Google Has Changed How Contacts Sync On Android And People Aren’t Going To Be Happy

Furqan Shahid
Google Has Changed How Contacts Sync on Android and People Aren't Going to Be Happy

Ever since I started using Android, I never really had to message people asking them for their numbers again because I lost my contacts. All thanks to Google's contact sync feature, saving numbers has become a hassle-free experience, and considering how I change my phone every year, I never have to worry about a contact not showing up on my phone because that's how good the feature works. However, the latest update has changed that, and I am sure people are not going to be happy about it.

Turning off contact syncing on Android devices will cause the contacts to disappear until it is turned back on

According to the latest Google Play System, Android is going to have a very different way of synching contacts. The changelog says, "Turning off Google Contacts sync will now remove the previously synced contacts from your Android phone." This essentially means that if you turn off the sync, you will end up losing all the contacts in the phone, and you will have to turn it back on.

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The new change is rolling out to all Android devices via Google Play Services v23.20, and you should see the changes soon. It does not sound like a big deal at first, especially if you have been using Android for years and know how contacts work. However, if you are relatively new to the ecosystem and, for some reason, you forget to turn on the sync or turn it off by mistake, you can find yourself in a situation, confused about where all your contacts have disappeared.

If you want to avoid being a victim of this change, simply be sure that you have contacts synced at all times because otherwise, you will see an empty contact list. If you have run into such an issue, turn on the sync or even head over to contacts.google.com, and you will see that all the contacts are listed there.

Considering how this is a core Android change, this will take place on all Android devices regardless of your phone. So, be sure that you have turned on the contact sync, and if you are worried that it drains the battery, then that is no longer the case. If you want to check out the complete changelog, you can do so by visiting here, and that should give you a better idea of all the new changes that are making their way to your device.

Furqan Shahid Photo

About the author: I have been tinkering with Android devices ever since the early days of the HTC Desire. Over time, I have grown a fondness for the ecosystem and now I cannot live without it. Although some might believe that I have sold my soul to Android, but I believe it is not the case. You can find me writing tutorials and posting guides on a number of different smartphones. When I am not writing here, I am wasting myself away in books, journals, or on Steam.

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