EteSync is dead. Long live…?

Privacy Questions
1

Unless what I said here: Restore EteSync (Calendar/Contacts Sync) - #31 by julian changes (it might, see the dev’s response: Can't install from pip or compile binaries · Issue #296 · etesync/etesync-dav · GitHub), I can no longer use EteSync, and need to find a replacement.

Unfortunately, none seem to be good. Here’s a list of my options, including EteSync for comparison:

  • EteSync
    • Pros:
      • Encrypted
      • Everything synced to devices
    • Cons:
      • Every client is outdated
      • It doesn’t work anymore
  • Local
    • Pros:
      • No service required
      • Can backup to files
    • Cons:
      • Importing the files probably duplicates things
      • No tasks support
  • Proton
    • Pros:
      • Encrypted
      • Calendar app for mobile
    • Cons:
      • Contacts can’t sync to devices
      • Calendar can’t sync to devices/no calendar app for desktop
      • No tasks support
  • Tutanota
    • Pros:
      • Encrypted
      • Calendar app for mobile
    • Cons:
      • Contacts can’t sync to devices
      • Calendar can’t sync to devices/no calendar app for desktop
      • No tasks support
  • CalDAV/CardDAV
    • Pros:
      • Everything syncs to devices
    • Cons:
      • Unencrypted
      • Probably requires self-hosting

Am I missing something, or is there just no good replacement?

2

It’s a good some up of the situation.
I returned to a dav server from etesync long ago because of similar issues and instability. I desperately hope Proton will launch a contact app.

3

Everything is brittle now. I couldnt self host because of certain issues in my domicile.

I had contacts synced up but I moved locally for some reason. Now my contacts are all over the place and unsynced. I think I even forgot to greet a certain family member of their birthday because of this.

One more con for Proton Calendar, somehow it does not copy certain information like birthdays when imported from a contact list export.

I think I also had a lot of notes within my contacts with nextcloud/etesync.

Im so disappointed with Etesync. Insert you were supposed to be the one Anakin meme

4

So far, this is my solution:

For calendar, I am going to use Proton Calendar. This means using the web interface on my laptop. However, I realise now that it supports email notifications, so I can still get notifications on my laptop. On my Android phone I’m using the app, although it’s disappointing that it’s not open source at the moment. Hopefully it will be soon.

For contacts, I have my contacts on Proton Mail, and I have them imported to GNOME Contacts and Android. When I update them, I will do this on GNOME Contacts or Android, and then I should be able to import them to Proton Mail without creating a duplicate. For deletion, I will have to delete the contact three times. For new contacts, I can export those separately and import them on GNOME Contacts and Android. Hopefully in the future Proton Mail will support syncing the contacts to Android.

For tasks, I am using Proton Calendar for tasks that have a date, and my notes solution for tasks without a date.

This is not the best solution, but in some respects, namely the fact that Proton Calendar and Proton Mail are maintained, it is a better solution than EteSync.

In others, namely syncing contacts to devices, syncing calendar to GNOME Calendar, and proper tasks support, this solution is inferior.

5

The main issue with not using etesync now is in how to solve the contacts issue, because there are options with notes (standard notes, notesnook, joplin, etc), calendars (proton, tutanota, etc), tasks (now notesnook). But for contacts what I do is have local contacs on android and every so often export them to a syncthing folder. is not encrypted on my pc nor my phone but at least they are on transit. Then every onece in a while again I buck them up from my pc to within my main backup solution

6

It should not be an issue if the information is stored in an encrypted drive. I plan to sync my contacts via CardDAV and calendar via CalDAV.

7

yeah thats wher eI stored them the only issue is that I have to put it on the android phone on a folder that many apps could have access, but is not much of a problem actually.