General
Synchronization
Phones
Site Features
What is ZYB?
ZYB is an easy way to store your phone’s contacts, pictures, text messages and calendar events online. ZYB also lets you connect with people you know and makes sure you always have their updated contact details on your phone. As most of your real life friends are already on your phone, ZYB gives some additional social features like photo tagging and content sharing with the people you know.
How does ZYB work?
ZYB lets you sync your phone’s content, over-the-air, with our server and allows you to control it online. Each time you add or change data on your phone or on ZYB, and sync, your ZYB account is copied onto your phone and vice versa. This is known as "two-way synchronization".
Do I need any special software to use ZYB?
No, you can use ZYB on most mobile phones without installing software. ZYB is compatible with almost any handset including Nokia, SonyEricsson, Siemens and Motorola. (In order to use ZYB from Windows Mobile based phones you'll need to buy a client from a third party vendor)
Why should I connect with others on ZYB?
By connecting with others on ZYB, you can get their updated contact details automatically synced to your phone. You can also share your phone’s content with the people you are connected with, keep track of what they are up to and expand your own network as you get introduced to your friend’s friends.
How do I connect with others on ZYB?
You can connect with anyone who is willing to accept your request to connect. If the person you want to connect with is already on ZYB, just browse to his or her profile and click the ‘Connect’ button on the right hand side of the screen. If your friend is not yet on ZYB, you can send him or her an invitation by clicking ‘Invite’ in the ‘People’ section. Once the invited person signs up to ZYB, you are instantly connected.
How can I break an existing connection?
When you no longer want to be connected with someone, you can use the ‘Disconnect’ option to remove individual connections. You will find this option in the ‘People’ section.
How do I add people to the list of friends on my ZYB profile?
Only those friends that you have specifically added to the list of visible friends are shown on your ZYB profile. You can add and remove friends in the ‘People’ section once you are logged in. If you connect to another person, this person is automatically added to the list of your visible friends.
How much does it cost to use ZYB?
All the basic features of ZYB are free (forever). Some additional features, including text-message storage, cost a tiny fee.
Is ZYB safe to use?
Yes, ZYB is safe to use. All data is encrypted and ZYB uses state-of-the art security measures which protects the data against unlawful access and ensures that no data is lost.
What does it mean that ZYB is in beta?
Beta refers to the fact that we are continuously working on improving the service. Beta does not refer to any issue with security or the functions already available. Your data is secure on ZYB.
I received a text message from ZYB, how did you get my number?
Your number has been stored on ZYB by a friend of yours, and your friend has sent you the text message directly from ZYB. ZYB does not have direct access to your phone number and never displays your phone number to others.
I don’t want to be a part of this. How do I opt out?
Log in to your ZYB account, go to ‘My account’ and select the option ‘Prevent others from saying they know me’. This will effectively exclude you from being added as a friend by others.
What can I sync?
You can sync your phone’s contacts and calendar with ZYB. Text-messages and pictures on your phone are stored on ZYB when you send them manually to your ZYB account.
Can I sync two phones with the same ZYB account?
Yes, you can sync up as many phones as you want with the same account.
Can I get all my contacts from my own phone on to a new one even if it's a different brand?
Yes, as long as your new phone is one of the over 400 supported phones, you'll be able to sync your contacts and calendar events to your new handset.
How does sync work?
ZYB makes use of syncML, a synchronisation standard to transfer data between mobile phone and an online account, using a WAP/GPRS connection. This transfer is bidirectional, i.e. at the end of a completed sync session data will be identical on both the user account and the phone. Therefore if you make any change to your phone data and sync, the same data will be updated in your account and vice versa. So all you need is a compatible phone (see phone list) and a working internet connection from your operator to use the data backup facility at ZYB.
How can I sync my Google calender?
At the moment you can only import your Google calendar events to the ZYB calendar and sync your phone to get them on your phone. However any changes made to Google calendar after the import won’t be updated in ZYB calendar. We are working on a two way sync solution that will allow automatic update of ZYB & Google calendar.
What can I sync?
You can sync your phone contacts, calendar events and sms (select handsets only). In future we intend to expand the synchronization to images, applications etc as the syncML standard evolves.
What information do I need for syncing?
All you need is a compatible handset with sync settings from ZYB installed. These settings can be requested from “My Phone” link for automatic or manual setup of the phone. Once sync is initiated select your active internet connection (WAP/GPRS) to start data transfer. While you will be either shown the relevant settings during set up, or sent via SMS, you may find the following data useful:
Server name: http://sync.zyb.com
Contacts datastore (or contacts path): contacts
Calender datastore (or calender path): calender
I accidentally deleted some contacts, can you help?
If you delete any contacts on the phone or ZYB account and sync, they will be deleted from your mobile as well, because this is how two-way synchronization works: "making data identical at both ends".
To restore your deleted contacts please you need to:
- Login to your ZYB account and go to "Contacts" page
- At the top right corner of your contacts page click on "View deleted contacts”
- Check mark the desired contacts and click on "Restore" button. Finally sync your mobile so that all the deleted contacts are restored to your phone
Can I sync more than one phone?
Yes, you can sync as many phones with your ZYB account as you like, as long as they are compatible. To do so, simply log onto your account, click "My Phone" and then the add phone icon.
Select your brand and then click on your phone model
Now enter you Country, Operator and your number, and click "continue".
