HTC Sense Enhancement: A Guide to HTC Sync 3.0

HTC Sync is a desktop application that connects to the company’s Android line of phones with HTC Sense. More specifically HTC Sync is available for the HTC Desire, Legend, Wildfire, Aria and Hero. Version 3.0 of the application is a follow-up of version 2.0 that was released to support devices with Android 1.5 and 1.6. Basically HTC Sync 3.0 is the Android 2.1 and 2.2 version of the second edition of the software. In terms of functionality the two hardly differ, with the latest additions being a media manager and Outlook Calendar and contact syncing. With cloud computing slowly becoming a serious business, is HTC Sync still relevant?

Downloading, Installing and Setting Up of HTC Sync

Downloading, installing and connecting the phone to HTC sync is a pretty straightforward process, with the steps being as follows:

1. Download HTC 3.0 at the bottom of the page here. In this screen select which the closest location to you is and select the download button. The file size is a rather hefty 55.4 MB.
2. Run the downloaded setup file and follow the on screen instructions. HTC advises you to temporarily close your anti-virus program active so it does not interrupt the installation.
3. After it is installed run the HTC Sync program and connect the Android device to the computer via USB. When prompted, choose the HTC Sync connection option. If not prompted pull down the Android screen and select the HTC Sync option in the USB connection type screen. If this option is not selected the HTC Sync application will not find the phone. Furthermore, if the previous option selected the ‘Disk Drive’, change to ‘Charge Only’ first so that the Android phone can prepare the SD card again. If this is not done the desktop software might not be able to read the card. Also make sure USB Debugging is on.
4. The desktop software should recognize the phone and then the phone setup and file syncing can commence.

Features of HTC Sync 3.0

HTC Sync is meant to backup your device and sync different file types between the PC and Sense equipped Android phone. Here are the features that make that happen:

• Overview The overview shows a few essentials of the phone, such as the IMEI/MEID number, the current system firmware and when it was last synced. It also shows per section how much space it takes on the SD CARD. This last function is comparable with what iTunes does for the iPhone.

• Music The music section provides the user with the option to sync music files from iTunes and Windows Media Player on the PC. It also provides an option to sync music that is already on the phone.

• Gallery This section is pretty straightforward as it lets the user transfer camera shots to the PC or sync PC video and photos to the phone.

• Calendar The calendar section is exclusively reserved for synchronizing with Outlook or Outlook Express. As the Google account is synchronized with the Google servers over the air, the HTC Sync program does not interfere with this.

• People Just like the calendar the same goes for the people section. Here Outlook or Outlook Express contacts are synchronized. Phone contacts are normally either synced with Google servers, or stored locally on the SIM card.

• Bookmarks Bookmarks can only be synced from the PC to the phone. However, any used browser can be chosen, so that bookmarks are immediately accessible on the phone after the first sync.

• Documents When it comes to document syncing from phone to PC, the program actually means documents from the Sense’s Mail app. To execute PC to phone syncing, a user can select and add PC directories that contain documents that will be synced with the phone

Is HTC Sync Still Relevant?

Although HTC Sync does a few things that the stock version of Android is not able to do many of the functions are available through either the latest, 2.2 ‘Froyo’, version of the platform, or through alternatives. With these, mostly ‘over-the-air’ options, USB connecting your device physically to the PC to backup parts of the phone is becoming increasingly outdated. Although for a long time HTC Sync has been relevant, it has now reached a point where it is not anymore. HTC seems to have realized this as well, and a new, over-the-air enhanced replacement has recently been introduced in the form of ‘htcsense.com’. As not all of HTC’s devices are capable of interacting with this new online platform, surely HTC Sync will have its uses for many.