We are very happy to announce the first release of the EteSync iOS client! Yes, that's right, you can now use EteSync on iOS!

Can't wait? Head over to the README for more information and how to try it out.

Current Status

Please note, that while this release already makes it possible to use EteSync on iOS, the app is far from complete and is under heavy development. You should expect bugs, stub UI elements (buttons that don't work), slow operation and many other woes. With that being said, due to the way EteSync works, there is no risk of data loss!

The iOS app is constantly improving, for an up-to-date status, please refer to the README.

What can you do with this version?

  1. Setup an EteSync account.
  2. Sync the data from your EteSync account to your device.
  3. Sync calendar events and reminders to the system so they can be viewed by any app on the system that has access, such as Calendar and Reminder.
  4. View the change log for all the journals (collections).
  5. Edit journal (collection) names and descriptions.

What's missing or less than optimal?

  1. Sync changes from your device back to EteSync, only "pulling" changes is currently implemented.
  2. Sync is manual. It only syncs when you open the app and when you manually click the sync button. Need to make it automatic and in the background.
  3. A lot of the UI buttons are just stubs that don't work.
  4. Syncing your address book - pending on an Expo release that includes this PR.
  5. The app is very slow - this will drastically improve soon.
  6. The setup is a bit clunky and requires a manual step.
  7. Graceful error handling - the app currently assumes all operations succeed.
  8. The UI needs a bit of design touch-ups.
  9. Release the app on the App Store.

We are making progress every day, and these issues will all be solved soon.

What's next?

As I said above, we are making progress on a daily basis and we plan on releasing a fairly complete version within the next few weeks, proabably before.

Our main short-term goals are:

  1. Implementing sync "push" - syncing changes from your device back to EteSync.
  2. Implementing address book sync: mostly there, though unfortunately pending on a fix in Expo, so it may take a bit of time until this is enabled.
  3. Fixing the aforementioned performance issues.
  4. Implement journal (collection) creation and deletion.

What can you do to help?

The best thing you can do to help is to start using the app and report issues as you experience them. No need to report the issues outlined above or missing features, as we already know about those. Please only report actual bugs, like for example, a certain event not syncing, or event titles showing incorrectly.

You can also help us spread the words about EteSync in general, and the new iOS app specifically. The more people use the apps the easier it is for us to find and fix bugs.

Thank you NLnet and NGI0

We would also like to remind you that the iOS client is made possible with financial support from NLnet Foundation, courtesy of NGI0 Discovery and the European Commission DG CNECT's Next Generation Internet programme. For more information please read the original announcement post.