Discontinuing syncthing-android
forum.syncthing.net
Unfortunately I don’t have good news on the state of the android app: I am retiring it. The last release on Github and F-Droid will happen with the December 2024 Syncthing version. Reason is a combination of Google making Play publishing something between hard and impossible and no active maintenance. The app saw no significant development for a long time and without Play releases I do no longer see enough benefit and/or have enough motivation to keep up the ongoing maintenance an app requires ...

Announcement by the creator: https://forum.syncthing.net/t/discontinuing-syncthing-android/23002

Unfortunately I don’t have good news on the state of the android app: I am retiring it. The last release on Github and F-Droid will happen with the December 2024 Syncthing version.

Reason is a combination of Google making Play publishing something between hard and impossible and no active maintenance. The app saw no significant development for a long time and without Play releases I do no longer see enough benefit and/or have enough motivation to keep up the ongoing maintenance an app requires even without doing much, if any, changes.

Thanks a lot to everyone who ever contributed to this app!

  • NeuronautML@lemmy.mlEnglish
    52·
    2 months ago

    Fyi the syncthing-fork guy (catfriend1) who’s still updating has a donating button on F-droid via Liberapay. It’s up to you if your financial situation allows you to donate, but the more of us help the remaining developers for their time, in particular those of us that rely so much on their work, the better off we’ll be. Let’s give them a little motivation to keep working on this.

    FYI2 syncthing-fork (as written and confirmed in this thread) has an import button for your folders from syncthing Android.

  • imsodin@infosec.pubEnglish
    421·
    2 months ago

    I am not the creator, funnily that is/was one of the Lemmy creators: Nutomic :)
    I am a syncthing co-maintainer that kept the android app on life support since a while.

    • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      12·
      2 months ago

      THANK you for the hard work! Your app is part of my phone photo and appdata backup.

      Side question: Will you continue with a fork for f-droid?

      • imsodin@infosec.pubEnglish
        121·
        2 months ago

        As the statement says I wont - it will be fully discontinued. This statement applies to the official app only. It doesn’t say anything about other apps or forks - any existing once can and hopefully will continue to exist. Also all the code is free.

        • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          5·
          2 months ago

          Sad to hear but my point still stands: Thank you very much for your work.
          Any recommendation for an Android fork or any other way to make it work on mobile without an app (if that’s even possible)

        • dan@upvote.auEnglish
          3·
          2 months ago

          In that case, could the syncthing-fork app be renamed to syncthing, now that it’ll probably be the main Android app for Syncthing?

    • uis@lemm.eeEnglish
      3·
      2 months ago

      funnily that is/was one of the Lemmy creators: Nutomic :)

      Plot twist

  • el_abuelo@programming.devEnglish
    38·
    2 months ago

    I just installed syncthing-fork from f-droid and it worked flawlessly as far as I can tell:

    1. “Export” in syncthing
    2. Uninstall syncthing
    3. Install syncthing-fork from f-droid
    4. Import in syncthing-fork
    • Unbecredible@lemm.eeEnglish
      35·
      2 months ago

      I feel the existence of an “export” option in a piece of software is noble in this day and age, and I’m so appreciative of it.

      It says “look, I don’t WANT you to go to my competitor, but I’m not gonna try to hold your data hostage to prevent it.”

      It’s class, as the Scottish would say.

      • dan@upvote.auEnglish
        9·
        2 months ago

        Open source software doesn’t have a reason to lock you in like proprietary software does :)

        More and more proprietary SaaS systems are allowing data exports now, to comply with laws like the GDPR “right to know”. Say what you want about Google and Facebook, but they were the first big companies to start allowing data to be exported before there was any law requiring it - Facebook in 2010 and Google in 2011.

      • Dasnap@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        2 months ago

        I’ve said for a while that platforms that allow you to easily move make me more comfortable using them, and ironically, more likely to stay around.

    • stardust@lemmy.caEnglish
      6·
      2 months ago

      Did it transfer over your folder setups so you don’t need to set it up manually?

