Add Import/Export as another option for Sync

Aaron

I believe the recent sync service outage has caused great trouble to many people who work on multiple devices, because the mobile version currently does not provide import/export like the desktop version (only password export).
My suggestion is to add export/import from local files in Sync's target selections.

The benefits of doing this are:

Alleviate the pressure on the synchronization server;
Provide the ability to run multiple devices in offline/intranet environments;
Provide users with the possibility of offline backup profiles.
(From @far4 )Provide switching manual/automatic sync options and manual sync button.

far4

I would also add the ability to disable autosynchronization mode and synchronize only manually at the press of a button, while remaining logged in.
Its also alleviate the pressure on the synchronization server.

Viqsi

I wouldn't mind a self-hosted sync option but that might be a bridge too far...

EDIT: It's been suggested and there's a separate thread for it. https://forum.vivaldi.net/topic/64900/our-own-server-to-authenticate-users-and-sync-their-preferenced/
Went there and upvoted.

Aaron

@Viqsi
So I think adding an import/export function to the synchronization function is the relatively simplest solution.
Exporting is equivalent to packaging the synchronized data and sending it to a local file. You only need to add a save file dialog box.
Similarly, importing is equivalent to reading synchronized data from a local file, and only requires the addition of a file selection dialog box.

Viqsi

@Aaron I think the biggest concern would be that in doing this you're potentially commtting to legacy support of old formats of the serialized sync data. Folks move on from older versions of the browser (for security reasons if nothing else), and maintaining the sync server yourself means you automatically have telemetry data w/r/t what versions you still need to be supporting in case the sync data format has to change in some way. By making it a user option, suddenly that assurance goes away if some user deides to hold onto an ancient backup forever and expects it to still work. You can say "the old backups won't work", but, well, they also said upfront "sync is not backup" and yet look at all the data loss complaints.

That's less of an issue than the sync server data loss, true (heck, if in some hypothetical future that comes up, I imagine I could volunteer-write a script to bring old backups up to Newext Vivaldi Backup Version Du Jour), but I could see that being a planning concern.

Aaron

@Viqsi
Quite true. This requires official strategy. New versions may modify the data format. If the backup is too old, it may become invalid because the format is incorrect and cannot be imported.

Aaron

@Viqsi said in Add Import/Export as another option for Sync:

I imagine I could volunteer-write a script to bring old backups up to Newext Vivaldi Backup Version Du Jour

I once tried to use SQLite browser to open some files in the profile, but the database was encrypted and the official key was not provided. Perhaps its internal data structures will never be exposed.

Viqsi

@Aaron I was kind of imagining a world in which this feature is implemented, maybe as gzipped json or something.

Viqsi

@Aaron I'd have assumed it's the same as your sync encryption key. Which would make some sense as there's (hypothetically) passwords in there.

ZhanXiaoGe

I hope for a self-hosted sync service. Manual import and export still require user intervention, but I believe this feature could still be available as a fallback option for users without their own servers.

Aaron

@ZhanXiaoGe
I feel like it might be flexible to import/export from/to local files. Because this provides the possibility for users to choose their own synchronization server.
If you think it is feasible, please vote for the top post.

Viqsi

@ZhanXiaoGe There's a separate thread for that:
https://forum.vivaldi.net/topic/64900/our-own-server-to-authenticate-users-and-sync-their-preferenced/