(Feature Request) Add the ability to specify custom sync interval

[yuuurchyk]

Hey.

Is there a possibility to add the ability to configure custom sync interval (or to add options lower than 15 mins as it is currently in the app)? (I'm not satisfied with 15 mins to be the lowest possible sync interval).

Thanks

[ArnyminerZ]

Hi, the 15 mins interval is imposed by Android. Apps cannot run periodic works every less than 15 minutes.

Source:

Note: The minimum repeat interval that can be defined is 15 minutes (same as the JobScheduler API).

[yuuurchyk]

Hey, thanks for reaching out! That's a shame :(

Is it possible to make a foreground service then? (perhaps with the ability to switch between period work request and foreground service that is running in the background)

Or will it be too much work/it is not a priority for you? (I'm not a kotlin-savvy person, so it would be interesting to get your opinion on whether this is possible and how much time it may take to implement)

[sunkup]

Or will it be too much work/it is not a priority for you? (I'm not a kotlin-savvy person, so it would be interesting to get your opinion on whether this is possible and how much time it may take to implement)

It would take some time, since we have other priorities, but it's possible for sure.

What is your use case though? Why do you think it's reasonable to sync more often, how much more frequent do you need the sync to be (5min or 3min?) and how do you think this would benefit other users too?

Instead of using a foreground service, maybe it's possible to use a one-time work request which always reshedules itself after a short delay each time it completes.

[yuuurchyk]

Hey, @sunkup
My current use case is to be able to sync calendars from multiple sources (like Google calendar, teams, etc.) into my Samsung calendar.

Since Samsung calendar often has weird synchronization behavior, icsx5 perfectly fills in the gap and makes the calendar app usable.

However, I would like to monitor these calendars live and 15 mins seems like a bit to much to call it live updates. So I think being able to specify 3mins should do the job.

I'm not sure if there are other people with this request, but there may be people who value timely updates more than battery life.

P.S. Regarding the one-time work request: do you think this might be easier to implement? (I'm considering trying to implement it myself eventually, but I don't have much free time and previous experience with kotlin :( So any piece of information regarding the possible implementation options/their complexity and beginner-friendliness is very welcome)

Thanks! :)

[ArnyminerZ]

do you think this might be easier to implement

Definitely not, periodic works in Android are getting harder and harder, and Google is getting really serious with battery usage. I'm not even sure if we would be able to implement this without Google's authorization in order to publish it to Play Store.

We can take a look, for sure, but there are other things first on the TODO list, so we can't say an ETA.

I may also suggest taking a look at DAVx⁵? We provide full integration with Google, and synchronization will be for sure more trustworthy. It will also allow you to synchronize in two ways. I can't say anything regarding Microsoft Teams, I don't know if integration is possible.

Again, I get that lower synchronization times can be useful for some setups, but they are hard to implement, so it will take some time. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[sunkup]

Hey, @sunkup My current use case is to be able to sync calendars from multiple sources (like Google calendar, teams, etc.) into my Samsung calendar.

Since Samsung calendar often has weird synchronization behavior, icsx5 perfectly fills in the gap and makes the calendar app usable.

However, I would like to monitor these calendars live and 15 mins seems like a bit to much to call it live updates. So I think being able to specify 3mins should do the job.

Right. 3 Min aren't really acceptable as live updates either in my world and I think that's not what most users would use ics calendars for ... but I can see the advantage of having live updates.

P.S. Regarding the one-time work request: do you think this might be easier to implement? (I'm considering trying to implement it myself eventually, but I don't have much free time and previous experience with kotlin :( So any piece of information regarding the possible implementation options/their complexity and beginner-friendliness is very welcome)

That was a random idea on my side. I have not seen it implemented and I am not sure it's doable. If it works it has the potential to be quite a bit easier/less code than creating a foreground service. But like @ArnyminerZ says it could be rejected by google and then we would have to use a foreground service. :/

ICSx5 will be fused with DAVx5 at some point. So we are not working a whole lot on ICSx5, meaning maintaining a fork for yourself to play around with until a good PR (ie with foreground service) is ready should not be an issue. So if you want to learn more about Kotlin and Android you are very welcome to investigate this yourself further.

Thanks! :)

You're welcome!