To Sync or Not to Sync Your Mobile Devices

To sync or not to sync, that is the question! And it’s one we hear a lot, especially with regard to people’s mobile devices. There are so many of these that we use each day, from smartphones to laptops, PCs, and more. Our entire life tends to be spread across them, and it can sometimes feel pretty chaotic.

That is why a lot of people consider syncing their tech, amalgamating all of the data, settings, documents, and applications contained across their devices. This means that if you save a convoluted, Safari-suggested password to one device, for example, it will instantly be stored on your synced devices too. It’s convenient, easy, and streamlines your important information.

So why would you hesitate? We take a look at the pros and cons.

The Upside

Believe us when we say that there are plenty of upsides to syncing your personal devices. The process is designed to make your life easier and more efficient, and there’s no doubt that it does. Benefits include:

• Automatic setup for new devices. While it’s always fun to unpack a new device, the thought of setting it up can be enough to cause a headache. When your tech is synced, it makes the entire process quicker and easier.
• Access webpages from any device. Say you navigate to this website and imagine for moment you’re on the lookout for a onus. You find the perfect provider and offer but want to click the ‘get this bonus’ button and open the webpage on your desktop rather than the mobile you’re browsing from. Sync your devices and suddenly it’s simple, seamless, and pain-free.    
• No need to remember convoluted passwords. Do you struggle to remember ordinary passwords, let alone the complex chains of letters and numbers generated by your browser? Then syncing your devices can help. Storing all of your information together makes the login process quicker and more straightforward.
• Access files from anywhere. Would you like to access that Word document you just created on your browser while you’re out and about later? You can also open it on your mobile, tablet, or on any other synced device. This makes collaborating in real-time easier than ever.
• Interact with people across platforms. If you’d like to be able to use Skype, Messenger, and more from your desktop and on the go, sync your devices to accommodate this. This way, you’ll have access to your address book no matter where you’re connecting from.

The Downside

All of the above sounds attractive, doesn’t it? So what’s the downside, we hear you ask. Well, the disadvantages of syncing your device mainly tie into how it impacts your privacy. They include:

• Access to all of your information in the event of theft or hacking. If one of your devices is compromised, either physically or virtually, data from across the board is at risk of being stolen.
• Compromised security. In addition, the ability to sync your devices is often reliant on external memory storage, such as Apple iCloud or Microsoft OneDrive. In the event that this falls victim to cybercrime, there’s a much larger volume of data at risk of being compromised.

When it comes to your mobile devices, what do you think: to sync or not to sync? The correct answer is whichever one feels right for you.