Outlook, Smart switch - samsung S7

[minpar]

HI,

For reasons that i wont go into here, i use Outlook as my laptop email and calender.  Unless someone corrects (which is very possible), i believe that Outlook is a bit of software used by quite a few people.

The question i pose to the forum, and in turn to Andriod users/phone makers, is why is it so difficult to sync outlook to the phone.  I used to use Blackberry, and before they changed to OS10, it worked beautifully. Link the phone to laptoon, and run the desk top OS7 software, and off it would go to sync, contacts, calender, and importantly tasks and notes.  Bang, they brought in OS10, and removed tasks and notes.  AND for some unknown reason, made the functions for checking calender and contacts.  A Mess.   many questions posed to head hunchos at BB, and no response.

Since then, i have attempted a Sony Z5 (android), said i could sync with outlook.  True, but made a mess of my contacts, - no tasks and no notes. Recently changed to S7- again says can sync with Outlook. Again true, but it has so many limitations it is untrue.   No notes (boooo), but it can sync Tasks (hooray!!).  

The switch of data from Sony to Samsung, should have been a breeze, but boy what a load of hassle- so much for android to android.  The smart switch was next to useless, as Sony Z5 doesn't support the smart switch.  eventually managed to switch data across, and then tried to use Smart switch. That was a long prolonged effort. I was able to sync with my laptop (windows 10 in case anyone wondered), and has doubled up my contacts. Somehow it has messsed up the fields. 

Question for Samsung- why can you not view and correct the changes on calender, contacts or tasks?? that way i would be able to see the doubling up, and decline those changes.  But in the clever world of Samsung, the smart switch is like Blackberry was probably almost 10 years ago. Advancement- i think not!.

rant over- for now.

any clues on syncing effortlessly and seeing what is changing (without having to pay for more apps,and software)  Surely Outlook is widely enough used for the likes of Samsung and Sony etc to make syncing a much easier task and customer experience=  much happier customer. :smileylol:

[minpar]

HI,

For reasons that i wont go into here, i use Outlook as my laptop email and calender.  Unless someone corrects (which is very possible), i believe that Outlook is a bit of software used by quite a few people.

The question i pose to the forum, and in turn to Andriod users/phone makers, is why is it so difficult to sync outlook to the phone.  I used to use Blackberry, and before they changed to OS10, it worked beautifully. Link the phone to laptoon, and run the desk top OS7 software, and off it would go to sync, contacts, calender, and importantly tasks and notes.  Bang, they brought in OS10, and removed tasks and notes.  AND for some unknown reason, made the functions for checking calender and contacts.  A Mess.   many questions posed to head hunchos at BB, and no response.

Since then, i have attempted a Sony Z5 (android), said i could sync with outlook.  True, but made a mess of my contacts, - no tasks and no notes. Recently changed to S7- again says can sync with Outlook. Again true, but it has so many limitations it is untrue.   No notes (boooo), but it can sync Tasks (hooray!!).  

The switch of data from Sony to Samsung, should have been a breeze, but boy what a load of hassle- so much for android to android.  The smart switch was next to useless, as Sony Z5 doesn't support the smart switch.  eventually managed to switch data across, and then tried to use Smart switch. That was a long prolonged effort. I was able to sync with my laptop (windows 10 in case anyone wondered), and has doubled up my contacts. Somehow it has messsed up the fields. 

Question for Samsung- why can you not view and correct the changes on calender, contacts or tasks?? that way i would be able to see the doubling up, and decline those changes.  But in the clever world of Samsung, the smart switch is like Blackberry was probably almost 10 years ago. Advancement- i think not!.

rant over- for now.

any clues on syncing effortlessly and seeing what is changing (without having to pay for more apps,and software)  Surely Outlook is widely enough used for the likes of Samsung and Sony etc to make syncing a much easier task and customer experience=  much happier customer. :smileylol:

[Retired-Viki_R]

Hi @minpar

Sorry to hear you're experiencing issues with this, I can imagine it can be quite frustrating.

This isn't something we would be able to assist you with ourselves, I would recommend if you have questions for Samsung, to contact them directly.

I wish you well in your efforts to get this improved.

Thanks,

Viki

[hrym]

Can we just be clear here: you're talking about "full" Outlook, the one that's part of MS Office, not Outlook.com?

Assuming we are, I use it too, but long ago gave up trying to sync it to anything.  Some of the problems seem to be that Microsoft change the way things work internally, and mobile phone manufacturers don't always keep up.   Android is very Google-centric (obviously) and I suspect they concentrate on that rather than anything else.

Long ago, I found a way of syncing contacts using the SyncML protocol, a Funambol plug-in and a suitable public server.  Those latter are rare as hens' teeth.   All this was on a Symbian phone, BTW, and OTA.  I tried it with the calendar, but it corrupted it in spades.

I now use Gmail as my main email service in conjunction with the proprietary app on the phone.  It picks up from any other services I also use and will send as-from my main email address.   I still use Outlook on the PC.  That keeps emails sync'd across all my devices.

For the calendar and contacts, I simply duplicate everything.   That means making changes manually in two places, but new contacts can be shared via vCards.

Google used to have some synchronisation tools for business users, but they seem to have scrapped them now.   I haven't tried the Outlook Android app, so don't know whether it's any use at all.

[Dasada]

I think you're wrong with saying Outlook is used by quite a few people. But you definitely right with blaming the manufacturers for not paying attention to something that is important for their customers. I moved away from Sony's products after all this mess with Xperia PC Companion and switched to Apple because of the iTunes promising a way better experience with syncing Outlook data. But suddenly... iTunes no longer syncs Outlook notes since some of its latest updates. WHY?
And now I have two products from two different manufacturers that are not able to sync with a full set of Outlook data. What's wrong with these people?
Ok, switched back to Android, paid $35 for a software that can sync Outlook with Android via Wi-Fi:
http://www.akruto.com/best-ways-to-sync-android-with-microsoft-outlook/
... it works with Outlook contacts, calendars, tasks but when it comes to notes guess what? You need to install another app because the notes app on S7 simply can't work with Outlook notes.
Switched back to iPhone with managing Outlook data. Thank God this $35 software works with iOS as well.
But what the heck? Why should I buy 3-rd party apps and switch platforms when I only need a seamless way to sync with Outlook right from the box? Does this become impossible in 2016?

[hrym]

Really?   A lot of people don't use Outlook?

I suspect the issue may be that Outlook is part of Office, which is mainly a business product, and that large organisations have their own synchronisation solutions.  I haven't used MS Exchange, but does this solve some of the issues, or is it more Windows-centric?   I also wonder how much businesses use Android?   Are they perhaps more iPhone-centred?

If there isn't a great single-user base for Outlook/Android, it would follow that there isn't a great demand for a synchronisation service.   Private users are probably quite happy with Gmail and Google Calendar.   And, as I said, Microsoft sometimes make changes to the core workings that leave 3rd parties struggling to catch up.