15.6. Synchronizing to the backend with SyncAdapter

Authenticating an account connects you to the remote server, but by itself does nothing. The real power comes from an account’s ability to synchronize data onto and off of the phone. Android 2.0 added the ability to synchronize custom data from arbitrary accounts.

15.6.1. The synchronizing lifecycle

Synchronizing will generally happen in the background, similarly to authentication. The authenticator and the synchronizer are loosely coupled; the synchronizer will retrieve necessary information from the AccountManager instead of directly from the authenticator. Again, this is done to keep the user’s private information secure.