[PATCH] Change calendar/contact sync frequency (2.2.4) - testers wanted

[greenoyster]

Hi there. This is my first attempt at publishing a patch.

This patch for webOS 2.2.4 lets you change how often calendars and contacts sync for Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

webOS normally syncs Google and Yahoo every 20 minutes, and Facebook and LinkedIn every 24 hours, with no way to change the frequency. Another way of looking at it is that if you have a Google account and a Yahoo account (or two Google accounts, etc) with calendar and contacts for both, your phone is syncing up to 2 x 2 x 3 = 12 times per hour.

This patch, which requires Tweaks, allows you to change the sync frequency to 15m, 20m, 30m, 1h, 3h, 6h, 24h, or 48h. It also allows you to disable syncing when wifi is not available, or when the battery is below some percentage.

So far I've only done some limited testing, so I need your help. If you're running 2.2.4, are technically-inclined and not afraid to get your feet wet -- or have to remove/readd your accounts, or in the worst case, doctor your device -- then please try this out.

EDIT: Now available in Preware!

First, I'm assuming you already have Tweaks and WebOS Quick Install set up. Install the attached patch. Then take the attached tweakable-pimsync-frequency.json.txt and rename it to tweakable-pimsync-frequency.json . Install the json file to /media/cryptofs/apps/usr/palm/services/org.webosinternals.tweaks.prefs/preferences/ on the device.

After that, you can open Tweaks and change the sync settings under the "contacts" and "calendar" categories. The changes will not take affect until you sync each account -- you can do this easily by opening the contacts/calendar app and selecting "sync now" from the menu.

To remove, delete the patch from WebOS Quick Install or the Preware package manager. Note that any settings you set will continue to apply to any existing accounts after you uninstall the patch.

There's one additional change that the patch applies, which is a fix for calendar/contact sync times being erratic when the device is idle. The patch makes syncs happen on a regular interval. This could mean more syncs in some cases (see the 12x per hour number above), including for the default 20m sync, but the syncs will be faster so it's not certain if the power drain will be better or worse.

If you're finding worse power usage at the 20+ minute settings than without the patch, let me know. To fully undo the change, after removing the patch you'll need to add/remove the accounts (via the accounts app), or at minimum, go into the accounts app and toggle off contacts/calendar, swipe back, open the account again, and turn them back on.

If the patch works well, I'll look into making a 2.1.0 version of the patch. I've also attached a 3.0.5 version but it's completely untested.

P.S. Don't try to add any settings to the json file unless you know what you're doing. The scheduler that webOS uses will puke if you give it an interval that isn't an exact multiple of certain values.

[Semma2]

Is there any way to force a complete calendar sync refresh equivalent to deleting the account and re-adding it, which is what I have to do now? My Yahoo calendar only syncs correctly for a couple of days at a time. Then it seems to miss a sync, and from then on the new items do not appear. I'm guessing it's because they are now marked as already-synced somewhere, even though they are not on the TP calendar. Maybe there's a way to force the complete refresh once a day?

[gizmo21]

Does this patch also modify "Microsoft Exchange Active Sync" Synergy Account synctimes in webOS? I wanted to find exactly this, cause i just made a docu for Building your own cloud with Zarafa using EAS to sync and didn't want to sync all the time.

* Sadly i found no solution so far for automatically start the sync from the webos device to the server when i'm at home (wifi) at these running hours
** so when zarafa is running you have to manually start syncs in webOS by opening "Accounts" - <<Zarafa>> - "Change Login" - and enter same password again
-> this triggers a new sync, Which is not perfect cause not automatically done.
But is a trade-off for not having the HDDs running all the time and i'm used to start syncing manually as i had Chapura Echo Palm Desktop Sync before

If someone knows a better method or knows why the EAS-Synergy-Service stops to search for the server after not beeing able to connect for a while (which i assume is the problem),
PLEASE POST HERE.

