Oneva on every device — keep your apps, change your provider

Most "switch to a new platform" articles try to convince you to learn new tools. This one is going to do the opposite.

The single most underrated thing about Oneva is this: you almost certainly don't have to change how you work. Your Mail app, your Calendar app, your file browser, your office suite — they all already speak the standards Oneva uses. You just point them at your Oneva workspace and they keep doing what they've always done.

Here's how that looks on each platform.

On a Mac

Mac users get the smoothest experience because everything is built-in.

• Apple Mail — for your Oneva email. Same Mail.app you already use. Just add the account.
• Apple Calendar — for your Oneva calendar. Native CalDAV support.
• Apple Contacts — for your Oneva contacts. Native CardDAV support.
• Finder — install the Nextcloud Desktop client to get a synced folder of your workspace files in Finder.
• Collabora Office — the desktop version installs on macOS and edits your documents locally, with the same engine that runs in your browser.

The setup is even easier than that: when you log into your Oneva dashboard from a Mac or iPhone, you can download a single configuration profile that sets up Mail, Calendar, and Contacts in one click. Open it, tap install, enter your password once. Done.

On an iPhone or iPad

Same configuration profile. Same one-click install.

• Apple Mail — your Oneva inbox in the standard Mail app
• Apple Calendar — appointments sync over CalDAV
• Apple Contacts — address books sync over CardDAV
• Nextcloud iOS app — file browsing, auto-upload of camera photos, and integration with the native iOS Files app so your workspace files show up alongside iCloud and Dropbox

For document editing on iPad, the Collabora Office mobile app handles the same files. The web view from Safari also works surprisingly well on iPad.

On Windows

Windows has more variety, so pick what suits you.

• Mail: Thunderbird is the smoothest fit (mail, calendar, and contacts in one app, full CalDAV/CardDAV support). Outlook works well for IMAP if that's what you're used to. The built-in Windows Mail app also handles IMAP.
• Calendar and contacts: Thunderbird is the easy answer here.
• Files: The Nextcloud Desktop client for Windows gives you a synced folder in Explorer, just like OneDrive.
• Documents: Collabora Office for Windows — opens and saves the same files Microsoft Office uses.
• Talk and chat: Use the web version, or the dedicated Nextcloud Talk Desktop app.

If you're an Outlook person, you can keep being an Outlook person for mail. For calendar and contacts on Windows, Thunderbird is the painless path.

On Linux

Linux users will feel right at home — most of this stack was built for them in the first place.

• Thunderbird — mail, calendar, contacts, all in one app
• Evolution (GNOME), KMail/Kontact (KDE) — full groupware suites that work natively with CalDAV/CardDAV/IMAP
• Files: Install the Nextcloud Desktop client for proper sync. Nautilus, Dolphin, and Files also support WebDAV connections from the address bar if you'd rather mount it.
• Collabora Office — installs on most Linux distros and opens the same files as the web version.

If you've been daily-driving Linux, you'll find that Oneva is basically the cloud you've been wishing the rest of the world would build.

On Android

• DAVx⁵ (free, F-Droid or Play Store) — adds your Oneva calendar and contacts to the native Android Calendar and Contacts apps
• K-9 Mail or FairEmail — solid open-source mail clients
• Nextcloud Android app — file browsing, photo auto-upload, document viewing
• Collabora Office Android app — for document editing on the go
• Nextcloud Talk Android app — calls and chat

Set up DAVx⁵ once and your Oneva calendars and contacts sync to your Android phone like they came from Google — except they didn't.

A personal note

I've been using Collabora as my main office suite for the last six months. For a while I kept Microsoft Office installed on my laptop "just in case." I'd open a document and sometimes have to glance at the title bar to remember which app I was in — they look that similar, and they handle the same files the same way.

A few weeks ago I uninstalled Microsoft Office. I haven't missed it once.

That's the part that's hard to convey until you try it: the daily experience of switching to Oneva is not dramatic. You open the same kind of document in the same kind of editor. You read mail in the same Mail app. Your calendar shows up in the same calendar app. The interface, the gestures, the keyboard shortcuts — they're all what you're used to. The only difference is whose servers your data lives on.

For most people that's the most important difference there is. And it's also the one you stop noticing the moment everything is set up.

What changes, what doesn't

Doesn't change: - The apps you use - The way you compose mail - The way you accept calendar invites - The way you open and edit documents - The shortcut keys - The icons in your dock - The Files app on your phone - Your daily workflow

Does change: - The company holding your data (us, in Helsinki) - The number of subscriptions you're juggling (down to one) - The amount of data going to companies you didn't choose to share with

That's pretty much it.

Setup: how long does it actually take?

For a Mac or iPhone user, with the configuration profile: about 90 seconds.

For a Windows user installing Outlook, Nextcloud Desktop, and Collabora: maybe 15 minutes, mostly waiting for installers.

For a Linux user who already has Thunderbird and LibreOffice: about 5 minutes to add the accounts.

The slowest part of the whole switch is usually the email migration — copying years of old mail from your previous provider. The import wizard in your dashboard handles that: enter your old credentials, click start, and let it run in the background while you start using the new mailbox right away.

---

That's the practical side of switching: shorter than most people expect, with the apps you already have. We hope this short series has been useful. If you want to try Oneva yourself, the waitlist is the way in for now — beta is invite-only while we make sure everything is solid. We'll get to you soon.