Stand alone contact manager?

[PMeloy]

Whats a good contact manager that does NOT operate in the cloud nor steal all your personal information? Pay or FOSS is fine but no in-app advertising.

Ability to sync with windows (say Thunderbird or something) would be handy but not necessary. Being able to back-up the database is a must though.

Thanks for any tips!

 

[svim]

Uncheck any 'Sync Contacts' in your Settings >> Accounts. This will leave your phone's Contacts app as its own address book.

If you feel so strongly about privacy than your options are kind of limited. You can set up your own server at home and host your own mail, address book, and calendar services. Look into OwnCloud. If you don't want to run your own server from home, DigitalOcean is a really dependable way to keep your own online, virtual server. Just keep in mind this isn't a trivial project, it will require some effort to set up and then frequent maintenance.
https://owncloud.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OwnCloud
https://www.digitalocean.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DigitalOcean

 

[RazzMaTazz]

As svim says above, I'd also suggest that you use your phone's stock "Contacts" app but uncheck "Sync Contacts" for each of your accounts. Note of caution: When you add contacts, you may want to make sure to add them as "phone-only" contacts rather than as "Google" contacts. If you add them as Google contacts, then even if you've got syncing turned off, Android phones seem to magically start syncing your Google contacts with the Gmails servers anytime that there's a system update, or an app update.... or if you breathe. (Google really wants to get its hands on your contacts.) "Phone-only" contacts are (I think) safe from Google's clutches.

If you want to sync with your PC (Thunderbird or Outlook) via LAN or USB, then I'd recommend the free software called "MyPhoneExplorer by FJSoft", which has been around for many years and is highly regarded-- especially among people who don't want to sync through a cloud. Of course, since you wouldn't be syncing through a cloud, MyPhoneExplorer requires you to install both a PC-app and a phone-app so that the phone and PC can communicate for syncing. If you like, MyPhoneExplorer can optionally sync more than just contacts. I haven't used it in many years but the last time that I used it, it had options for 2-way syncing, or 1-way in either direction, with options for warnings before deleting anything.

 

[AZgl1500]

MyPhoneExplorer has one super duper asset that none of the other apps have.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fjsoft.myphoneexplorer.client


If your screen is broken, and you cannot unlock the phone, it will still communicate with your PC and let you retrieve all of the Contacts, SMS messages and Calendar items. No data, but at least you won't loose your contacts.

see my signature lines
____________________________________
Verizon: Note 4, two ea. Galaxy S5, HTC One M9, VZW MiFi

MyPhoneExplorer lets you access a broken phone while locked
Nova Prime, Textra, Aqua Mail, Qi wireless equipped
MacroDroid can help extend battery life
MacroDroid senses Screen off, turns Wifi OFF
MacroDroid senses Screen UnLock, turns WiFi ON
PureVPN when using a public WiFi

 

[AZgl1500]

too much for the previous message, but look what MyPhoneExplorer can do:

MyPhoneExplorer is a powerful phone management software for your desktop PC.
Some features:
- sync your contacts with Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, Lotus Notes, Tobit David, Windows Contacts,..
- sync your calendar with Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird, Sunbird, Lotus Notes, Tobit David, Windows Calendar,...
- sync your notes with Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes and Windows StickyNotes
- manage your SMS: download to PC, backup, delete, send SMS from desktop
- view the call list of the phone, archive calls, delete them, backup call lists
- sync file directories, copy files between desktop and phone, sync your photos
- create and restore backups (includes contacts, calendar, tasks, notes, sms and files)
- manage installed apps, launch, install, uninstall or download them to your desktop
- control your phone through your desktop with mouse and keyboard, create screenshots
- use the pc keyboard as input method for your phone
- handle calls from your desktop, dial numbers, accept, reject and end calls
- and much more...

Connection via WiFi, USB-Cable or Bluetooth. No data will be handled throught external servers, the whole communication is local.

This is the client which is needed for phone, you'll need also the desktop-software which can be downloaded at www.fjsoft.at.