Chapter 4

Syncing with Your Google Account

In order to use an Android tablet, you really should have a Google Account. A Google Account is the username and password you use for most Google services, including Gmail. Fire and Nook tablets are exceptions to this rule and don't use Google Accounts. They use Barnes & Noble or Amazon accounts instead.

You can use your tablet without a Google Account, but you'll miss out on some of the best cloud-based features of Android. You can still check your work email and use non-Google accounts on your Android tablet, so you don't need to give those up in order to get a Google Account. When you activate a new Android tablet, setting up a Google Account is one of the first things you'll do, as described in Chapter 2: “Getting Started.”

Your Google Account is your default contact list, email, and calendar on your tablet. You can add other services, like Twitter, Facebook, and Exchange email; however, by default all the new contacts you create sync with Google.

One of the driving forces behind Google and Android is the concept of cloud computing. What this means is that, rather than rely on a single computer, nearly everything at Google is driven by a bank of servers on the Internet—in the cloud.

When you send Gmail messages, make Google Calendar entries, or add contacts to your Google Contact list, that information is available on your tablet, your Android phone, and on any computer you connect to the Internet with, as long as you sync it with Google.