Category Archives: Android Sync

The Best Way to Synchronize Samsung Galaxy Note 9 to Outlook without using Exchange

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
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Why does the Outlook App not work like Outlook?

CompanionLink provides an Android App called DejaOffice CRM with PC Sync.  It is better than the Outlook App in many ways.  Click here for a comparison of DejaOffice App vs Outlook App on Android.

To sync Outlook to Galaxy Note9 without needing an Office 365 subscription.

  1. From Google Play Store, install DejaOffice on your Samsung Galaxy S9 or S9+
  2. On your PC, download CompanionLink for Outlook on your PC.
  3. Configure both for DejaCloud Sync
  4. Watch your Outlook Contacts and Calendar appear on your phone.

DejaOffice is Free.  CompanionLink runs on a two-week trial.

Click here for more information on Using Microsoft Office without a Subscription.

Samsung Galaxy Note9 is the latest flagship from the world leader of Smartphones. There’s nothing faster or more effective.  Here I have an argument with Apple.  With iPhone there is no Widgets, and Widgets are so useful, you’ll never catch me using a phone without them.

What is a widget?  A widget shows App information on the phone desktop.  A widget allows me to quickly see my day view, and my contact list – without opening an app.  I can quickly tap on the location and get to my next appointment.  No search, no scroll.  Just one tap and I’m in maps.  One tap and I can call or sms.  Automatically updated all day.

Special features of DejaOffice:

  • Time zone management, so when you land your Calendar doesn’t go wonky
  • Calendar Colors that match Outlook
  • Templates that save time entering new Appointments and Tasks
  • Persistent alarms to be sure I don’t miss anything.
  • Recurring tasks compatible with Outlook
  • Optional:  Franklin Covey task priorities  A1, B2, C99
  • Works same on Android and iPhone, Phones and Tablets.

Check out https://www.dejaoffice.com for more information.

CompanionLink for Outlook
Average User Rating:
Average rating: 4.83 out of 5 based on 660 reviews.
Free 14 day trial. Price $14.95 3-Mo Subs - $69.95 One-time License.

Galaxy Note 9, Outlook, Outlook 2019, Office 365

Outlook 2019 on Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone – Resources and Announcements

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
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Sync Outlook to Android and iPhone

CompanionLink for Outlook Sync with DejaOffice

Microsoft has now confirmed Office 2019, with updates to Outlook, will be coming soon.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4133312/office-2019-commercial-preview-frequently-asked-questions

It appears that Consumers who subscribe to Office 365, will be getting Office 2019 as an inline release.

This looks something like the Windows 10 Creator’s update, where suddenly you wake up, and after waiting an extra hour for your PC to reboot, you had a new version of Windows 10 with virtually nothing different.

Businesses hate the downtime, so they will get a Commercial Preview.  This allows them to download it for testing and training purposes.  Also, people to don’t use an Office 365 Subscription will be able to download Office 2019 at some point.  See our link on how to use Outlook without a Subscription.

What’s in it?

More importantly, how will Outlook 2019 change my world?  So far, for guidance, we have two sets of announcements.  One set from the above website June 2018:

Outlook – “Manage email more efficiently”

  • Updated contact cards
  • Office 365 Groups*
  • @mentions
  • Focused inbox
  • Travel and delivery summary cards

The contact cards have not changed in the last 18 years, and no one uses them, so sure, updating is fine.  Office 365 groups looks like a co-worker management function.   Focused inbox relates to email and letting Microsoft sort your mail into important vs unimportant, but you can turn this off.  Summary cards sound intriguing, but this doesn’t look essential.

So far, so good.  In the June 2018 announcement is no significant change to Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes.  I would stop here because this is not a story

Outlook User Interface Changes.

However, in Fall 2017, Microsoft made some pretty clear announcements that the interface for Microsoft Office would be changing soon.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/16/16481190/microsoft-outlook-windows-mac-redesign-features

A summary of those changes are:

  1. Ribbon will go away.  O_o
  2. List view is to be Mac like.
  3. Calendar simplified

I remember when the ribbon was introduced, we all hated it and asked Microsoft for a setting to turn it off.  Microsoft made a statement they would not give us a setting.  Now, the “new thing” is to take away the thing we hated.  Awesome.

The Mac-like interface looks scary.  Outlook on Windows, as used by something like a billion people, is not a toy. It certainly is concerning if you come in to work one day, and suddenly your PC reboots and your contact list and calendar look different.  So this is something to watch.

