On the beta channel, GeneralSync now provides support for event attendees / invitations and permits you to hide event details from selected devices. Events and contacts edited or created under the new version are not visible in old versions of GeneralSync. For Thunderbird, there is no dedicated beta update channel – you can download the new version 0.3.1.1b here.
GeneralSync's beta update channel received another major update: you can now add attendees to your events from any device (note: not all Android calendar apps support attendee information). When performing changes on Thunderbird, participants are automatically notified via email – and can reply to update their attendance status or propose new times.
To enable the new feature, install the new beta version of the Thunderbird-Add-on (0.3.1.1b) and restart Thunderbird. Right-click a GeneralSync calendar in the calendars tab and select "Properties". In that dialog, you can now select the email address to use for invitations with this calendar. On Android, some calendar apps also require an email address to display your events correctly: simply tap on a calendar in the dashboard (main screen) of the GeneralSync app, the email can then be set along with the calendar's color and name.
Along with the new feature, GeneralSync's internal data format changed. Events and contacts created with the new beta version are thus invisible on devices that do not yet run the new version. The new data format permits some minor changes that were commonly requested; most notably, you can now use arbitrary characters to format phone numbers.
Finally, the new version contains two new modes to unidirectionally send a calendar to another device:
"availability information" sends only start and end times, as well as the free/busy flag of the event. That way, the receiving party can determine when you're available – without granting access to more private parts of your calendar.
"non-confidential events and availability information" provides full read-only access to all events not marked as confidential. Those confidential events are restricted to start and end times, as well as their free/busy flag.
With these new modes, you can now grant colleagues or family members partial access to your calendar, without compromising your privacy.
As usual, the new version will be published on the regular update channel in a few weeks.
Happy Syncing!
Edit (2018-08-08): links have been updated to the new Version 0.3.1.1b of the Thunderbird add-on, which improves compatibility with Thunderbird 60.
