Google is bringing significant changes and improvements to Android via its Google Play Services update for May 2023. One such change is the way contacts are now synced on your device. Have a look at the details below.
Google Contacts Update Changes Syncing Behaviour
Contact syncing is a handy feature on Android, which when enabled, can automatically upload new contacts to the cloud whenever a phone is changed. In case the sync is turned off, the contacts added later will still be visible even though they are not synced to the cloud.
But now, if the sync is turned off, the entire contact list can disappear. Google, in the updated support page, states, “Turning off sync with Google Contacts sync will now remove the previously synced contacts from your Android phone.” This comes in effect to Google Play Services 23.20 update.
However, there is no need to panic. Your contacts are not lost forever. You will be able to gain access to your contacts as soon as you manually switch on the sync toggle for Google Contacts. Just visit your device Settings and access your Google Account from the Accounts menu. There you will find the option to interact with the various sync options. You just need to ensure that your contacts are available on contacts.google.com. Also, keep in mind that there’s a proper internet connection as it is unclear what can happen if sync fails due to poor network connectivity.
While this isn’t a major update, it entirely changes the way you interact with Google Contact and your sync settings. Turning off the syncing option can only result in the disappearance of your contacts, so, it would be wise to keep sync on, always!
So what do you think of this new change? Do you think this is handy or will just cause a hassle? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
