Android v7: Import close to 8000 complex contacts in one shot


Question

I have close to 8000 vcf files in a directory on the usb stick. I attach the stick to my phone and all files are perfectly visible. In the contacts app I choose import, select the stick, and it shows me all the contacts, so I choose "import all".



Unfortunately only first few dozens get imported.



Apparently Android v4 had the same problem as the following question explains: Transfer and import .VCF Contacts



It seems to me unlikely that so obvious contact app error remains unfixed for years.



How to make the contact app import all of them?



Please note that some of the contacts (actually quite few of them) are fairly complex with a lot of data - such as for example multiple, long "note" fields, multiple phone numbers with different attributes, sometimes custom-defined, very long company name fields, multiple addresses (private / business / branch office list, etc.) and so on.


Answer

Unfortunately most of the apps I tried expected one large VCF file and/or rejected VCF files with a lot of additional information, such as multiple "note" fields for one contact, too long "company" field, multiple phones with various attributes (primary/private mobile/business mobile/etc.) and so on.



After some searching and trying a few apps I found the following solution:




  1. I have imported the VCF files to old Nokia Symbian based phone - Symbian has excellent VCF importer.


  2. I used this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.madajevi.android.phonebook.transfer to transfer the contacts directly via bluetooth.




App advantages:




  • imports all contacts, even the most complex ones without skipping user defined attributes nor multiple repeated fields



App disadvantages:




  • very slow (it took the whole night to transfer nearly 8000 contacts)


  • asks for strange, unnecessary permissions (I kept refusing, forgot exactly which ones)


  • synchronizes NOT with the local address book but with Google Contacts which means that your contacts actually are seen on the Internet - important security breach, do NOT use the app for confidential data


  • full-screen user interface with no exit button - after finish you need to kill the app via task manager





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