Personal Address Book Leveraging GMail People

[BitDr]

This idea is not the same as using tbSync, or otherwise setting or adding your gmail accounts "people/contacts" as a separate address book.

Who is asking for this feature?
Business customers who use Thunderbird as their email client.

Why do they feel the need for this feature?
They want the Thunderbird "Personal Address Book" UI to be able to serve as the UI to maintain the GMail People/Contacts. GMail is their email back end.

Would this replace the local Personal Address Book?
No. The Personal Address Book would be uploaded to the GMail People/Contacts address book. The Thunderbird Personal Address Book would be the primary. Not connected to the Internet? No problem.

What if they add a contact through the GMail web interface?
Then on Thunderbird start, or on a ReSync, the new address would be pulled into the Personal Address Book.

Why is this useful?
Think of it as IMAP for the Address Book. It allows (but does not force) Thunderbird users to seamlessly integrate their local Personal Address Book with GMail. It presents to them a familiar UI and does not rely on access to the cloud service, while allowing the use of a browser based email when they must (i.e. have no other choice).

[Jon]

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