i tried moving my google calendar to proton (and failed)
Basically, the title.
I've been building up the courage to transition since I started de-googling my digital life about three years ago. At first, there was the browser. It was the easiest — Firefox instead of Chrome, obviously. Then there was mail. I learned about SimpleLogin and started using them by routing all my aliases to a single Proton email address. This was long before their partnership with SimpleLogin. Next, I moved the drive and the documents stored in it. Lastly, there was the calendar.
why de-googling
Everything about my life had been hosted within the Google's ecosystem. Personal documents, bank statements, you name it. But Google’s privacy practices have been increasingly concerning, if not alarming. I got tired of them using and selling my data for advertising — my browsing behavior, purchasing habits, and my email conversations. Google was, and unfortunately still is, everywhere. It is on my phone, in my bedroom, and in my friends' houses. The company's main business model is advertising, and so their revenue streams speak for themselves 1.
the setup
But let’s head back to the topic of this post. What happened to Proton Calendar? Before we dive in, here’s my setup as I began the process:
- Work (blymp's) email is on Google, so my personal calendar should sync with it
- Both personal and work calendars must sync to iCalendar on my iPhone because iMadePoorChoicesEarlierInLife
- I should be able to add and modify events through the calendar on my phone, both work and personal.
importing google calendar to proton
I started by importing my main google calendar, and was happy to learn that Proton provides a simple integration called Easy Switch. It was pretty much a single button to do it all.
I pressed, and they told me I’d need to wait a jiffy, and just about 10 minutes later they notified me that it was done.
Perfect, I thought, and deleted the synchronization with my google calendar from both the iPhone and the work calendar. No way back.
This was, in fact, an “easy switch”. I mean… if it actually was, there wouldn't have been the rest of the story.
syncing proton calendars with google and icalendar
Things got entangled quickly. Proton Calendar lets you create public links, so you can export your calendars anywhere. And while it sounds lovely in theory, in practice it only allows for read-only exports, unless the receiving party is also on Proton. That meant, I wouldn’t be able to modify events in my personal calendar from either my work browser or from my phone unless I am using their official app. That’s a bummer.
But giving up so soon almost meant not trying at all. And because of my love for other Proton services, I really did want to give it a proper try. So I tried
syncing other calendars with proton
The iCalendar’s home screen widget is marvelous. If you already forgot my home screen, it's worth reminding:
Notice the calendar in the middle. This is probably the most used piece of real estate on my entire phone.
But there are things you do for love… like installing Proton’s own calendar app. Using iCalendar wasn’t an option anymore, as I couldn’t sync my proton calendar with it, but at least I could try to sync my work calendar to the Proton’s app and try to use it for a couple of weeks.
My blymp calendar had a few links in the settings to help me export it, and I tried to paste them all into Proton’s app, one by one, until each one of them was declined. I quickly realized that my work calendar was private and couldn’t be exported anywhere. There was, however, a button to make it public. I clicked. It prompted:
Nope.
I went back and double-checked Proton's instructions. I just couldn't believe this was it. And truly, there was an explanation about subscribing to private google calendars.
It says: "Secret address in iCal format: Use this address to access this calendar from other applications without making it public."
Phew, I knew it! But then I went to get the same link for my main blymp calendar, and… Wait a second!
The section was not there. Moreover, it was nowhere. Not on this page, and not on any other pages. It just wouldn't let me create a private link for my main calendar. Like, WTF?!
summary
I failed. Exporting Proton’s calendar is only possible in read-only mode, so I can’t add events unless I’m using their official application. And when I installed their app, I couldn’t add my work calendar to it because Proton doesn’t have an option to connect to Google accounts by any means other than by an iCal url. And the url did not work because my work email is private (and will stay so).
At the end of the process, I was confused. Why did I have to jump through hoops to make a simple thing work? Why is there no standardized way to share calendars? Like a secret token one could generate that will carry along two pieces of information: the permission level (edit or view) and a type of information displayed (only busy/available status or full title/description).
I am sure Proton will make it all work in the future. Through the bridge, like they did for Mail, or otherwise. Perhaps, they will even make an iPhone widget for my minimalist home screen. But until then, sadly, I am forced to go back to Google.
P.S. Surprisingly, this sparked an interesting discussion on HackerNews: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42707606