contacts-to-remind/future-improvements.md

Future Improvements for Apple Contacts to Remind Exporter

This document lists potential improvements and feature additions for future development of the contacts_to_remind.py script.

Functionality Improvements

• Permission Error Handling
  Improve error handling for cases where users deny access to Contacts, with clear guidance on how to grant permissions.

• Multiple Languages Support
  Add a language option (--lang) to generate remind files in different languages for message texts.

• Customizable Reminder Templates
  Allow users to specify their own templates for reminder messages through a command-line parameter or configuration file.

• Configurable Advance Notice Periods
  Support flexible advance notice periods beyond just 7 days (e.g., --advance 14,7,1 for notifications 14, 7, and 1 day(s) before).

• Contact Filtering by Group
  Add filtering capability to export birthdays only from specific contact groups.

• Special Milestone Birthday Notifications
  Automatically add special indicators for significant birthdays (18th, 30th, 50th, etc.).

• Alternative Export Formats
  Add support for exporting to other calendar formats like iCalendar (.ics) for broader compatibility.

User Experience Improvements

• Interactive Mode
  Add an interactive mode where users can review and edit birthday entries before saving the final file.

• Progress Indication
  For large contact databases, show a progress bar or counter.

• Configuration File Support
  Create a user configuration file to store default settings rather than hardcoding them.

Technical Improvements

• Proper Logging System
  Implement a structured logging system instead of print statements for better debug capabilities.

• Special Character Handling
  Ensure proper handling of umlauts and other special characters in names across different platforms.

• Command Aliases
  Add short aliases for common command options.

• Unit Tests
  Create comprehensive unit tests to ensure reliability.

• Type Hints
  Add Python type hints for better code readability and IDE support.

Documentation Improvements

• More Examples
  Provide more examples of common use cases.

• Troubleshooting Guide
  Add a section for common issues and their solutions.

• Code Comments
  Improve inline documentation for easier maintenance.

Integration Possibilities

• Automatic Scheduling
  Add instructions or helper script for setting up the tool to run automatically on a schedule.

• Integration with CalDAV servers
  Add ability to upload directly to CalDAV servers for broader calendar integration.

• Calendar App Integrations
  Create direct export options for popular calendar applications.