I’m looking to reduce my dependence on Google services as much as possible, and Proton seems to offer the most comprehensive private suite. A number of things seemed to be missing, but most of my information is from reviews that could be out of date. So I wanted to ask which of these features Proton can replicate.

  • Thunderbird mail syncing (without paid plan?)
  • Thunderbird calendar syncing
  • Calendar sharing
  • Easy move from google drive to proton drive
  • Sync android photos like google photos
  • Offline file saving for specific files in proton drive on android
  • Sync with folder or mount on linux (smb or similar)
  • @NelizeaMEnglish
    10•7 months ago

    Thunderbird mail syncing (without paid plan?)

    No, the bridge is available for paid plans.

    Thunderbird calendar syncing

    Nope

    Calendar sharing

    With a link to anyone: https://proton.me/support/share-calendar-with-proton-users

    With Proton users:

    https://proton.me/support/share-calendar-with-proton-users

    Easy move from google drive to proton drive

    Not yet there, something like that is planned.

    Sync android photos like google photos

    Not sync but backup:

    https://proton.me/blog/proton-drive-photo-backup-android

    Offline file saving for specific files in proton drive on android

    Offline availability in the Proton Drive app exists.

    Sync with folder or mount on linux (smb or similar)

    Out of the box not. rclone has some support.

    • @BoltOPEnglish
      3•7 months ago

      Proton Drive is online-only so I’m not sure what you’re asking here. Are you asking if you can download files?

      The Google Drive app lets you save a file locally so that you can view it offline. I mean under the hood it is just downloading and syncing, but it’s a lot nicer than having to manage the files you want to view offline yourself.

      That’s a big negative.

      Why? Desktop file backup seems like a pretty similar feature to mobile photo backup (which seems to be working for me).

      Edit: also looking at some videos of the Windows client, folder syncing seems to be possible. Just not yet on Linux. Still not sure why it would be bad.

        • @BoltOPEnglish
          1•7 months ago

          Ah, got it.

      • @[email protected]English
        3•7 months ago

        You can mark a file or folder to be available offline. I do this for travel docs. You still have to use the app to view it though.

      • @[email protected]English
        1•7 months ago

        You can use rclone to mount: https://rclone.org/protondrive/

        Its bi-sync is a little janky for replication. I use B2 Backblaze for my storage that hides instead of deletes by default. I’ve “hidden” everything before on accident.

        I prefer to unidirectional sync, similar to git, but avoiding merges. My local files are in a crypt “remote” so I have to mount. I wrote a simple script to pull, mount, unmount, push to simplify things.

    • @NelizeaMEnglish
      2•7 months ago

      Proton Drive has an offline function.

        • @NelizeaMEnglish
          1•7 months ago

          Come on, we both know this isn’t exactly what OP asked about, let’s stop nitpicking here. What OP meant is a “make available offline” function, which exists.

  • @antihumanitarianEnglish
    5•7 months ago

    I was in a similar position and moved to Proton. Their native Linux support is rudimentary, but nobody else provides a better, privacy respecting option. Their web apps work well though, and the email client uses local storage APIs for offline use and search.

    I do use Mega for cloud storage though, they’re e2ee and have solid Linux (both GUI and really nice CLI) and mobile support.