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ActiveSync Timing Settings: Why Isn't It More Aware of the Time?

 
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Jason Dunn
Executive Editor


Joined: 30 Jun 2003
Posts: 1477
Location: Calgary, CANADA

PostPosted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 4:03 pm    Post subject: ActiveSync Timing Settings: Why Isn't It More Aware of the T Reply with quote

I think it's time to start using our "Room For Improvement" category and get more focused on how the Smartphone platform can improve. Wink

I used a hosted Exchange solution, which means all of my contacts, calendar, and email (for one account at least) sits up on the server. There are tremendous advantages to this, which I'll get into another day, but there's one particular problem with this that bothers me. The ActiveSync client on my Smartphone 2002 MPx has a setting that allows me to specify how often I want the phone to sync with the server. I have mine set to sync every two hours - I have a very low volume of email to the account linked to the server, so frequent syncs aren't terribly important.

When I'm not using my Smartphone, I tend to turn it off and leave it in my jacket - why waste the battery life if I know I won't be using it?Powering down my Smartphone is a scenario that Microsoft didn't seem to anticipate, and here's why: let's say I turn off my phone at night and power it on the next morning when I'm leaving. The last sync time would have then been many hours ago, but the Smartphone won't start a sync shortly after I turn it on - it will wait a full two hours before initiating a server sync. To me, that's a broken implementation - it should look at the time stamp of the last sync and when it sees that it's more than "x" minutes/hours out of date (in my case, two hours), it should immediately fire up a sync. It's obvious my intention as the user to never be more than two hours out of date with the data on my Exchange server, so why doesn't the Smartphone take this into account? There are certainly cases where people will turn off their phones, like getting on an air plane (yes, I turn it off rather than put it into plane mode).

I think a simple fix for this issue would be to alter the ActiveSync client on the Smartphone to look at the previous sync time rather than the power-on time of the Smartphone.
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Jerry Raia
Contributing Editor


Joined: 07 Jul 2003
Posts: 4532
Location: Los Angeles

PostPosted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 5:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd like to take your issue a step further. Why can't I pick any interval I want? I want every 10 minutes. All I can choose is 5 or 15! I should be able to put in any number I want.

And another thing! I'm a pilot and put my i600 in Radio Off mode all the time. Active sync still keeps trying to sync the entire time generating errors. It doesnt know the Phone mode is off!

This is all below average performance as far as I'm concerned.
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Jason Dunn
Executive Editor


Joined: 30 Jun 2003
Posts: 1477
Location: Calgary, CANADA

PostPosted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 6:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lasher wrote:
I'd like to take your issue a step further. Why can't I pick any interval I want? I want every 10 minutes. All I can choose is 5 or 15! I should be able to put in any number I want. And another thing! I'm a pilot and put my i600 in Radio Off mode all the time. Active sync still keeps trying to sync the entire time generating errors. It doesnt know the Phone mode is off!


Excellent points, both of them - yes, ActiveSync should be connection aware. In fact, ALL applications should be connection aware so that when they go from a no-connection state to a connected state, they fire off tasks that are overdue.
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possmann
Smartphone Thinker


Joined: 07 Jul 2003
Posts: 473
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 10:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have to agree - in fact I'm kinda surprised that it doesn't do that type of calculation already. It doesn't seem like a major change either...

Still waiting to get my first 2003 device... T-Mobile when will you finally release one? What will it be?

Sorry a bit off topic there...
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Mike Temporale
Managing Editor


Joined: 07 Jul 2003
Posts: 8577
Location: Toronto, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 10:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jason Dunn wrote:
ActiveSync should be connection aware. In fact, ALL applications should be connection aware so that when they go from a no-connection state to a connected state, they fire off tasks that are overdue.


The phone should not just be connection aware, but state aware too. If I set my phone to silent, all applications and games should not make any noise.
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Jerry Raia
Contributing Editor


Joined: 07 Jul 2003
Posts: 4532
Location: Los Angeles

PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 11:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It almost seems like the OS is totally unaware of the phone at all.
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brntcrsp
Smartphone Intellectual


Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 154
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 1:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
It almost seems like the OS is totally unaware of the phone at all.
In many regards I would guess that it is - otherwise how could Microsoft sell an OS that operates on many MANY hardware platforms. But, I agree there needs to be more communication between the software and hardware within the Smartphone world.
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Jerry Raia
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There must be hooks in the OS for this purpose. It is then up to the phone maker to use them I would think.
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