One of the first things that I had to do once I setup my secure phone was figure out how to sync my contacts. Most of my contacts were stored in my Google Mail account. I wanted to find a similar solution where I could store my contacts on the cloud and sync them with my phone. Google and Android make this a simple task. Doing without Google and Android is more difficult but not impossible and there are some good options for accomplishing this. I’ll present my solution this isn’t the only solution.
I use DAVx⁵ and a NextCloud hosting company, called cloudamo.com, to accomplish storage and sync my contacts. DAVx⁵’s purpose is to synchronize your DAVx⁵ account on the Android device with your CalDAV/CardDAV server. The contact data is stored on cloudamo.com in the cloud and synced to my phone via DAVx⁵. On a side note, not only can you store your contacts in your cloudamo.com account but also photos, passwords, and other random information. I just keep finding more stuff to put there… It’s great!
Step 1: Export Contacts from Google
- Go to Google Contacts.
- Select one of the following:
- A single contact: Check the box next to the contact name.
- Multiple contacts: Check the boxes next to all the contacts you want to export.
- All contacts: Check the box next to any contact and in the top left, click Selection Actions
All.
- In the top left, click More actions
- To back up your contacts, select Google CSV.
- To save your file, click Export.
- After you export your contacts, learn how to delete contacts you don’t need.
Once I have contact data in CSV format then I imported the contacts into cloudamo.com. Here is a great video that goes through the details of how to import contacts into NextCloud.
Step 2: Import Contacts into NextCloud
Once the setup is completed then the contact on your phone will automatically sync with the cloudamo.com account. Any changes to either will pass through to contacts on both the phone and cloudamo.com. You can make contact additions or updates on either your phone or the cloudamo.com portal. I find it convenient to have access to my data on both my phone and the cloudamo.com portal.
Step 3: Verify Contact Sync
Try adding a new contact on your phone and see if it shows up on your NextCloud account. Login to https://cloudamo.com/login and go to Contacts. Wait for a few minutes to allow the new contact to sync then go to Contacts to search for the new contact.