Install on Android

A colleague installs RingSync on their Android phone, signs in with their work account and finds their company directory in the Contacts app.

Before you start

The app only shows a directory to people who have access to it. Your administrator must therefore have given you access. Access is recognized by the email address of the account you sign in with: it must be the one on your directory entry.

If you were just added, access can take up to 15 minutes to appear.

Install and sign in

1. Open Google Play, search for RingSync and install the app. From the phone, the ringsync.io/app link also opens Google Play.
2. Open the app.
3. Tap Sign in with Microsoft or Sign in with Google, depending on your company's work account.
4. Sign in with your work account in the window that opens. The app only asks for your identity (openid, profile, email), not for access to your mailbox or files.
5. If Android asks for permission to send notifications, you can allow it: RingSync uses them to receive the order to remove the contacts of a directory you lose access to. Without notifications, that removal happens at the latest the next time you open the app.

Allow contacts

The One permission screen appears after sign-in if contacts access has not already been granted.

1. Tap Allow access to all contacts.
2. Accept Android's permission prompt for contacts. The app declares the read and write permissions for contacts.

Run the first sync

The first sync starts by itself when the app is open, if automatic sync is on for the directory. You can also start it by hand.

1. On the home screen, find the directory's card. Its status is Never until a sync has run.
2. Tap Sync on the card. The Syncing screen opens.
3. Wait for Sync complete. The recap shows the contacts added, updated and removed.
4. Open the Contacts app: your colleagues appear there with your other contacts.

Automatic sync then takes over: see Automatic sync. To sync at another time, see Sync on demand.

The cards do not show a number of contacts. To see it, tap the card: the On this phone row shows how many contacts RingSync wrote.

Where the contacts appear

On Android, RingSync creates neither a group nor an account dedicated to the directory. It names no account to Android when it writes a contact: the contacts are saved in the phone's local account, with your other contacts.

Depending on your Google settings, such as contacts backup, contacts in the local account can also be copied elsewhere. See Data RingSync keeps.

Troubleshooting

• "Aucun annuaire ne t'a été partagé. Contacte ton administrateur.": on the sign-in screen, this message appears in French whatever the app's language. You have no access, or the address of the account you used is not the directory's. See Contacts missing on a phone.
• personal_account_not_supported: you used a personal Microsoft account. Use your work or school account.
• email_not_verified: the Google account's address is not verified.

Technical details

• Each entry RingSync creates carries a web address labelled "RingSync" of the form ringsync://…. This mark lets the app find its own contacts without touching yours.
• Uninstalling the app erases its data, but not the contacts already written to the phone. On reinstall, the app finds them through this mark and does not create them twice.
• Signing out also leaves the contacts on the phone. To delete them, see Remove synced contacts in Sync on demand.