Tool Idea: Use SDK to create a Contacts tool that connects to a CardDAV server?

[DrKirk]

Our household uses DAVx5 on our cellphones (one running Google Android and one running iodéOS) and Thunderbird on our computers (one running Windows and one running Ubuntu), and this lets us synchronize our contacts and our calendar that are hosted at a NextCloud service across ALL of our cellphones and computers in our household.

This is super-handy, as everyone in our household has access to all contacts and can see all appointments.

I see here that the Light Phone III supports connecting the Calendar tool to a CalDAV server through that server's URL (such as the CalDAV-specific URL that one can get through a NextCloud service such as TheGood.Cloud).

QUESTION: Is it conceivable that one could use the SDK to create a Contacts tool that connects to a CardDAV server?

I am considering ordering a Light Phone III for November delivery, but I would like to know the answer to this question before ordering ... and before the price increases!

Thank you!

[dryusername]

I'm not a part of the official team, and don't have much experience modding my LightPhone (LP), but to my understanding the LP uses DAVx5 to sync contacts and calendars. In the unofficial modding booklet there is a guide for adding your own servers. I don't know what exact effects that will give you, as LP has it's own way of viewing contacts (doesn't seem to support more then one phone number per contact, etc).

I'd recommend that you talk to the modding community on Reddit about this.

I'd second that proper CardDAV support, and a more complete Contacts app with support for Email, nicknames, multiple phone numbers, profile pictures, etc; would be much appreciated, but I also fully understand that it's a small team, and we have to keep our expectations grounded.

Hope this was useful!

Take care

[DrKirk]

Thank you. I was not aware that LP3 now does NOT provide "a more complete Contacts app with support for Email, nicknames, multiple phone numbers, profile pictures, etc...." I am accustomed to all of this with current deGoogled smartphone, so it would be a step backward now to switch to a Light Phone III.

[dupontgu]

Yep, everything @dryusername said above is correct. The Light Phone uses a custom fork of DAVx5 that gets installed alongside LightOS. We just added some APIs so that we could talk to it via services instead of relying on the UI. So, in theory, if you follow the guide above to add a custom server, and write another tool to view/edit contacts that syncs with Android's contacts provider, everything should sync up naturally.

We would need to add the following to the SDK:

• ability to grant permission for tool to write/read contacts
• patch in the APIs to query contacts from Android
• add methods to initiate a call or message from an external tool

I think we absolutely want to do all of these but I don't know when they'll drop.

[DrKirk]

Thank you. I appreciate your forthrightness with this: "I think we absolutely want to do all of these but I don't know when they'll drop." I plan now to look again at Light Phone III after it has a distinct Contacts tool with full CardDAV support. Thanks again!

UPDATE:

I saw that the LP3 price rose by US$200 during the day today, but I also saw that Light opened pre-orders for the new Light Flip.

So, I ordered a Flip for delivery in April (2027), with the hope that you in the interim will add what you listed to the SDK!

REQUEST:

Please keep us informed about those SDK additions, as I can use your simulator to try to code with them to create such a Contacts tool!