Nextcloud 18 Encryption?

Does Nextcloud 18 now come with built-in client side encryption on files, calendar, contacts, notes by default without having to set an folder encryption password? Essentially seamless E2EE encryption that works out of the box just like sync.com offers with their cloud storage service?

Does anyone know?

yes, on files it exists (in theory). It was announced some time ago but was never fully implemented and tested on all clients. And where it was available, it was still more or less experimental. Perhaps take a look at the repository (Issues · nextcloud/desktop · GitHub) which issues are still open and the activity.
Currently I’d use third-party solutions with either containers (VeraCrypt etc.) or cryptomator.

There is server-side encryption but it only is designed for external storage, on local setups it just adds complexity and triggers problems more often. I’d rather use system-based disk encryption.

There was never any protection of app data in the database (contacts, calendars, …), to be efficient it would need client-side encryption but the caldav and carddav protocol haven’t implemented this so there is no standard to use for clients (we would need to program corresponding clients).

I would not recommend VeraCrypt. I did some experiment with it, and it is works poorly in my opinion. Nextclouds lack of delta sync makes it so that a single change on a single file triggers a resync of the entire container. You either need to live with this, or create tiny containers.

I had much better results with Cryptomator. That works splendidly

Is the a free and open source solution to cryptomator?

And why are they not putting more effort into E2EE? I think it is the most important feature that needs to be finished since it ensures users privacy of their files so no one but them can see their files. Also I would like to see E2EE be as seamless as it is on sync.com. sync.com allows you to view your files and manage them on the web or ion the mobile app, and it allows you to share files with anyone without having to give up E2EE.

I understand that the calendar, contacts and such do not have a standard E2EE, but I think the Nextcloud clients on desktop and mobile will need to integrate a CalDav client side encryption in them, similar to how Etesync works with their client which then in return allow users to use any calendar app they want to read and write their calendars.

I like how Nextcloud 18 made the office on the cloud amazing, I hope Nextcloud 19 make security and privacy its main priority and makes it so Nextcloud is not only the best cloud storage solution for its features, but is also a very secure and private solution out of the box.

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Cryptomator is FOSS, but they charge for the app in google play.

As why not so much work is done? Hard to say, but I would guess that other features are prioritized. Maybe due to most paying customers are organizations that host the infrastructure in house (hence they trust the provider) and place a larger premium on collaborative features?

I do find it unlikely that it will work like sync.com. The announcement and current work is inherently incompatible with allowing E2EE content to be accessible in the browser.