Importing .vcf contacts saved from iCloud on Macbook Air via USB-C cable with file transfer turned on

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1

I have a new Fairphone 6 I’m setting up ’ve been following the instructions here:

but unfortunately, when I get to Step 3b:

  • Choose the vCard file you exported from iCloud.

I cannot see the vCard or any files on my Macbook Air…

Any thoughts?

2

but you do have the iCloud exports on the mac?

the idea in 3a is to transfer (via MTP) the .vcf / .ics exports to the filesystem of the phone, like Documents/ - then pickup those files. I guess your expectation was that you see the macs filesystem from the phone?

You can also use an adhoc transfer tool like https://localsend.org/ to juggle files - has packages for every OS or just using the web version.

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thanks for the help. I had no expectation - was following instructions as I’m totally new to Android…

  1. I have exported contacts from iCloud to my desktop and called the file contacts.vcf
  2. I have USB file transfer turned on.
  3. When I goto Contacts > Settings > Import, I select ‘Import Contacts from’ and choose .vcf instead of SIM. I’m asked where to save to and I select Device, and then am taken to a Files Screen with ‘Recent’ at the top and with ‘No items’ listed in the center of the screen…

So I tried Local Send, it installed fine on the Mac, but just keeps saying ‘retry’ from the App Lounge on my Device (FairPhone 6). So its a bit worrying that I seem to have an issue with File Transfer and Installing Local Send, but now that I understand I just need the .vcf file on my device to import, I uploaded the file to my private webmail (Tuta) as a draft, downloaded it to the device and voila - its all imported.

I’m a bit concerned my file transfer is not working as designed… or is it only compatible with certain devices?

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This is the stock Files App serving as a folder or file selector, the App just starts with a list of recently used files by default (of which there don’t seem to be any for you yet, but it doesn’t matter now). You are just supposed to choose a folder or file starting from this screen.
Start in the menu with selecting the phone as storage or the SD card (if there is one), then go from there to select a folder or file.
But …

… you will first have to transfer the VCF file to the phone to then select it there for import. The Files App as a file selector can’t see or search your computer via USB.

File transfer between Android and a computer works via the MTP protocol. Mac users repeatedly report trouble with this. There are positive mentions of OpenMTP … https://openmtp.ganeshrvel.com/

5

on the .vcf import: are you tethered to a Murena account (it’s not mandatory) ?

if yes ..

.. you’d want to make sure you imported the .vcf into the synced address book, not into the device local one. You’d see them here then. The alternative was to import .vcf through the web interface of Murena from your Mac and let it trickle down to the device.

It’s good to have F-Droid and Aurora stores as backup. For localsend to work you need both devices in the same network. You could also just visit https://web.localsend.org/ from both devices

For something less of an ad-hoc thing and continous p2p sync, I’d skip on cables and mtp and use Synctrain on the Apple side, Syncthing on Android.