Syncing Part I: How Does Syncing Work?

What is syncing?
Would you like to sync your files? ‘Sync.’ That thing your phone often asks you to do – you may not know what is it, but you have a hunch it’s a good thing.

When you sync (short for synchronize) a device such as a phone or an ipod, you’re synchronizing the data on the device with your computer – the same data exists in two places. When you sync a device with your computer, the syncing process results in both the device and the computer being updated with the most up-to-date files. Another example is when you sync iTunes with your iPhone or iPod, the music then exists on the computer and device.

How it works
Syncing is mainly handled by software – you just need two devices to sync. Syncing should be an easy and automatic process due to technological advances streamlining the process more and more in recent years. Lots of modern devices and gadgets have a sync feature to keep users from losing data and enabling them to access data from multiple locations.

An everyday example of syncing is email. Have you used a computer program like Outlook to handle your emails or an app like Gmail on your phone? When you delete something from either the program or app, then the email is also deleted from the server where it is held (meaning you won’t see the email next time you check your inbox – no matter where you’re checking from). In this same way, when a new email arrives at the server – it appears in all places where you have your email account set up, too!

Another common example of syncing is phone contacts. As most smart phones have syncing features, either to computers or to the servers of the service providers, when you add a contact to your phone and then sync – your most up-to-date contact list will be present on your phone and your the computer. This is great, because if you lose your phone or decide to get a new one, all you need to do is sync it with the computer and you’ll have all your contacts back on your phone! But please note – this sometimes only rings true (excuse the pun) if you select the same phone or brand when purchasing your new device.

Syncing is normally limited to a particular operating system. For example, you can’t sync your iPhone contacts to Android’s service. Why? Because it would all be with Apple using their sync software and servers. But syncing isn’t limited to emails & phone contacts, you can sync music libraries, photo albums, various files and all your Runtastic data is synced, too! Check back next week to learn how syncing is an important (if often unnoticed) part of your Runtastic experience.

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