    • imsodin@infosec.pubEnglish
      151·
      2 months ago

      Oh don’t worry to much, mine too: If there wasn’t an alternative for syncthing on android, I might have kept it on lifesupport :)

        • iturnedintoanewt@lemm.eeEnglish
          181·
          2 months ago

          Syncthing-fork. Both show if you search for Syncthing in fdroid. Since imsodin seems to be OP Dev maintainer for Syncthing, i think he is referring to the fork.

        • BearOfaTime@lemm.eeEnglish
          0·
          2 months ago

          Only one I can think of is Resilio, but it’s hard on RAM and battery for large folders.

          • fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.ccEnglish
            1·
            2 months ago

            It’s been forever since I looked at resilio so this may be an unfair appraisal but… I seem to remember it’s one of those OSS projects that feels a lot more like free tier commercial software. Do you think that’s the case or nah?

            Honestly just a dumb rsync client would be enough for me.

      • Atemu@lemmy.mlEnglish
        1·
        2 months ago

        What’s the history behind this? Why could the changes be done upstream, necessitating a fork?

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          41·
          2 months ago

          Sounds like the original maintainer is tired of maintaining it, and the amount of community support wasn’t enough to justify continuing to put in the effort. And then Google’s packaging process pushed it over the edge, hence retiring the project.

          The fork is just another person deciding to take up maintenance of the project.

          • Atemu@lemmy.mlEnglish
            1·
            2 months ago

            I know that part.

            The other fork has existed for a long while.

  • Churbleyimyam@lemm.eeEnglish
    23·
    2 months ago

    I’ve installed it from F-droid but still. Fuck google. They really do need breaking up.

    I heavily rely on Syncthing. Does anyone know what the outlook is for Syncthing-fork, or what the likelihood is of someone taking on maintenance of this version?

    • iturnedintoanewt@lemm.eeEnglish
      13·
      2 months ago

      The way i understand it, this stops maintenance for Syncthing, but Syncthing-fork in fdroid will continue its development and support as usual. Both show if you do a Syncthing search in fdroid. The fork is more up to date with features.

        • dan@upvote.auEnglish
          8·
          2 months ago

          Good idea to send donations to the syncthing-fork devs to keep it alive though.

    • Auli@lemmy.caEnglish
      5·
      2 months ago

      Yah I mean the notice for the storage access has only been five years. How can they do that.

  • xodoh74984@lemmy.worldEnglish
    151·
    2 months ago

    This is sad. Google Play should never hold this much weight in the self hosted community. For Android users dedicated to open source software, F-Droid is the target.

    I don’t think SyncThing users would have much issue with the app disappearing from Google. Doing away with Google is the goal.

    • absGeekNZ@lemmy.nzEnglish
      7·
      2 months ago

      The problem is not “Syncthing users” it is the others that we bring along with us.

      I already have F-Droid on my phone, but the dozen others that I have promoted Syncthing to over the years do not. This is going to cause a bunch of problems.

      This is much more important than what you portray here.

      • t_378@lemmy.oneEnglish
        71·
        2 months ago

        The point you raise reminds me of when Signal dropped SMS support, after my efforts to convert all the non techie people in my life over to it. So sad when it happens…

      • tychosmoose@lemm.eeEnglish
        6·
        2 months ago

        That and the shrinking ability to grant access to device storage. If that becomes an option only on rooted phones (which seems like the directly Google is heading) it will make the audience for such an app much smaller.

            • LiveLM@lemmy.zipEnglish
              4·
              2 months ago

              This is my currently dilemma.
              Each year Android becomes more restrictive like iOS with none of the benefits, Rooting becomes harder as more apps tap into the Play Integrity API (and strong Integrity is on the way to kill most workarounds for it), iPhone got a little better but is still locked down as fuck, where the hell do I go to? 😒

                • LiveLM@lemmy.zipEnglish
                  1·
                  2 months ago

                  I’ve been using custom ROMs for a while now, but the reality is that they can only do so much to stop Android’s ever increasing restrictions.
                  And the aforementioned Integrity API also detects unlocked bootloaders, meaning this will gradually become more of a problem.

