No more unknown callers, solve contact sync with Sync.me (App Review)

Overview

Multiple email accounts, phone number changes, and the plethora of social media accounts to keep up with can become overwhelming. Since smartphones have become so important to our daily existence and most people can barely go minutes without looking at or touching their device, there becomes a few key components essential to our device such as seeing who is calling, adding contacts, sending emails and staying connected with contacts in our social media accounts.

Sounds simple, right? Unfortunately once you plug in the contacts information to your address book it is not constant, Email addresses become irrelevant and phone numbers get disconnected and replaced. So this process is continuous and needs a way to be updated efficiently and effortlessly.

Sync.me, available for download on the Google Play Store, allows you to block unwanted callers, identify incoming calls (including full names) and a photo of the caller, along with syncing with your Facebook and Google+ profile.

Setup

After installation, you are greeted with a handy splash screen that highlights Sync.me core features. To get started, you will simply select your country and type in your phone number. From there it is pretty straight forward as you now are able to customize settings, activate caller ID, and sync your contacts.

Function

Sync.me’s user interface is professional and clean, decked out in a white background accented by a gorgeous baby blue. Upon first use Sync.me is categorized into 3 features: caller ID activation, sync contacts, and call blocker.

Caller ID– allows you to identify unknown phone calls and texts that you receive. What’s great about this is that if it is a number that you don’t already have saved into your phone, your device  will display the name of the individual or  business along with  a contact photo if available (if the number has already been saved to Sync.me’s server). I know a pet peeve of mine is unknown callers and the lack of an incoming photo. The caller ID menu is customizable, as I was able to control an array of options on how the caller ID appeared and for how long it could be displayed.

Sync Contacts– updates your contacts with their latest profile pictures and information such as job, birthdays, and social media highlights. With contact sync you are able to control the frequency that you sync your contact’s data, and you can toggle on or off if you want to overwrite photos that you might have added previously to the contact to use their current Facebook or Google+ profile image. Beware: depending on the number of contacts you have, contact sync can take a while. Minus the fact that syncing took an extended period of time it did a great job syncing contacts. Although, my experience with the sync is you really have to babysit it. What I mean is if you press the “sync now” button, you better be prepared that if you have multiple contacts with the same name they might (and probably will) get clumped together as one user. Unfortunately I had to go back behind the sync and physically unlink names and social media profiles, which I didn’t enjoy at all.   

Call Blocker– block unwanted calls from telemarketers, scams, and those you no longer want to communicate with.  Sync.me did a great job with their block calls feature. Blocking calls can be done by a quick press when a particular number calls, or you can access the block call menu and add the number you want to block. Call block also gives you the option to automatically block numbers that their database has been informed is spam.

I also like that the numbers that you blocked are conveniently listed, allowing you to revisit what numbers you blocked. If there is a number you want to unblock just simply long press the number and select unblock.

Sync.me is not new or revolutionary, but it’s simple to use and does what it says. I was amazed that it was able to sync Facebook photos because Facebook had previously restricted this feature to apps. I have found myself to become giddy at times when I meet someone new and exchange numbers. As I input their phone number Sync.me automatically populated the new contact’s name, and displays their contact photo which is awesome.

Who will find Sync.me useful

Sync.me is useful for professionals and individuals with a large number of contacts. Sync.me features are spot on and come in handy. Sync.me removes  the fear of “who is this calling me?”  With Sync.me installed you know who is calling you and can now decide if you want to answer it without missing a call that  you probably should have answered.

What We Like

• Sync photos of contacts with Google+ and Facebook profiles
• Easily block unwanted calls
• Caller identification of incoming calls that aren’t saved to contacts

What We didn’t Like

• Birthday alerts seem to be a day premature
• Have to babysit contact sync to make sure its done properly
• Takes a long time for contacts to sync

Summary

Being an on and off again user of Sync.me for the past 2  years due to addition and subtraction of features, Sync.me is a solid application to have on your device whether it be you want to easily block unwanted calls, get birthday notifications, or have the current photos for your contacts.

Editor’s Note

There have been some concerns over the permissions of this app, specifically regarding the publishing of contact information. This reddit post discusses a bit more of what this might look like.

However, the reviewer of this app did not have the same issues communicated in the above post. This is simply for your information so that you are aware before using this app.

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