While Microsoft has not updated their October announcement, they have rolled out a new design for Outlook.com (the old Hotmail web site).  It shows a new fluent design UI that is reminiscent of their Apps.  So this looks like a hint of what is to come for Windows.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/14/17121032/microsoft-outlook-web-redesign-features

So it looks like we will see these changes in Fall 2018, which is actually Spring 2019 in Microsoft Years.  The future will tell this tale.

CompanionLink for Outlook
Average User Rating:
Average rating: 4.83 out of 5 based on 660 reviews.
Free 14 day trial. Price $14.95 3-Mo Subs - $69.95 One-time License.

2017 Best Software to sync Android with Outlook, sync iPhone with Outlook

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
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Outlook on your PC is primarily an Email too.  You want to quickly intake, process and reply to emails.

Your phone, however, is a mobility tool.  You want to be reminded of your appointments, get directions, and quickly call or text people to smooth your schedule.

What would have made a lot of sense, is if Android and Apple had gone to Microsoft and said “Hey you have a lot of people using Outlook, so let’s work together to make a mobile version of it.”  They didn’t, however.  In fact, nether Android or Apple development teams ever used Outlook.  Google (developer of Android) is primarily a linux shop, and Apple is; well Apple.

So it was a great relief when Microsoft decided to create the Outlook App.  Finally, we can have Outlook on Android and iPhone.  Then, before it was even out, they decided that changing your Email Flow was the primary role of Outlook on the phone, and so they started futzing with that.  I have a big message for Microsoft:

MY PHONE IS NOT MY PRIMARY EMAIL DEVICE! 

In fact, I find email on the phone very awkward.  And I don’t care how much you change the flow and focus, I really don’t do much more on my phone than just read my email until I can get to the office to process it.

What I do on the phone is carry it, answer it, have it remind me of stuff.  For these tasks, the Outlook App is really basic.  That’s why it’s great that there is DejaOffice!

Samsung Galaxy S8 Outlook SyncDejaOffice does all the things that Outlook on the PC, but it does it in a mobile way.  For instance, appointment reminders are persistent, just like on the PC.  They ring quietly every few minutes, until I dismiss them.  My DejaOffice Calendar has all my colors.  My DejaOffice appointments all have locations.  And My tasks are easy to add and check off.  Finally, everything I do, including text messages, are put into Journal so I have a record.

On the PC I use CompanionLink Express with Real-time Sync through DejaCloud.  This instantly transfers my Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes from Outlook to my DejaOffice on Android.  If I make a new appointment in DejaOffice, it goes to Outlook through DejaCloud within five seconds.  No waiting, no duplicates.  Definitely a boost to my mobile productivity.

DejaOffice is available for Android and iPhone.  It’s a free download.  Check it out.

CompanionLink for Outlook
Average User Rating:
Average rating: 4.83 out of 5 based on 660 reviews.
Free 14 day trial. Price $14.95 3-Mo Subs - $69.95 One-time License.

How to put Google Calendar on your Windows Wallpaper

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
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We’ve all done it.  Come in on Monday with a fresh attitude, get busy working, and finally open our Calendar, only to see that we missed an important event an hour ago.  How about having your online calendar displayed fresh on your computer first thing every day?  DejaDesktop Calendar Wallpaper can do that.  It is a PC and Mac app that can move Google’s Calendar and Contact to your Windows and Mac screen backdrop.  Every day, when you first look at your PC, you will see your updated Agenda.

  1. Download DejaDesktop
  2. Set it to sync your PC or Google Calendar
  3. Automatically updates every day.

“Desktop blotters were a thing for a reason,” says Wayland Bruns, designer of DejaDesktop. “With Google Calendar, you cannot see your schedule until you open your browser.  My phone is supposed to buzz, but sometimes I miss that.  It is easier for me to have a constant view of my week, so I can see important events coming up.  I also plan events in advance, so the look ahead year view makes it easy to see when dates fall in coming months.”

DejaDesktop Calendar Wallpaper is free if you just need the month view with the look ahead months.  There is a two-week trial for the Outlook and Google data feeds.  The software works by keeping your current schedule on your local PC, and burning today’s calendar into your screen backdrop picture.  It will automatically update whenever you change your Calendar.

DejaDesktop can also show key contacts, and your task list.  This is handy to have a bit of information that you are constantly search for, always available on your wallpaper.  “I have one person I call weekly,” says Bruns. “I have him bookmarked on my cell phone, but I need to dial from my desk phone because it is a business call.  It takes three screen taps to bring it up.  Having it on my wallpaper means I know right where it is when I dial.”

