I tried to transfer my google calendar to proton (and failed)

Jan 15, 2025

Basically, the title.

I’ve been building up the courage to switch since I started googling my digital life about three years ago. At first, there was a browser. This is the easiest – Firefox instead of Chrome, obviously. Then there is mail. I found out about SimpleLogin and started using it by routing all my aliases to one Proton email address. This was long before their partnership with SimpleLogin. Next, I moved the drive and the documents stored on it. Finally, there is the calendar.

why de-googling

Everything about my life is hosted within the Google ecosystem. Personal documents, bank statements, you name it. But Google’s privacy practices are deeply concerning, if not alarming. I’m tired of them using and selling my data for advertising – my browsing behavior, purchasing habits, and my email conversations. Google was, and unfortunately still is, everywhere. It’s on my phone, in my bedroom, and in my friends’ houses. The company’s primary business model is advertising, and so their revenue streams speak for themselves.

the setup

But let’s get back to the topic of this post. What happened to the Proton Calendar? Before we dive in, here’s my setup as I begin the process:

• Work email (blymp) is on Google, so my personal calendar should sync with it
• Personal and work calendars must sync with iCalendar on my iPhone because iMadePoorChoicesEarlierInLife
• I can add and edit events through my phone’s calendar, work and personal.

import google calendar to proton

I started by importing my main google calendar, and was happy to find that Proton provides a simple integration called Easy Switch. It’s just one button to do everything.

I pressed, and they told me that I had to wait for a while, and only about 10 minutes later they informed me that it was done.

Perfect, I thought, and removed the synchronization of my google calendar from the iPhone and the work calendar. There is no going back.

It is, in fact, an “easy​​​​ switch”. I mean… if it was true, there would be no story left.

sync proton calendars with google and icalendar

Things quickly got messy. Proton Calendar allows you to create public links, so you can export your calendars anywhere. And while this looks good in theory, in practice it only allows read-only exports, unless the receiving party is also on Proton. That means, I can’t change events in my personal calendar from my work browser or from my phone unless I use their official app. That’s a bummer.

But giving up too soon almost means not trying at all. And because of my love for other Proton services, I really want to try this one. So I tried

sync with other proton calendars

The iCalendar home screen widget is great. If you’ve forgotten my home screen, it’s worth a reminder:

See the calendar in the middle. This is probably the most used piece of real estate on my entire phone.

But there are things you do for love… like installing Proton’s own calendar app. Using iCalendar is no longer an option, because I can’t sync my proton calendar with it, but at least I can try to sync my work calendar with the Proton app and try to use it within a few weeks.

My blimp calendar has a few links in the settings to help me export it, and I tried pasting them all into the Proton app, one by one, until every one of them was rejected. I quickly realized that my work calendar is private and cannot be exported anywhere. There is, however, a button to make it public. I clicked. This prompts:

No.

I went back and double checked the Proton instructions. I can’t believe this is it. And indeed, there is an explanation about subscribing to private google calendars.

It says: “Secret address in iCal format: Use this address to access this calendar from other applications without making it public.“

Phew, I know it! But I went to get the same link for my main blimp calendar, and… Wait a second!

The section is not there. Plus, it’s nowhere to be found. Not on this page, and not on any other pages. It just won’t let me create a private link for my main calendar. Like, WTF?!

summary

I failed. Exporting the Proton calendar can only be done in read-only mode, so I can’t add events unless I use their official application. And when I installed their app, I couldn’t add my work calendar to it because Proton doesn’t have an option to connect Google accounts in any way other than an iCal url. And the url doesn’t work because my work email is private (and will stay that way).

At the end of the process, I was confused. Why do I have to jump through hoops to do something so simple? Why is there no standardized way to share calendars? Like a secret token that one can create that carries two pieces of information: the permission level (editing or viewing) and a type of information displayed (busy / available status or full title/description).

I’m sure Proton will make it all work in the future. By bridge, as they do for the Mail, or otherwise. Maybe, they will even make an iPhone widget for my minimalist home screen. But until then, sadly, I was forced to return to Google.