lost my phone, any way to retrieve numbers?

JacksonHeightsOwn

as the title says, i just lost my phone, and low and behold, whoever found it, has turned the f*cker off :mad:

just wondering, will google, or facebook perhaps have my numbers saved somewhere?

jma

Check Google Contacts. If you log in with your username, there's a very good chance you'll see your contact there.
https://www.google.com/contacts/

JacksonHeightsOwn

ive emails alright, but no phone numbers.

is there an app, so in future i can save them somewhere?

jma

On Android, you shouldn't need to install any apps. If your contacts weren't automatically synced with Google Contacts, there should be a setting to enable this. Depending on the specific phone, you should be able to find it under Sync Settings.

Bluefoam

whole point of android is the Google cloud... I can't figure out how you can't have your contacts backed up

JacksonHeightsOwn

Bluefoam wrote: »

whole point of android is the Google cloud... I can't figure out how you can't have your contacts backed up

explain a bit more bud, do you mean google drive?

JHet

Go to contacts on your new phone. Press menu button, accounts, then then turn on the sync to your gmail account.

Bluefoam

The whole point is that the whole system is centralised through your Google account... your contacts, mails, documents are all available on any device irrelevant of hardware. When you start the phone for the first time it asks you to either log in or register a gmail account... the phone then automatically syncs across the cloud. You'd have to do something drastic to stop the phone from doing that.

Kavrocks

Bluefoam wrote: »

You'd have to do something drastic to stop the phone from doing that.

Not really if you didn't really know what you were doing and played around with the Sync Settings it would be pretty easy its just unticking one checkbox.

I'm not sure (because I have only used CM/AOSP since ICS) but I think some OEM's (HTC, Samsung, etc.) give you the option to save contacts to phone and not Google so its pretty easy that somebody who doesn't know what is actually happening would save to phone or somewhere other than Google.

120_Minutes

Kavrocks wrote: »

I'm not sure (because I have only used CM/AOSP since ICS) but I think some OEM's (HTC, Samsung, etc.) give you the option to save contacts to phone and not Google so its pretty easy that somebody who doesn't know what is actually happening would save to phone or somewhere other than Google.

Exactly this. In the case of samsung your google account is not the default area for your contacts. depending on the phone you have to hit the menu key and select "merge with google" (contacts have to be saved on the phone first) they'll then disappear off the phone and you must select the google account as the place to view contacts from. they'll reappear with a "g" beside them, and from then on if you save a contact to the google account it will remain there.

cheaper samsungs make you back up your contacts to a file on the memory card (contacts>import/export>export to sd card) which you then have to import back to the google account (contacts>import/export>import from sd card) you then chose the google account and the contacts get sent there.

Bluefoam

120_Minutes wrote: »

Exactly this. In the case of samsung your google accounis the default area for your contacts. depending on the phone you have to hit the menu key and select "merge with google" (contacts have to be saved on the phone first) they'll then disappear off the phone and you must select the google account as the place to view contacts from. they'll reappear with a "g" beside them, and from then on if you save a contact to the google account it will remain there.

cheaper samsungs make you back up your contacts to a file on the memory card (contacts>import/export>export to sd card) which you then have to import back to the google account (contacts>import/export>import from sd card) you then chose the google account and the contacts get sent there.

I didn't know that. It kinda takes some of the good out of using a 'google phone'.

Kavrocks

Bluefoam wrote: »

I didn't know that. It kinda takes some of the good out of using a 'google phone'.

Only Nexus phones are 'Google phones'.

Bluefoam

FFS, an android phone then...

Skill Magill

When you logged into your gmail account did you check the drop down arrow under the gmail logo top left?
That opens up your contacts?

pickarooney

Bluefoam wrote: »

The whole point is that the whole system is centralised through your Google account... your contacts, mails, documents are all available on any device irrelevant of hardware. When you start the phone for the first time it asks you to either log in or register a gmail account... the phone then automatically syncs across the cloud. You'd have to do something drastic to stop the phone from doing that.

I thought the same but when my OH lost hers the other day there wasn't a single contact in her google account.

coldfire1x

pickarooney wrote: »

I thought the same but when my OH lost hers the other day there wasn't a single contact in her google account.

It can happen is someone deletes all the contacts on the phone and it gets syncd with the gmail account contacts.

The first rule is change you gmail password as soon as you realise you lost your phone. So that nothing gets syncd from the phone.

Although to think of it, I think you can still recover deleted contacts but I am not too sure of it.

Skill Magill

coldfire1x wrote: »

It can happen is someone deletes all the contacts on the phone and it gets syncd with the gmail account contacts.

The first rule is change you gmail password as soon as you realise you lost your phone. So that nothing gets syncd from the phone.

Although to think of it, I think you can still recover deleted contacts but I am not too sure of it.

Go into contacts in gmail, and look for the "more" drop down tab., restore contacts is in there, but maxes out at 30 days

pickarooney

I tried that just now but it's still empty. I don't think she ever consciously made a distinction between saving contacts on the SIM, SD Card, internal memory or gmail account

120_Minutes

pickarooney wrote: »

I tried that just now but it's still empty. I don't think she ever consciously made a distinction between saving contacts on the SIM, SD Card, internal memory or gmail account

A little homework the day you get your phone saves a lot of pain further down the road. Most people don't know the potential of syncing till its too late. Going forward save em to gmail!

steve_r

coldfire1x wrote: »

The first rule is change you gmail password as soon as you realise you lost your phone. So that nothing gets syncd from the phone.

jma wrote: »

Check Google Contacts. If you log in with your username, there's a very good chance you'll see your contact there.
https://www.google.com/contacts/

Thanks guys, two bits of advice that I didn't know before. Useful thread.

JacksonHeightsOwn

lads

my replacement phone is a non android samsung from my mother.

no email, so no syncing with my google account.

i still cant find my numbers anywhere. i have all the email addresses alright, but no numbers.

my god its hard not having a smartphone isnt it

vibe666

just to be 100% sure that we're all on the same page and you didn't just miss it, when you went into gmail, did you click on the word ''gmail' under the google logo in the top left and choose 'contacts' from the drop down menu and that was totally empty?



also, just for future reference and anyone else looking to not end up in the same position, make sure your contacts are all synced with gmail and also, try SMS Backup+ which will back up your text messages AND also your call log to gmail as well, which is very handy.

Kenny Logins

jma wrote: »

Check Google Contacts. If you log in with your username, there's a very good chance you'll see your contact there.
https://www.google.com/contacts/

^ This. One of the many great benefits of using an Android phone..

Skill Magill

vibe666 wrote: »

try SMS Backup+ which will back up your text messages AND also your call log to gmail as well, which is very handy.

+1 on this. If only it could restore messages to your phone from the sms folder in gmail.