The data feed for Google is a one-time purchase.  You can buy it for one computer for $29.95.  For three computers, you get a discount for $49.95.  This is a lifetime license with no subscription or renewal fees.  DejaDesktop is created by CompanionLink Software, a leader in synchronization tools. CompanionLink is based in the US and offers free technical support for its products. For more information see https://www.dejadesktop.com.

How to sync Outlook to Galaxy Note 8 – Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
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What we all want, is something that works like Outlook on the phone.  Not for email, but for scheduling, task management and mapping.

Try this:

  1. Download DejaOffice on your Galaxy Note 8
  2. Download CompanionLink for Outlook on your PC.
  3. Configure them for DejaCloud Sync
  4. Watch your Outlook Contacts and Calendar appear on your phone.

DejaOffice is Free.  CompanionLink runs on a two-week trial.

I’m all up and running on Galaxy Note 8 now.  Transition is as smooth as can be using Samsung Smart Sync and DejaCloud Sync.

  1. Install SmartSync and sync all my apps.
    1. This works great, but in every app, all the settings are lost.
    2. So I make a list, and set them back up one-by-one
  2. Set my DejaCloud login and password
    1. DejaOffice synchronizes automatically.

I like the larger screen on the phone.  In fact, my main complaint with Galaxy Note 8 is that I’d like the screen to be a bit wider.  I do a lot of reading on the phone, and a little more space would be nice.  As it is, it is slightly larger than Galaxy S8-Plus and this will work for now.

 

Special features of DejaOffice:

  • Time zone management, so when you land your Calendar doesn’t go wonky
  • Calendar Colors that match Outlook
  • Templates that save time entering new Appointments and Tasks
  • Persistent alarms to be sure I don’t miss anything.
  • Recurring tasks compatible with Outlook
  • Optional:  Franklin Covey task priorities  A1, B2, C99
  • Works same on Android and iPhone, Phones and Tablets.

Check out https://www.dejaoffice.com for more information.

CompanionLink for Outlook
Average User Rating:
Average rating: 4.83 out of 5 based on 660 reviews.
Free 14 day trial. Price $14.95 3-Mo Subs - $69.95 One-time License.

DejaOffice Contact Widget – All your Contacts on your Android Home Screen

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
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I was talking to my developer about the limits of Android Widgets. A widget uses Android memory to store stock data. Since Android 3.0 we’ve been able to scroll widgets.  This allows us to store more data than shows on the screen, allowing you to scroll to see it all.

I asked him what the limit was.

My developer didn’t know.

So I said “Let’s try making a contacts widget.”

“For what contacts?” he asks.

“All of them”, I answer.

So he does!

DejaOffice for Android now gives you an Android Desktop widget that shows All of your DejaOffice contacts. Whether that is 300, or 3000 or 30,000, they are all there.

From the Desktop Widget, you can dial the phone, email or text any contact on your list. All without opening any apps. Give it a try!

From Android Desktop, Long Press to get the menu for Widgets.  Select DejaOffice.  Select Contacts View 4×4. Place it on your desktop.  On most phones you can resize this to be any size you find convenient.

DejaOffice also provides widgets for Month View, Today, Tasks, and Memos.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Outlook Sync

Sync Galaxy S8 to Outlook without using Exchange

How to Sync Galaxy J3, J5 and J7 (2017) to Outlook

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
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If you need Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes on your Galaxy J3, J5 or J7 (2017) phone, you can easily and securely sync using the DejaOffice App (free) by CompanionLink Software.

DejaOfficej3j5j7-sm

DejaOffice and CompanionLink for Galaxy J3, J5 and J7 (2017)

CompanionLink offers several secure sync methods; USB Sync (most secure), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and DejaCloud sync.  You do not need an Office 365 Account to use DejaOffice and CompanionLink.  All you need is Outlook and your Phone.

Why you need a Smart Switch alternative

Samsung has a generic utility called Smart Switch, and in the past offered Samsung Kies to sync with Galaxy S5.  These are very basic programs that do not work well.  You can read about these problems here, here, and here. You can also read about one USATODAY.com editor’s experience using Kies.

If you value your Outlook data, sanity, or just need a solution that works out of the box with the new Galaxy phone, try CompanionLink. It’s been downloaded more than 1.2 million times and is the #1 independent PC suite for Android sync with Outlook.

