I don’t have a google account and don’t want one and really prefer to not upload my contacts to someone else’s server as a matter of principle. I have a personal nextcloud server so could use that if it helps, but it’s not clear that it does.

I tried exporting the old contacts as a .vcf file and importing the .vcf to the new phone, and that MOSTLY worked, but it seems to have lost the labels on the phone numbers. E.g. my entry for XYZ Bank had separate phone numbers for payments, credit card, and so on. Those got transferred to the new phone as home, mobile, work. I.e. .vcf doesn’t seem to handle custom labels.

Is there some kind of workaround? The vcf scheme seems like about the best, except for the issue of losing the contact labels.

To complicate matters a bit, I’ve been using the new phone for a couple weeks now, so I have added or edited some contacts on it. That means if I do another transfer, I’d prefer to not wipe out the contacts database on the new phone, though if that is unavoidable I guess I can survive.

Old phone is Android 7 and new phone is Android 13 if that matters. I haven’t examined the .vcf file in an editor but I guess I should try that.

Thanks for any advice.

  • @solrizeOPEnglish
    1•11 months ago

    Thanks, I’m using the standard google contacts app for both import and export, but I will try to examine the exported vcf. Any idea what files contacts are actually stored in? I’ll look for some backup programs on fdroid but MyBackup Pro sounds like a Google Play app and I don’t want a google account (or more broadly, to install anything non-FOSS on the phone, though I’m for now holding my nose and using a few of the preinstalled Google apps). That is interesting about vcf handling the custom labels.