For that Wifi=sync option also a specific SSID=sync would be nice, as not everybody wants to sync his data on McDo or StarBucks Wifi

[greenoyster]

Originally Posted by Semma2

Is there any way to force a complete calendar sync refresh equivalent to deleting the account and re-adding it, which is what I have to do now? My Yahoo calendar only syncs correctly for a couple of days at a time. Then it seems to miss a sync, and from then on the new items do not appear. I'm guessing it's because they are now marked as already-synced somewhere, even though they are not on the TP calendar. Maybe there's a way to force the complete refresh once a day?

Without digging into the code, probably not. The closest option would be to disable and re-enable the calendar option using the toggle in the accounts app, which is the same as removing and readding it but a little faster since you don't have to type in your username/password again.

Originally Posted by gizmo21

Does this patch also modify "Microsoft Exchange Active Sync" Synergy Account synctimes in webOS? I wanted to find exactly this, cause i just made a docu for Building your own cloud with Zarafa using EAS to sync and didn't want to sync all the time.

It doesn't affect Exchange. EAS syncs email, contacts, calendar, and tasks on whatever schedule it syncs email. But if it's using push, it should only update if there's something new or changed so it shouldn't cost any extra power.

Originally Posted by gizmo21

For that Wifi=sync option also a specific SSID=sync would be nice, as not everybody wants to sync his data on McDo or StarBucks Wifi

Might be doable but it would take some work. Right now it just adds a "require wifi" flag to the sync task but the scheduler doesn't have a ssid option.

[bigsnyder]

Does this patch still need the txt file manually copied to the specified directory if installing from preware?

[Grabber5.0]

Originally Posted by greenoyster

It doesn't affect Exchange. EAS syncs email, contacts, calendar, and tasks on whatever schedule it syncs email. But if it's using push, it should only update if there's something new or changed so it shouldn't cost any extra power.

Have you looked at EAS enough to know if is possible to add a 'peak/off-peak' hours feature like most other smartphones have for EAS? That is one feature I've missed since I got my Pre in '09.

[greenoyster]

Originally Posted by bigsnyder

Does this patch still need the txt file manually copied to the specified directory if installing from preware?

The preware version should take care of everything.

Originally Posted by Grabber5.0

Have you looked at EAS enough to know if is possible to add a 'peak/off-peak' hours feature like most other smartphones have for EAS? That is one feature I've missed since I got my Pre in '09.

Most of the Synergy services use the Activity Manager to decide when to sync, but Activity Manager doesn't support a "peak/off-peak" hours setting. Also, EAS is binary/native and hasn't been open sourced, so it can't be changed directly.

You might be able to use Mode Switcher to change the sync frequency preference to a different value at night, though.

[sshaka]

Thanks for this great patch!!! The best of all!!!

Thanks to this patch I can save battery power and my Pre 2 no longer slows at syncs my calendar and contacts accounts!!!

This gives me a better browsing experience and a faster device than before!!!

MANY THANKS greenoyster!!!

[OldSkoolVWLover]

I think Mode Switcher might be a good idea if it can work to control EAS.

With EAS, can't IT override device settings anyways?

[sshaka]

Originally Posted by OldSkoolVWLover

I think Mode Switcher might be a good idea if it can work to control EAS.

With EAS, can't IT override device settings anyways?

Good idea!!! I hope so!!!

[jmdesai]

Originally Posted by sshaka

Thanks for this great patch!!! The best of all!!!

Thanks to this patch I can save battery power and my Pre 2 no longer slows at syncs my calendar and contacts accounts!!!

This gives me a better browsing experience and a faster device than before!!!

MANY THANKS !!!

Do you confirm any observable difference in speed? I just installed the patch but it is too early to make any comment on performance improvement. Though it should make some difference in theory. Why waste bandwidth unnecessarily? Thanks for the nice patch

[sshaka]

Originally Posted by jmdesai

Do you confirm any observable difference in speed? I just installed the patch but it is too early to make any comment on performance improvement. Though it should make some difference in theory. Why waste bandwidth unnecessarily? Thanks for the nice patch

Undoubtedly this patch changes the speed of my Palm Pre 2: It Flies!!!