It’s very common to use multiple mobile devices and computers, so it’s important that all of our data is synchronized between all of these devices. In this video, you’ll learn about mobile device synchronization options.
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Very few of us have a single device we’re using. We probably have a computer or a tablet at home. We have a computer at work and we have our mobile device that we take from one place to the other. And of course, we rely on this mobility. We need to have all of our information available whenever we might need it. And of course, we need to be able to access different kinds of data. These might be email messages, or text messages, or video, or audio.
All of these devices we’re using also need to be synchronized. I need to be able to connect to any device, at any time, and see all of my information. And of course, we need security associated with this as well. So that every time we connect and synchronize this information, it’s completely secure.
Here’s an example of just some of the data types that you might need to synchronize. This is a view of my iCloud settings on my phone. And you can see I can individually enable and disable different settings of what I want to synchronize to the iCloud.
If you don’t want to synchronize out to an external network connection then you can always synchronize locally to your desktop. You’ll need to look at the application requirements for your phone to see what OS and how much disk space you’ll need. The operating system that we’re using for this synchronization is important. And most of our operating systems these days can support our mobile devices and the synchronization. The memory requirements for this are relatively minimal but you will need a lot of storage space so that you can take all of the media and messages from your mobile device and store them on your local computer.
If you’re using an iOS device you can synchronize to the desktop, using Apple iTunes, either in Windows or on Mac OS. This will synchronize everything that’s in your mobile device and it will also create full backups on your computer. If you lose your phone and you get a new phone you can restore completely using this iTunes back up.
Google Android synchronizes almost everything it does online but you can store locally by using third-party apps, like doubleTwist, that allow you to transfer music and movies from your Android device. And with Windows Phone you have the Windows Phone app that synchronizes your media. Although your email and contact information and other details are not synchronized with your desktop computer.
Most of the synchronization these days is clearly moving to the cloud. There’s no wires, no additional computer you might need, and it’s completely seamless and happens in the background, without you even knowing that it’s happening. Apple’s iOS syncs everything on the phone to iCloud. That way if you lose your phone and you need to restore everything, you can simply login to iCloud and it brings everything back down to your phone exactly the way it was before you lost it.
The Android operating system can also synchronize to the cloud using your Google account. And Windows Phone performs a similar function being able to synchronize everything using your Microsoft account. To be able to connect your phone to your local computer you need a cable that support your mobile device. If you’re running iOS it will be USB on one side and then it will be a proprietary connector on the other. You’ll be running an Apple 30-pin connector on your older iOS devices and the Apple 8-pin Lightning connector on the newer iOS devices.
iOS can also synchronize information over your 802.11 wireless network and over the mobile provider’s network as well. On an Android or Windows Phone device you’ll connect with a USB Micro-B connection. And you could also use your local 802.11 wireless network or your mobile provider’s network to provide the synchronization.