K-9 Mail - Import contacts?

[s|b]

I'm being asked if it's possible to import contacts to K-9 Mail. The
device is a Huawei G6. The app:

K-9 Mail
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fsck.k9>

To app has permission to read and edit contacts. Weird enough nothing
happens when a new mail is created and the contact (which has an
e-mailaddress) is added.

I did a search and can't find anything useful, not even in the online
FAQ of the app. The user is now asking me if/how he can import contacts
(in VCF format or an exported file from a mailclient or something else)
to K-9.

Since the app also has permission for settings to synchronize I'm
wondering if that is the culprit.

Your input is very welcome. Tnx!

--
s|b

[Andy Burns]

s|b wrote:

> I'm being asked if it's possible to import contacts to K-9 Mail.

No, it can't import them, but it does *use* the phones normal contacts.

[VanguardLH]

s|b <m...@privacy.invalid> on 2017/02/03 wrote:

> I'm being asked if it's possible to import contacts to K-9 Mail. The
> device is a Huawei G6. The app:
>
> K-9 Mail
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fsck.k9>
>
> To app has permission to read and edit contacts.

Read them from where? From the list shown by the Contacts app? Does
K-9 actually have its own internally managed contacts list? If K9 can
read the Contacts app's list, especially if that is all it uses for its
contacts list, then use something that updates that list. You don't
need duplicated contacts within some internal K9 list if can or only
uses the list from the Contacts app.

Since the Gmail app comes bundled with Android, you could use a Gmail
account. You likely already have a Google account since the Android is
pretty useless without one. Go online (web) and use their webmail
client to import contacts into your Gmail account. The Gmail app on the
smartphone will sync to your Gmail account. If you configured the Gmail
app to allow Internet access only via wi-fi (Settings -> Data usage ->
Gmail app, scroll down to "Restrict background data") then the Gmail app
won't sync if the phone only has a cellular connection (and obviously no
sync if no wi-fi and no cellular connection). The contacts up in your
Gmail account will appear in the Contacts app on the smartphone.

What's your reason for not using the Gmail app already bundled in the
Android OS? I haven't bothered looking at using "Inbox by Gmail" to
replace the standard Gmail app in Android. Alas, it only supports Gmail
accounts.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2935949/5-reasons-to-switch-to-inbox-by-gmail-and-4-reasons-not-to.html

While I have one, it is not used for e-mail other than for voicemail
alerts from my Google Voice account. I use Microsoft's (Hotmail,
Outlook.com) and my ISP's e-mail services. For those, and to utilize
Microsoft's proprietary ActiveSync (crippled Exchange), I use the MS
Outlook app on my Android phone. However, I do import my contacts using
the Gmail webmail client to keep them up to date in that account so they
get synchronized to my phone to show under the Contacts app.

[s|b]

On Fri, 3 Feb 2017 19:59:35 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:

> > I'm being asked if it's possible to import contacts to K-9 Mail.

> No, it can't import them, but it does *use* the phones normal contacts.

That's what I thought as well. It was like that on my Samsung Galaxy S4
Mini and now on my Nexus 5X. So, somehow K-9 can't access the phone's
access...

--
s|b

[s|b]

On Fri, 3 Feb 2017 14:30:57 -0600, VanguardLH wrote:

> > To app has permission to read and edit contacts.

> Read them from where? From the list shown by the Contacts app?

I would think so.

> Does
> K-9 actually have its own internally managed contacts list?

I don't know. It's another user who is asking for help online. I don't
have the device in my hands.

> If K9 can
> read the Contacts app's list, especially if that is all it uses for its
> contacts list, then use something that updates that list. You don't
> need duplicated contacts within some internal K9 list if can or only
> uses the list from the Contacts app.

The problem is that K-9 does *not* seem to be able to use those
contacts, hence my question.

> Since the Gmail app comes bundled with Android, you could use a Gmail
> account.

The user was already using the default mail app (I don't know which that
is). The problem there was that it either didn't check for mail or did,
but didn't send a notification. I suggested he'd switch to K-9 Mail. Now
he gets notifications, but he can't seem to be able to access his
contacts (which contains e-mailaddresses).

> You

It's not about me.

> likely already have a Google account since the Android is
> pretty useless without one. Go online (web) and use their webmail
> client to import contacts into your Gmail account. The Gmail app on the
> smartphone will sync to your Gmail account. If you configured the Gmail
> app to allow Internet access only via wi-fi (Settings -> Data usage ->
> Gmail app, scroll down to "Restrict background data") then the Gmail app
> won't sync if the phone only has a cellular connection (and obviously no
> sync if no wi-fi and no cellular connection). The contacts up in your
> Gmail account will appear in the Contacts app on the smartphone.

I'll suggest this to him.

> What's your reason for not using the Gmail app already bundled in the
> Android OS?