Then Click on the "Send" button and settings will be sent to your mobile. Install the settings and then sync your new phone. Your contacts and events from ZYB will be added to your new phone.
How can I import data?
To import contacts (from Gmail, Hyves, facebook or in FOAF or CSV file format) to ZYB do the following:
Login to your ZYB account and then go to "Contacts" page
At the top right corner of your contacts page click on "Import contacts" link and then select the relevant link
Follow the wizard to import your contacts to ZYB
I can only sync some of my contacts, why?
There can be a variety of reasons for this. If your synchronization attempts always stop at the sanme point (e.g. 50 of 100 contacts are syncronized and then the synchronization stops) the most likely cause is some strange characters or data in the last synchronized contact. If you are unsure, feel free to contact support, otherwise editing that contact, removing any special characters, should suffice to fix the issue.
If however, your synchronization always seems to be interrupted randomly, this is more likely to be a connection issue. To synchronize with ZYB you need a functioning data conection (Wireless, GPRS or WAP). If the network coverage is low, it can be interrupted, causing the synchronization to be interrupted. We would therefore recommend synchronizing when you are in an area with better coverage
My calender shows all events at a wrong start time, why?
This is due to the ZYB server and your handset being in different timezones. ZYB needs to know in which timezone you are in, so that events can be shown at the correct time. If you are unsure if your account is set up correctly, click on Settings in the top navigation, and about half way down the page you can edit your timezone.
What is two-way synchronization?
Two-way syncrhonization is the process of making sure that two (or more) locations contain the same data. If you add, change, or delete data from one location, the synchronization process will add, change, or delete the same data at the other location.
This is different to one-way synchronization, where data is pushed from one location to another, but not vice versa. As an example, when you back up your files on your computer to another location, this is generally a one-way transfer.
I have a branded phone and cannot find the option in the menu
The majority of our guides are based on original handsets purchased directly from the manufacturers. Some operators purchase handsets too and change the software on those handsets, generally in the case of subsidized phones. Due to this, you may have been presented with a guide that is correct for your handset, but as you have a branded phone, the guide seems to be incorrect. In this case, please contact Customer Support with the model name as well as your operator, and they will aid you in getting set up.
I didn't receive the settings during set up, why?
Occassionally SMS messages don't get delivered, this could be due to network issues that are beyond our control. The best thing to do after waiting for two minutes si to check that the details you gave us such as your country, operator and phone number are correct. If so, go ahead and request the SMS again. If it still doesnt arrive, you can either chosse to set up your phone manually (we will show you instructions on the website) or you can contact Customer Support.
I am getting a lot of SMS from ZYB, why?
At ZYB we adhere to a strict privacy policy.
The SMS which you are referring to are actually initiated from your friends on ZYB and are invitations.
I have a BlackBerry/Apple iPhone/Windows Mobile phone, can I still use ZYB?
In most cases, yes.
ZYB works using a standard called SyncML. While Blackberry, Apple iPhone and Windows Mobile phones do not have this installed, it is possible to install a 3rd party client that allows you to synchronize. To check if your phone uses a 3rd party client, please log onto your account, go to "My Phone" and add your phone to your account. If there is a 3rd party client available, you will see the relevant instructions on how to get this application and install it.
Please note that ZYB cannot take responsibility for these applications as they have not been developed by us.
How can I change what data of mine is visible?
In order to facilitate our users who do not wish to have a public profile, we have a privacy feature that you can activate and:
- Prevent others from saying they know you
- Prevent others from adding you as their friend, and make you instantly disappear from your friend’s profiles
Some of the available options are listed below. These are available by clicking on My Account then Privacy tab.
- Automatically connect me with friends on ZYB: You will automatically be connected with new ZYB users, if you both have each other’s phone numbers in your contact lists
- Prevent anyone from showing me on their ZYB profile: You will be removed immediately from your friends' profiles and won't be shown on any new friends' profiles
- Only receive invitations from friends: You will only receive requests to connect from people in your contact list. You won't receive requests from people you don't know.
- Make my profile unsearchable: No one will be able to find your profile if they search for your name on ZYB
- Do not swap contact details with people I invite to ZYB: When I invite my friends to ZYB, do not swap my contact details with them when they sign up.
My new Google calender events dont show, why?
ZYB cannot synchronize Google calendar, we only offer an import feature. This means that after importing your calender, and new events added to Google Calender will not be automatically synchronized with ZYB.
How can I import feeds?
To import any online feeds to your profile page do the following:
Login to your ZYB account and go to Profile page
At the top right corner click on Add your online life
Select the online item that you want to import in ZYB
Enter the address of profile page and click on Save (in some cases instructions may be shown explaining how to get the correct URL)
How can I change my operator?
If you are changing operators, but keeping your phone, some changes need to be made to your handset to ensure that you can continue saving your data to ZYB. The steps are simple and can generally be completed in a couple of minutes. Click on My home at the top of the page, and you will be shown the phone(s) that you have on your account. Select the phone for which you need to change the operator, and click on set up this phone. You will be shown the same fields as when you originally added that phone to your account. Please make the necessary edits, and click continue. We will need to send you a new OTA (SMS with settings) as the connection details that are included in that SMS are operator specific. Please then continue to setup your phone as usual.
Where are the shouts?
Although we enjoyed sending and receiving shouts as much as you did, Shouts aren’t a key aspect of our service. As we have some really cool things lined up for the near future, we have decided to focus on those, rather than “nice but not used” features.