A Palm profile primer

When you first set up your webOS phone, you created something called a Palm profile. But what exactly is that and what does it do for you?

Simply put, it’s the key that unlocks the online aspects of your phone.

One of those beautiful webOS details that works quietly in the background to keep your phone one step ahead, your Palm profile consists of an email address and a password, plus an optional security question. Your Palm profile remembers your sync relationships with services like Gmail and Exchange (Outlook). It also keeps track of the apps you've downloaded, various settings like web browser bookmarks, and any items you've designated to be saved to your Palm profile. (Details: What Palm profile data is backed up.)

You can transfer that info to any future webOS phone you may own. During setup, enter your credentials to move into your new digs.

On a PC, visit palm.com/profile to change your Palm profile email address and password. You can also remotely erase everything on your phone if it wanders off.

Which email address did I use for my Palm profile?
Open the Backup app, and tap the upper left corner to open the application menu. Select "Palm profile," and enter your password to see the email address.

Uh oh. I forgot my password.
Don't panic. Enter an incorrect password three times. On the third attempt, the system will send a message to your Palm profile email address. Check your various email accounts for a message titled "How to reset your security information" from Palm_Inc@email.palmnewsletters.com (look in junk folders if your mail is filtered or spam-blocked).

By the way, some files are not backed up to your Palm profile: music, documents, photos, videos. Take the time occasionally to back these up to your PC. (Details: How to use USB Drive mode.) In fact, now that it's on your mind, why not do that right away?

Bonnie L., Customer Support

Comments

[Bob]

It would be nice if I could access some details of my profile online, change a contact, look up a contact, remove a contact, add something to my calendar, etc. Sure, my Pre is almost always with me, but it'd be nice to have the repository of data it is at my fingertips elsewhere as well.

[Kevin]

Could it also remember the Synergy links created within my Contacts?

[Lindsay]

Unfortunately, you can't count on the profile to definitively restore your contacts, as my husband recently discovered. Palm would do well to offer a way to back up contacts onto one's PC to avoid losing years of accumulated contacts.

[Palm, Inc.]

Bob and Kevin,

Thanks for the feedback. While I can't comment on unannounced features of Palm Synergy or the Palm profile, our team does pay close attention to comments here.

Lindsay,

Sorry to hear about your husband's difficulties. We recommend keeping your contacts in a secure online location, such as Google Contacts. That way, if something happens to your phone or your computer (or both), you won't lose any information. If you need to sync your Palm webOS phone directly with a desktop computer, numerous third-party solutions are available. Check out palm.com for more: http://www.palm.com/us/products/software/sync.html

Justin Ried

[moo]

Here's a problem that has not yet (afaik) been corrected.

If you create the profile on the phone, it allows you to use an email address of the form "foo+bar@baz.com" for example palm+cool@gmail.com

This is a perfectly acceptable email address.

However, if you go to the Palm Profile web page, trying to log in using this email address will *FAIL* which means you are completely unable to access your profile off the phone.

Email Palm if you have this problem.

[Steve L.]

Now if you can only find a way to backup easily to a Mac.
Mark/Space has proved to be useless or worse.
Syncing with Google from my Pre and from Google to my MacBook created more problems than it solved
I've had to get an iPod to back up my calendar and contacts from my computer and vice versa, and carry the iPod along with my phone to keep that info with me.
I'm patient. Make the changes on a future version of Palm OS and/or on future Palm phones. But if you wait too long, I'll be virtually forced to move to an iPhone.

[Simone]

One question that has been bugging me for quite some time: Would it be possible to connect one Palm profile to two Palm phones at the same time, with both being turned on? I'd love to get a second Palm phone, but I'd like to avoid having two different profiles.

[Tom]

I would be extremely happy to be able to move my profile over to a new Palm phone. I am a day one Pre owner and have been eligible for e new phone since June. The Pre had been awesome, even better than that, but it is very difficult to keep waiting for a new Palm device.

[April]

i also want an online database but not google, a specific site for palm database just like verizon's wireless sync

[Steven]

Palm, Heres my only real complaint with webOS, how come if you delete a friend off you AIM buddy list, the changes are not reflected in your contacts...Unless you delete the account off Synergy, then re-login...Why cant it work like Facebook contacts?

