Symbian in Motion

As more and more apps are being released for S60 3rd devices I’ve been quite impressed with the creativity that developers are employing with their apps. Some developers just seem to have a knack for making intriguing ideas a reality and bringing products to market that I, for one, never would have thought of. Take GSync by Psiloc for example.

There are several ways to backup and store your SMS and MMS messages with S60 3rd but none are as convenient, unique or intelligent as GSync. What does it do? GSync allows you to archive your messages to a Gmail account - that’s right, a Gmail account! Messages are transmitted via any data connection and saved within a gmail account as conversations. Those of you unfamiliar with Gmail might not fully understand this without trying it, but GSync will group your SMS/MMS conversations as Gmail conversations to create the “thread format” that Gmail is known and loved for - with sent and received messages clearly (and cleverly) separated and the contact name and mobile number at the top of each thread in the subject line.

The GSync homescreen displays the current status of the app, the date and time of your last sync, and the current enabled sync schedule. GSync’s sync schedule allows you to configure auto-syncs at certain time intervals or even each time a message is sent or received. You can also set it to manual sync and GSync will only sync your messages when you initiate it.

Setting the app up is actually quite easy. The settings are split into four sections as displayed below.

The Gmail settings page is simply home to your Gmail email address and account password. Connection is where you will choose a primary access point and connection schedule as mentioned above. Finally, the SMS and MMS pages let you configure exactly what content you would like to sync.

Once you have set the app up, you’re ready to perform your first full resync (if you choose). A full resync will sync every stored SMS/MMS in accordance with the rules you configured above. GSync connects quickly and I synced about 300 messages in just a few minutes over WiFi. Subsequent syncs are quite fast - I synced the one message seen below in just a few seconds.

I have to say that I really do like this app! It’s such a great concept - with all of the free space that Gmail accounts give you, why not find new and different ways to make use of it? Of course I opened a new account specifically for GSync but with well over 2GB of storage there’s no need to. For convenience, GSync also labels each Gmail thread automatically with either SMS or MMS so they’re easy to find, and marks each item as read so that you don’t clutter your inbox with unread messages.

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I was away yesterday so the odds are very good that you’ve seen it already, but this is a quick note letting everyone know that this week’s Carnival of the Mobilists (#67) is up on the Wap Review Blog. Dennis covers a lot of great posts in this entry including my PocketCaster review!

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