CardDav (contacts) support

poVoq · 8 Nov 2019, 17:19

Found the source code: https://github.com/accumulator/syncevolution-sailfish

tommiedom · 10 Nov 2019, 21:20

@kalle-kruse said in CardDav (contacts) support:

@mardy Thanks for the reply. I am using an Owncloud server in my home network and got syncevolution on my ubuntuphone working as described in this blog post: http://notyetthere.org/syncing-ubuntu-touch-with-owncloud-or-any-carddav-server/

I also got syncevolution working, previously with Owncloud, currently with Synology's built-in carddav and caldav server.

This is not user-friendly, because i had to manually type all syncevolution configuration codes via Terminal on my ub phone :s

Adding generic caldav accounts is fixed in Calendar app now, but adding generic carddav accounts would be great

I can help with translations. Testing is possible, but it's also my daily driver, so it mustn't break anything serious..

Thatoo · 27 Nov 2019, 13:35

Update on carddav subject makes me happy!
I keep hoping that feature to be added soon to UT OS to allow non dev users to switch to it.
Syncing contact [to nextcloud] as easily as syncing calendar is the missing feature for working environment.

poVoq · 27 Nov 2019, 18:40

I just found this:
https://github.com/UT-ilities/UTouch_CalDAV_and_CardDAV_synchronization

Still a shell-script, but might make things a bit easier

Thatoo · 28 Nov 2019, 21:30

Hopefully

obacht · 30 Nov 2019, 11:13

I just returned after a few months pause to check out OTA 11:
without native carddav support implemented for contacts (google goes without words) or generic carddav in accounts (system settings) UT is no daily driver option for me. I´ll give it another try in six months or so ...

poVoq · 30 Nov 2019, 11:23

@obacht said in CardDav (contacts) support:

I just returned after a few months pause to check out OTA 11:
without native carddav support implemented for contacts (google goes without words) or generic carddav in accounts (system settings) UT is no daily driver option for me. I´ll give it another try in six months or so ...

Try the script I linked above, with Nextcloud at least it should work fine. But I guess since Nextcloud uses a fairly standard CardDAV implementation, others might work as well.

Not ideal I agree, as it requires some text file editing... but not really difficult either.

obacht · 30 Nov 2019, 12:11

@poVoq
from what I know you need to run your own server in order to use nextcloud, isn`t that the case?

elastic · 30 Nov 2019, 12:28

@obacht said in CardDav (contacts) support:

@poVoq
from what I know you need to run your own server in order to use nextcloud, isn`t that the case?

It works with every carddav server - you just need to configure syncevolution via script or terminal - I wrote a howto for ownbay a long time ago which I could provide - you'll 'just' have to adapt the server an credentials to your needs... It's in German but according to your user name ;-)...

AppLee · 30 Nov 2019, 13:02

@obacht No, you have online free (or paid) services based on Nextcloud.

Lakotaubp · 30 Nov 2019, 15:05

@obacht I use a free service from the good cloud. Nextcloud will give you options when you are setting up.

obacht · 30 Nov 2019, 18:41

@Lakotaubp @AppLee
that´s new to me, I´ll look into that, Thanks!
@elastic
you´re right, german is my mother tongue I am not into scripting and stuff but I might come back to you and ask for your howto if I change my mind

poVoq · 29 Feb 2020, 11:18

So qtcontacts-sqlite seems to have landed in a branch:

https://github.com/ubports/address-book-app/commit/db8681e0e694a03d6c95632dabb4910719925c95

@mardy great to see some further progress on this. You think CardDAV might make it for OTA12?

Thatoo · 19 Mar 2020, 15:33

it's a very old commit unfortunately, the 3 Nov 2018 ... but yeah, would be great.

poVoq · 19 Mar 2020, 19:23

@Thatoo said in CardDav (contacts) support:

it's a very old commit unfortunately, the 3 Nov 2018 ... but yeah, would be great.

Old PR but only now merged, so there is definitly some recent movement:
https://github.com/ubports/address-book-app/commits/xenial_-_mercontacts

Thatoo · 13 Apr 2020, 16:17

@poVoq you're right! So good to read that! Thanks for pointing it out (why didn't I get notification for your answer and I discover it now only? I have to check that out).

Thatoo · 21 Jun 2020, 09:50

Would it be possible to have a following of this issue somewhere?
More and more people are syncing their contacts with clouds like nextcloud and they rely on such feature.
It is not possible to offer professional to switch to UT without this feature.

An issue is open here ; https://github.com/ubports/address-book-app/issues/3
and an other here : https://github.com/ubports/sync-monitor/issues/9
and commits have been made in here https://github.com/ubports/address-book-app/commits/xenial_-_mercontacts but none have been merged.

I feel like this feature isn't considered very important by devs (I guess they have no problem with the script) and I respect their work and choice between priorities. However today, I don't feel good. I follow UT project since it has started, I'm asking for this feature for long, long before Canonical gave up and I kept asking for it for the past three years.

I supported Firefox OS...
I supported UT...
I bought BraveHearyt Pinephone to do testing, and now a PineTab for my mum. Can I ask my mum to sync her contacts with our nextcloud using a script? Seriously?
I don't see why this very basic, important widely used feature is so considered as a leftover and in Q&A it is always question about MIR, Lomiri and other very very specific geeky things that not my mum, no other daily users need.

wdehoog · 21 Jun 2020, 12:23

@Thatoo I am not one of the devs but please allow me to respond.

You are completely right that contacts sync is very important and that it's current state is bad. However you are wrong in thinking that MIR and Lomiri are geeky and not used by your mum. In fact everybody uses them and without them there is no Ubuntu Touch.

Unfortunately the current state of affairs is that the few devs have to spend all their resources to developping the base system and do not have much left to work on higher layers like contacts sync.

As this is a community project you will have to work on it yourself or wait until somebody else will.

Me I would like to read a book and listen to the music files on my dlna server. As this could not be done I had to start working on my own app and fixing/extending various parts of ubuntu touch (led, gestures, media-hub).

Sorry I cannot help you making you feel better but I hope you can understand why things are as they are now.

Thatoo · 21 Jun 2020, 13:08

I know... but I first asked about carddav sync in 2014 (OTA 3 I guess), today I had so much trouble explaining this pbm to my mum showing how it works on Pinephone that I almost gave up and wanted to wait for /e/ to come to PineTab and forget about UT... Everybody knows android so switching to /e/ looks much more easier now that it's there... I feel lonely explaining the interest of UT around me but at the same time having to show this limit as soon as I install it. It gives them a bad image of it and it gives me a bad feeling and well this morning I was tired to "preach"....

libremax · 21 Jun 2020, 13:13

@Thatoo said in CardDav (contacts) support:

I bought BraveHearyt Pinephone to do testing, and now a PineTab for my mum. Can I ask my mum to sync her contacts with our nextcloud using a script? Seriously?

You may be able to do this for her from time to time via ssh or have the script run automatically via a cron task on the PineTab.

I don't see why this very basic, important widely used feature is so considered as a leftover and in Q&A it is always question about MIR, Lomiri and other very very specific geeky things that not my mum, no other daily users need.

Low layer softwares are less visible but used by far more users than specific software like a GUI for activate Cardav synchronisation.