Why you need an Outlook App alternative

Microsoft now sells the Outlook App.  To use it requires a Business license to Office 365.  The App is still in it’s early phase.  Microsoft just added the ability to Edit a Contact record.  With DejaOffice you can add and edit contacts, select categories with colors, and synchronize tasks including recurring tasks.

DejaOffice includes Widgetsandroid-contacts-widget-4x4[1].  A widget is an active screen that sits on your Android desktop.  The most poweful widget is the DejaOffice Contact Widget which shows all of your contacts.  Now you can scroll and dial without opening any App.  The DejaToday widget shows today’s schedule, Agenda and Tasks, so you can quickly see your schedule.

To create a widget for DejaToday on your Android desktop, find an empty space on the desktop, press and hold for about 1-2 seconds.

Tap the ‘Widgets’, select “DejaOffice”, then select between the DejaToday, DejaCalendar, DejaContacts, DejaTasks, or DejaMemos Widgets.

Your options for Galaxy J3, J5 and J7 (2017) Outlook sync

CompanionLink’s configuration lets you choose which Outlook data to sync. Toggle Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Notes, and Journal. Advanced data such as Categories will also sync so you have the same data sets and view options on your Galaxy as you do in Outlook. Choose from two-way sync or limit it to just one-way transfer. You can even select the sync direction (Outlook > S5, or S5 > Outlook).

If you have multiple Outlook PST files and folders, you can select which to sync. Let’s say you have an iPad and use iCloud to keep it synchronized with Outlook. Your Outlook client will have your default Outlook Contacts/Calendar folder (PST file) as well as a separate iCloud Contacts/Calendar folder (PST file). The iCloud folder is installed by default when you install the iCloud software from Apple. It’s important that you are able to choose the right Outlook folders to sync with Galaxy S5 so you do not accidentally mix data (such as personal data with business data).

You can choose which specific Outlook Categories to sync with S5. Many professionals store leads and clients in the same Outlook Contacts file under different categories. Or, they store Personal and Business data under two categories. It’s important to use a PC sync suite with the flexibility to select which Categories to synchronize with your Galaxy S5.

You can pick how you want to synchronize. CompanionLink allows sync to Galaxy S5 over USB, WiFi, DejaCloud, and using a Gmail account. Each sync method has its merits; click here for a complete discussion on this. No other Android Outlook app offers this breadth of sync options to fit the needs for security and convenience.

Someone to call in case you need help

CompanionLink extends free phone support and email support to Galaxy S5 owners. Visit this page for help if you need to speak with us.

CompanionLink also has step-by-step guides to configure each type of synchronization:

You can also purchase a $49 RunStart package that schedules time with a CompanionLink technician who will log into your PC and set up the synchronization. This guarantees a correctly configured Galaxy S5 to PC sync and the peace of mind knowing your Outlook database isn’t being accidentally corrupted.

How to synchronize Outlook Category Colors through Google Sync for your Android and iPhone

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
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  1. Download CompanionLink for Google
  2. Set it to sync from Outlook
  3. Set it to sync your Google Contacts and Calendar
  4. On Android and iPhone set Google Sync.

I love category colors.  As a business person; green appointments mean money, red are urgent, yellow are cautious.  I use purples and blues for personal and recreational stuff.  When I glance at my day, or my week, it’s the colors that I see, not the text.

We were “in the room” when Google created Google Calendar.   That is; we were one of the companies chosen to see the “secret beta” back in 2006.  This was months before the Calendar was available to the public. It was a lot of fun to go to Google’s campus and to get the secret information.  What was not fun at all was understanding the level of inexperience Google had with PC office calendars.

In 2006, PC Outlook had been out for nine years, Microsoft Schedule Plus for about nine years before that. Polaris Packrat was in full swing back in 1986, and in 1984 I remember Commence had a great Calendar for Windows.  One would have thought that Google would take advantage of all these past Calendar products, and base their new offering on them.

Nope!  Google is a linux shop! Linux people always seem to want to create everything from scratch. So Google Calendar emerged with its own new way of handling recurring events, folders, and categories. It had few of the capabilities that PC calendars of that era offered.  It was a huge up for them to climb to add revision after revision for things that everyone could already do 20 years before on PCs.

One of those things is Category Colors.  Outlook ties colors to different categories.  So my business appointments are one color, and personal appointments are a different color.  Google first tied colors to different calendars, and then added a secondary color attribute.

CompanionLink for Google handles category colors well.  If you need your Outlook colors on your Samsung Galaxy Phone, or your iPhone 7, then a great way to move them is with CompanionLink for Google.