Not my choice. I don't know what mail app Huawei uses by default, but it
wasn't working for the user.

> I haven't bothered looking at using "Inbox by Gmail" to
> replace the standard Gmail app in Android. Alas, it only supports Gmail
> accounts.
>
> http://www.pcworld.com/article/2935949/5-reasons-to-switch-to-inbox-by-gmail-and-4-reasons-not-to.html

I'll read that later, but I'm pretty sure the user wants to have access
to not-Gmail accounts.

> While I have one, it is not used for e-mail other than for voicemail
> alerts from my Google Voice account. I use Microsoft's (Hotmail,
> Outlook.com) and my ISP's e-mail services. For those, and to utilize
> Microsoft's proprietary ActiveSync (crippled Exchange), I use the MS
> Outlook app on my Android phone. However, I do import my contacts using
> the Gmail webmail client to keep them up to date in that account so they
> get synchronized to my phone to show under the Contacts app.

--
s|b

[Nil]

On 03 Feb 2017, "s|b" <m...@privacy.invalid> wrote in
comp.mobile.android:

> The problem is that K-9 does *not* seem to be able to use those
> contacts, hence my question.

Ii does for me on the several phones I use or have used K9 on. In fact,
all the email apps I've used can access the phones native contact list.
I've never seen one that didn't.

[VanguardLH]

s|b <m...@privacy.invalid> on 2017/02/03 wrote:

> VanguardLH wrote:
>
>> Does K-9 actually have its own internally managed contacts list?
>
> I don't know. It's another user who is asking for help online. I don't
> have the device in my hands.

https://k9mail.github.io/documentation.html

There is nothing there about creating, deleting, modifying, or managing
a contacts list. So they get it from elsewhere. Most likely from the
Contacts app already in Android (which can sync with a Gmail account).

The user is not required to use Gmail for their e-mail service.
However, it's pretty hard to use an Android phone without having a Gmail
account. All he wants is to import contacts to his smartphone. Do that
through the Gmail account which will sync to the smartphone's Contacts.

> The problem is that K-9 does *not* seem to be able to use those
> contacts, hence my question.

I see nothing documented about K9 that says it has a contacts manager.

http://androidforums.com/threads/adding-contacts-in-k9-mail.60852/

So they agree that K-9 does *not* have a contacts manager. It uses the
Contacts app's list. Either the user has to manually enter contacts in
the Contacts app or let the smartphone sync to their Gmail account to
get whatever contacts are defined online. If the user has entered no
contacts into the Contacts app and their Gmail account (online) has no
contacts (empty list) then Contacts on the smartphone will be empty.
Alternatively, if they somehow managed to setup and use an Android
smartphone without a Gmail account then there can be no sync to contacts
in an online Gmail account so the only contacts the user will see are
those they manually enter in the smartphone's Contacts app.

>> You
>
> It's not about me.

You are here. The other person is not. So you get to be them by proxy.

[Arno Welzel]

s|b wrote:

> I'm being asked if it's possible to import contacts to K-9 Mail. The
> device is a Huawei G6. The app:
>
> K-9 Mail
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fsck.k9>
>
> To app has permission to read and edit contacts. Weird enough nothing
> happens when a new mail is created and the contact (which has an
> e-mailaddress) is added.

What do you expect to happen?

K-9 can use existing contacts from the Android addressbook, it will not
use it's own list. When you use the "Add from Contacts" menu in a new
e-mail you select a contact from the addressbook and the e-mail address
should be added in the "To" field.


--
Arno Welzel
https://arnowelzel.de
https://de-rec-fahrrad.de
http://fahrradzukunft.de

[s|b]

On Fri, 03 Feb 2017 20:10:17 +0100, s|b wrote:

> I'm being asked if it's possible to import contacts to K-9 Mail. The
> device is a Huawei G6. The app:
>
> K-9 Mail
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fsck.k9>

I suggested the user to reboot his device and guess what: K-9 now "sees"
the e-mailaddresses in the Contacts list. I guess this problem is
solved. Tnx everybody!

--
s|b

[Kees Nuyt]

On Fri, 03 Feb 2017 20:10:17 +0100, "s|b" <m...@privacy.invalid>
wrote:

The Huawei might have a "Settings" / "All" / "Permission manager"
that blocks access to Contacts. (my Ascend Y330-U01 does)
--
Kees Nuyt

[s|b]

On Sun, 05 Feb 2017 14:07:48 +0100, Kees Nuyt wrote:

> The Huawei might have a "Settings" / "All" / "Permission manager"
> that blocks access to Contacts. (my Ascend Y330-U01 does)

I already mentioned in the OP that the app has permission to read and
edit contacts. Turns out he needed to reboot the device to access
contacts to which he had added an e-mailaddress.

--
s|b