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I use Thunderbird with Lighting calendar addon, which stores calendar data in iCalendar format.

How can I synchronize this calendar and Thunderbird contacts with Android based smartphone (HTC Wildfire).

I know I can use Google Account, but I'd prefer to use bluetooth or even better, local access via wi-fi (no internet connection available).

Is there any complete Ubuntu smartphone synchronization guide somewhere?

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  • just use evolution, and add google calendar and google contacts, it supports them by default!
    – swex
    Commented Oct 10, 2010 at 7:06
  • Looks like you can use this app combined with this Thunderbird extension to sync your Android contacts. I would post a proper answer, but I haven't given this a try, yet.
    – Glutanimate
    Commented Mar 5, 2015 at 12:56

7 Answers 7

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I'm afraid there's no easy solution... Android phones are meant to be used with internet access, and to synchronize with the clouds (basically: with the Google cloud, but you could do it with some other things, like an exchange server or UbuntuOne account).

In any case, synchronizing your phone directly to a local computer is not the way Android works.

Offhand, I think you could make a exchange-like server on your computer (like Zimbra, or Open-Xchange), and make both your Thunderbird and Android sync to it... I'm not sure it would work, and I actually think it's overkill, but... Honestly, I don't see anything else :-(

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    Actually this is not overkill at all. It's the only option for companies (and individuals) who do not want to rely on third party services to host their data.
    – Jon Bentley
    Commented May 16, 2016 at 17:21
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    Yeah, 4 years later, I have to say that I actually ended up doing it too :) I've acquired a Synology server and use it to store my calendar (in replacement of Google), and sync both my Thunderbird and Android devices to it. Works like a charm, even from outside. It is based on WebDAV protocol, and you can easily find Android (opensource) connectors for it.
    – Little Jawa
    Commented Jul 5, 2016 at 13:37
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Use gContactSync thunderbird add-on for the Google Contacts sync: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/8451/

And for the Google Calendar synchronisation you should use "Provider for Google Calendar" for lightning / sunbird: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/provider-for-google-calendar/

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  • Could you explain the usage of the tool? How to install it? What does?
    – Braiam
    Commented Feb 23, 2014 at 0:25
  • I agree, it seems that it only syncs contacts.
    – Svetlana Belkin
    Commented Feb 23, 2014 at 0:35
  • gContactSync is an extension to sync Contacts with thunderbird. For the Google Calendar synchronisation one should use Provider for Google Calendar" for lightning / sunbird. It is located here: addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/…
    – aim
    Commented Nov 4, 2014 at 8:30
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It is not perfect but this is what I did:

  1. I had installed Windows XP as a guest OS on VirtualBox on my Ubuntu machine. Then I installed MyPhoneExplorer on Windows XP. I had also created a folder named VirtualBoxFolder, which I can access both from Ubuntu and from Windows.

  2. I created a new Calendar in Thunderbird/Lightning. This calendar is On the Network, and the address is "file:///home/USER/VirtualBoxFolder/CALENDAR_NAME.ics" (without quotes; you must put your Ubuntu username and your calendar name instead of mine).

  3. Then I configured MyPhoneExplorer to syncronize with that calendar. So I get acces from my HTC Wildfire to the same calendar as my Lightning has. It runs in the two ways (from HTC to the PC and from the PC to the HTC device).

  4. I can also locate the calendar in a DropBox directory instead of the VirtualBox, but I do not like to become network-dependent.

Hope this will help.

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UbuntuOne for mobile devices supports contacts sync. And there is manual to sync contacts with Thunderbird. Hope this helps.

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    Oh, sorry, only Thunderbird 2.x is currently supported. =[
    – PocketSam
    Commented Oct 10, 2010 at 17:22
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for contacts i'm using this app and extension https://sites.google.com/site/roger4apps/

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    Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference.
    – nanofarad
    Commented Jul 19, 2012 at 12:50
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i am using funambol, it works up to now (version 9) Jonas Maurus does great efforts to keep the version updated, despite the tremendous release of version from thunderbird

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    see link
    – Ludide
    Commented Feb 7, 2012 at 18:58
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Use the Zindus add-in in Thunderbird. It works much better than gCaontactSync and has been very reliable over a number of years.

Evolution has not reached maturity yet - its handling of contact data such as birthdays remains in deficit when it comes to syncing data.

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  • This seems like it's just for contacts (and has since been abandoned).
    – Sparhawk
    Commented May 1, 2014 at 1:08

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