What is Sync in Mobile and What Does It Do? (iPhones & Samsung)

You are not the first to ask, “What is sync in mobile?”. So, we are going to make it very easy to understand. Sync means synchronization. It is all about how your phone updates different activities on your phone to your email account.

So even if you lose this information as they are saved on your mobile device, you can log into your email account on any other device and retrieve them all. We will be considering what Sync on iPhones and Samsung phones are and how they are great for helping you have your data backed up across multiple platforms.

What Is Sync in Mobile and What Does It Do?

Sync in Mobile makes your mobile phone data available across multiple platforms and devices. This is often done to reduce the need to transfer files and data every time you need them on other devices and is used mainly to prevent loss of data as these are often backed up on some other platform or storage.

Your contacts, calendar, events, photos, data stored on your drive, mail, other Google services, and chrome bookmarks are updated to your email account via synchronization.

Whenever you make changes to any of these things, your phone automatically updates them. Sync in Mobile makes this possible.

Also, when you lose your phone and get a new one, you don’t have to worry that you have lost everything that used to be on your old phone. Instead, you have to log in to your smartphone with the same email ID on your previous phone, and all your old stuff is back on your new smartphone. Easy-peasy!

Sync in mobile, irrespective of what phone you use, makes sure that you have all your data across platforms for ease of use and no data loss.

Sync in Mobile for Samsung Phones

Your data is saved on cloud storage. Most android phone users with a Google account have their data saved to Google servers. But if you have a Samsung phone, you can also sync your data to Samsung Cloud. All devices signed in to the same Samsung account will hold your data.

Note that Samsung Cloud is not available for Verizon phones and tablets.

To sync your data to Samsung Cloud, if you have a Samsung account, you can follow the steps below:

  • Open Settings and tap your name at the top of the screen, then tap Samsung Cloud
  • Tap the More Options, that is, the three vertical dots, then tap Settings
  • Next, tap Sync and auto-backup settings, then tap the Sync tab
  • You will see a list of apps on your phone. If you don’t want to sync all, you can tap the switch next to the ones you want, like Contacts, Calendar, and so on, to auto-sync them. (Move the switch from left to right to turn it ON).

Your Cloud storage account will be safe if you enable auto backup. You can also sync your data manually (tap Sync Now after following the above steps). Note that you can only sync using WiFi or mobile data.

Sync in Mobile for iPhone

If you are signed in with your Apple ID, you can use iCloud to automatically keep your photos, files, calendar, and other things updated across all your Apple devices.

So instead of saving to Google server or Samsung Cloud, on iPhone, you save to iCloud. If iCloud is turned ON for an app or feature on your phone, information on that app is stored in the cloud instead of locally on your device. You can thus access it anywhere you are signed in with your Apple ID.

But if iCloud is not turned ON for certain apps, information on them will store locally, and when you lose that device, you will most likely lose all locally stored info.

Also, note that info stored on iCloud remains there, but once you turn iCloud OFF for Contacts, you won’t be able to access Contacts stored there, and it won’t show on your phone either.

To turn Sync on, go to Settings on your iPhone, tap [your name], or tap Sign in to your [device] to enter your Apple ID and password. Next, tap iCloud, then turn apps and features you want to sync ON.

What Is Sync in Google Account?

Google account sync is a service that backs up changes made on one device where you are signed in to your Gmail account. This also means that all devices where you are signed in to your Gmail account carry all your data. All Google services and products sharing that Gmail account automatically get updated with any changes you make.

For example, bookmarks, history, and passwords are saved across all devices on Chrome. You’ll also be signed in to Gmail, YouTube, and other Google services automatically and stay signed in.

What Is Sync App?

Sync app is a mobile app that allows you to sync your data to its servers whether you are using Android or Apple phones. You can select what you want to save, retrieve them anytime, edit them with third-party apps, make them available for offline access, and even share them with others.

Read also: What Is Phone Cloning?

Should Sync Be ON or OFF on Android?

This largely depends on what you want. But note that if Sync is OFF, your data won’t back up to clouds. Automatic synchronization can be data and battery-consuming on your Android phone, but the benefits are more than the cost.

If you easily forget things, it is best to turn ON auto-sync instead of waiting to sync your data manually.

What Happens If Auto Sync Is OFF?

Your data won’t back up to clouds on your Android. So, if you lose your phone, you have lost all data on it. Also, changes you make to passwords, history, Contacts, and so on won’t be updated.

On iPhone, turning OFF iCloud for any app means no further data will be updated to iCloud for that app; neither will you be able to access data there on your phone, except you visit iCloud.com.

Is Syncing Safe? What About Google Sync?

It is great for something that saves you energy and time to transfer data manually. But is it safe? Yes, It is. With end-to-end encryption, your data is safe.

Google sync is safe as well. Gmail uses SSL encryption that keeps your data safe even on a public network and gives impressive security alerts.