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While Outlook associates colors with a Category, in Google it simply shows with a color “dot” on our main Google Calendar.

If you want to see colors on your Android phone, or your iPhone, use the Google App on the phone.  This will Google Sync from your Google Calendar, and it will include the colors.

CompanionLink for Google is $49.95 and available for download now.  You can get set up in about 15 minutes.  Thanks for reading!

Wayland Bruns, CTO
CompanionLink Software, Inc.

 

How to Sync Samsung Galaxy S8 with Outlook

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
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(And have it look like Outlook on the Phone)

  1. Download DejaOffice on your phone, and CompanionLink for Outlook on your PC.
  2. Configure them for DejaCloud Sync
  3. Watch your Outlook Contacts and Calendar appear on your phone.

DejaOffice is Free.  CompanionLink runs on a two-week trial.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Outlook Sync

Sync Galaxy S8 to Outlook without using Exchange

I think our Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus will be arriving tomorrow!  Like many of you I can’t wait.  I carried a Galaxy Note 7 for a month before it was recalled.  The size and shape was  really nice.  Narrower and taller than my Galaxy Note 4, but very slim and nice to hold.  I do a lot of business on my phone, emails, tasks, stocks, so I really like the large screen.

Like most business people, I do nearly all my data entry on my desktop PC.  That’s where I handle my task list, enter appointments, and add new contacts.  If I’m out and about I use my phone to complete tasks, add new tasks and schedule things.  So it’s a constant battle to keep my phone and my PC showing the same data.

That battle is eliminated using CompanionLink and DejaOffice.

DejaOffice is hands-down the best Outlook-like App for the phone.  It has the “classic 4”:  Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Memos, just like an old Palm OS device.  More important, it has all the Outlook fields, and all the Outlook Calendar formations.  Android OS comes from Google, which is a Linux shop.  Even Google management does not use Outlook.  It shows.  You can’t schedule an appointment for every weekday in Android, and they don’t have a native task app.

Special features of DejaOffice:

  • Time zone management, so when you land your Calendar doesn’t go wonky
  • Calendar Colors that match Outlook
  • Recurring tasks compatible with Outlook
  • Optional:  Franklin Covey task priorities  A1, B2, C99
  • Works same on Android and iPhone, Phones and Tablets.

DejaOffice will connect to your PC using USB (remember old Hotsync?), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and DejaCloud.  DejaCloud Realtime Sync is quick to set up and amazingly fast.  I can make an appointment on my PC, and by the time I pick up my phone it is already there.  It works when I’m on a trip without any problems.

Let’s get started!  It’s going to be a great year for phone releases.

How to Sync Outlook Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes with iPhone 6s

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
2

There seems no end to sync solutions for iPhone.  The problem is; they all devolve into Apple-like simplicity.

Face it.  We use Outlook because it is fast, effective, and the whole world supports it.  It is forced on us by our business, it runs our mail, it runs our appointments, and the less time we can spend there, the more we can do our jobs.

cl djo hero

With iPhone, the best known solutions are feeble, at best.  With Apple iCloud, you need to create a different Outlook folder and move your data to it.  You need to put up with problems with it, with mail and other things.  And then, when it gets to iPhone, you have no Tasks any more just reminders.

With Office 365 and the Outlook App you have a different set of problems.  It all gets to the phone ok (except for tasks again) but the only thing that is marginally good with the Outlook App from Microsoft is the email.  Hello Microsoft:  Email is NOT a problem on the iPhone.

So that’s what CompanionLink and DejaOffice are here to do. Synchronize Outlook Contacts, and Outlook Calendar, and Outlook Tasks to the iPhone.  Not only to move them, safely and securely, but DejaOffice provides an Outlook-like ecosystem on the iPhone and Android so that you can continue to do Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes just like your PC.  So if you want to schedule an appointment, or make a task for a contact, you can do that in one App on your phone.  If you have Recurring Tasks, CompanionLink and DejaOffice is the only solution available that supports them on all platforms.

CompanionLink also works for Outlook for Mac 2011 and Outlook for Mac 2015.

Here’s how to sync Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Memos:

  1. On your PC or Mac; Download the CompanionLink for Outlook 14-day trial
  2. On your iPhone or Android phone, download DejaOffice for Outlook
  3. Set up USB, Wi-Fi or DejaCloud sync

That’s it!  You’ll have your data on your phone.  For more information here’s our info page for CompanionLink for Outlook.