[IM]

And also "Messaging"-entries like SMS and MMS are NOT backuped. That's a great flaw in your backup-workflow i think.
You better backup by yourself from time-to-time:
http://www.precentral.net/how-back-your-palm-profile-information

[facepalmed]

Palm, you need to seriously work on saving Preware and Patches to the Palm profile. It lessens the pain of replacing the Sprint Palm Pre.. as it has such a crappy build, I'm on my 6th Sprint Pre already. If not for Preware and Patches i would of dropped the Pre long time ago. Please consider to work on the profile so that i save all of Preware and other additions to my account.

ps. i really like WebOs!!

[Daniel Martin]

Mmmm I have a problem and I don't know if someone can help me... I never recieved a e-mail to activate my Palm profile. I'm still Pending verification and even if I resend the verification I have nothing! But I do recived e-mail from Palm support forum and e-mail from Palm survey... So why I can't recieved e-mail confirmation for my Palm Profile??????

[christelle]

je n'arrive pas a mettre en route mon palm pixi plus! j'ai créer un profil comme on me demande mais quand je rentre mon adresse email et mon mot de passe pour finaliser la création du profil on me marque: il est possible que le signal du réseau ne soit pas assez puissant ou que le téléphone doive ètre configuré manuellement sur votre carte sim.
je ne comprend rien! pouvez vous me renseigner car j'ai recu mon portable hier mardi et depuis impossible de m'en servie a cause de ce soucy!
merci d'avance!

[christian]

it would be good if i could change the country the pre is currently locked to. I bought mine unlocked germany from o2, activated with an australian sim card and now essentially own a brick because i cannot buy apps. No one told me in advance and it's one of the facts that make me think about buying another device (google services not working in the southern hemisphere after over a year being the other one).

[bill torbitt]

But how do you get a 'palm profile' ?
I ordered a palm pixi plus from the german Amazon and there are no instructions. There is no Palm distributor in my country.
is the phone usable at all?

[Palm, Inc.]

Hi Bill,

You'll be prompted to create a Palm Profile when you turn your new Palm Pixi Plus on for the first time. There is no web sign-up process; Palm Profile creation happens on your new phone.

Justin Ried

[bill torbitt]

hi palm
thanks very much for quick reply. I tried and got the same respnse from the phone as the French lady above (but in German!) in translation:
'registration failed: maybe network signal not strong enough or registration has to be manually processed on my sim card'
What do I do now?

thanks bill torbitt

[Palm, Inc.]

Hi Bill,

That sounds like a network connectivity issue. Have you tried moving to an area with stronger 3G coverage, or using Wi-Fi?

If you continue to have trouble, please reach out to Palm Support via http://palm.com/support - the team is always happy to help.

Justin Ried

[katherine]

Hola , I just bought the palm pre on ebay. I was happy to receive it but now im verry frustrated because canot create the palm pre profile.There no sprint here andJust that palm pre profile. Of course the customer service number is not working. cannot access to the menu ... nothing ! I live in dominican republic . Any suggestion please ?

[Palm, Inc.]

Hi Katherine,

The Palm Pre is not officially available or supported in the Dominican Republic. Also, depending on what kind of Palm Pre you have, it may also be locked to a specific service provider.

You might stop by the Palm Support Community to see if someone can help out in an unofficial capacity: http://forums.palm.com

Justin Ried

[Perry]

I purchased a Pre Plus and I have an old Pre that I want to use as a WiFi device only. Is this possible? Can I use the same profile from my Pre Plus.

[Russ]

Hey Palm!

I am with Steve. I use a Mac at home and interface with PCs at work. If you can manage to find a way to be compatible with both, life would be great. So, now you know, there are more people like Steve and I; and Apple is steadily taking market share. But I like Palm and would prefer to stay with your OS.

[Bridgette]

how do you sign off?

[Palm, Inc.]

Hi Bridgette,

There's no need to sign out from a Palm profile unless you're switching to a new webOS device. When you do need to switch, first ensure that all of your data (photos, music, and other files) has been backed up to a desktop computer. Then launch the Backup app and perform a Palm profile backup. Finally, reset the device by launching Device Info, then scrolling down and tapping Reset Options, then initiating a Full Erase. Please note: Some information, like text messages, are not backed up to your Palm profile and will be lost during the reset process.

When you turn on your new webOS device, it'll ask you to sign in with your Palm Profile. Data such as apps, bookmarks, memos and settings will be restored onto the new device.

Justin Ried