, everyone.

I have a G1 which is rooted. I use Google’s Listen app as my podcast player of choice. I want to update my ROM but HAVE to perform wipe. How can I save my playlist I have made in Listen. I have a .db file in the program folder which I think may relate to it but have no way of making sure? Help!

Jman

After some research, Jman, it seems that yes, the .db is the playlist file. You can mount your SD card and copy that over. What the .db file is not is the actual music. It’s just a grouping of the music. Your playlists should technically stay intact as long as you have the music on the phone that is listed in the playlist.

Hello again, and many thanks for answering my previous question.

I would like to synchronize my Outlook calendar, notes, tasks and email to my Droid. I work behind a firewall that blocks all Gmail syncing software. So I need a USB/Bluetooth solution.

I am currently trying Companionlink, but it doesn’t do mail and has created many duplicates. Do you know of an alternate solution?

Thanks, and keep up the great work!
David J West, Sr
… just another seeker

Now if you’re using Google calendar and email, you can sync those over the air without having to be connected to a wireless network. When you want that to sync, just turn off your wireless connection and as long as you have a cell signal it should be able to connect to sync your Google information.

Now if it’s not Google, there are a few more issues. Unfortunately, with all the issues it has, CompanionLink is still the best option out there to sync. If you are running your Outlook using an Exchange server you can also try MailShadow.

I would love one happy program that synced my whole world all together. Come on developers! I know you guys can do it!

Hi Nerdgirl!
I know you’ve answered this question three times already, but mine is a slightly different variant. Anyhow, the HTC Hero update has finally arrived. (Yay!!) When I update (and consequently wipe) my phone, I’m not worried about losing emails, contacts, or apps, as others are (I have them all backed up already). I’m worried about losing app _data_. E.g. saved progress in all my games, and app preferences and stuff. My understanding is that, due to the way Android’s file ownership policies work, there is no way to backup this data on an unrooted phone. But I thought that I should ask before I give up on the app data, just in case there’s some application that can provide a solution. I have not tried any backup apps, besides Astro (which copies the apk’s to SD but not their data files). Is there any way this is possible?

At this time, especially phones running 2.1 or below, it’s not possible to move the data files over without rooting the phone. Some apps do have this built in so you should check the individual apps. With 2.2, developers will be able to implement Data Backup to preserve application state and settings by saving in the “cloud”.

Is it safe to assume that the SD card will not be touched when I update the phone, or do I need to swap it for a blank one during the update?

Thanks so much!
–David

I’ve seen both happen. Sometimes the SD card gets wiped. Sometimes nothing happens. The best thing to do is either remove the SD card completely, or copy the contents of the card to your computer and format the card. When you’re done with the upgrade you can put the data you need right back on without worry of loss.

Just curious, why did you choose to highlight the SaveYourCalls company that has gotten a bad rap for misleading expiration policy and bad quality over a place like Cogi or Recordll?

You can also use both RecordiaPro and CallRecorderCard to recording an incoming phone call.

RecordMyCalls is another option and they have been around for years and seem a lot more reliable.

As a journalist based half in the USA and half abroad, you do have it right that the pre-paid products are better.

I decided to answer this question that I got in reply to one of my posts. I would never knowingly recommend a product that has bad business history. After I saw this post, I did some research and I didn’t see anything about SaveYourCall and poor quality or misleading customers. If I missed something I would appreciate any information so if I need to retract what I previously said, I can with documentation.

I’m glad you know about the other options of RecordiaPro, CallRecorderCard, and RecordMyCalls. Hopefully, my readers will try them all out to find out what will work the best for them.

I’m slowly catching up on my backlog of questions. Thank you everyone for being so patient and keep sending those questions to nerdgirl@androidtapp.com!

~n3rdg1rl

Tags: Android Advice, Android Questions, Ask NerdGirl, Call Recording on Android, Help with Android, Preserve Google Listen Playlists, Preserving SD Card in Android Update, Saving App Data, Syncing Outlook via USB or Bluetooth

Categorised in: Android Advice, Ask NerdGirl

1 Comment

By Droyid on June 3, 2010 at 9:25 am:

Re: Jman’s question about Google Listen

Nerd,

I think the question wasn’t about music playlists, but about Google Listen podcast subscriptions.

The answer is: All Listen podcast subscriptions are automatically added to your Google Reader account. First go to google.com/reader and check to see if all your subscriptions are there. After you wipe and update, download Listen and it will automatically pickup all your subscriptions from Google Reader.

While we’re on the subject, you can add or drop subscriptions to Google Listen from your desktop via Google Reader. You can also use it to listen to podcasts from the Web on your desktop when you’re not in the mood of using your phone. That is the magic of big G!

D

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