            • can@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              1·
              2 months ago

              Realistically I have no where to go and that’s the problem. iOS is even more locked down.

              • lambalicious@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
                11·
                2 months ago

                No one says you have to upgrade your phone OS to the latest Android. You can just keep using the Android (and/or Custom ROM) that works.

                • can@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                  2·
                  2 months ago

                  Sure, but what about security? Not that I haven’t had to use outdated phones before.

        • peregus@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          2 months ago

          That and the shrinking ability to grant access to device storage.

          Isn’t that helping the average users with security in a way that a scam app can’t see much else than itself?

    • CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      4·
      2 months ago

      As much as I want to use F-Droid, my work blocks all third party app stores so it’s either have access to my work stuff on one phone (via profiles) or dual wield two phones.

      I lack the patience to dual wield again. It’s very annoying.

      • Atemu@lemmy.mlEnglish
        4·
        2 months ago

        Is this your personal phone? If your work were to dictate what you are allowed to install on your personal phone, that’d be a serious overstepping of bounds.

        Perhaps you can sneak in f-droid via adb install and give it app installation permissions via ADB though.

        • CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          5·
          2 months ago

          My primary phone belongs to my work. I get a stipend every two years that essentially allows me to buy any supported phone I want.

          The conditions are that it’s managed by them via MDM and all my work stuff is on the work profile side.

          It is a choice I make since it allows me to not carry two phones. I did that for the first two years at my company and it was annoying.

          • lambalicious@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
            11·
            2 months ago

            My primary phone belongs to my work.

            So it’s not yours. Looks from here that’s the one issue you have to solve before everything else.

        • Bilb!@lem.monsterEnglish
          41·
          2 months ago

          If “your” phone belongs to your employer that’s the choice you made. It isn’t yours.

      • Derin@lemmy.beru.coEnglish
        2·
        2 months ago

        I’m annoyed to see you getting down voted - I had a similar issue years ago with my work MacBook (couldn’t run a custom WM because any modification to the Finder was blocked without putting the machine into “unsafe” mode).

        I love OSS, but without a verifiable way to distribute it large swaths of the workforce won’t be able to use it.

        F-Droid is great, but sadly it isn’t enough.

        • CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          2·
          2 months ago

          I was today years old when I learned that you can run a custom WM on a Mac.

          That’s like…the equivalent of a coca cola soda machine dispensing Pepsi.

          And in terms of down votes, I don’t really care too much. It evens out overtime.

  • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    2 months ago

    Hoping it remains viable for a long time without updates. Syncing my KeePass database is really key for me. I need to fluidly add and read passwords from at least 3 devices.

    • stepan@lemmy.cafeEnglish
      9·
      2 months ago

      With today’s BitWarden drama, I planned to use KeePass with SyncThing for like an hour before seeing this :(((

    • iturnedintoanewt@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      The way i understand it, this stops maintenance for Syncthing, but Syncthing-fork in fdroid will continue its development and support as usual. Both show if you do a Syncthing search in fdroid. The fork is more up to date with features.

    • Petter1@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      Is webDAV not good enough for that? I use keepass via webDAV feature of the nextcloud (I know some think it is bloated) but I guess there are other lightweight webDAV solutions…

      • DrDystopia@lemy.lolEnglish
        1·
        2 months ago

        I’ve used both. NC android app doesn’t sync and one needs to host the entire platform. When using generic webDAV one still needs a dedicated sync solution.

        I self host NC and still prefer SyncThing for keeping my KeePass database updated and fresh across devices.

        • Petter1@lemm.eeEnglish
          0·
          2 months ago

          I see, my app that I use for keepass has integrated webDAV sync where I can point it to a keepass file on the webDAV server (strongbox iOS) I just thought android keepass apps should have such feature as well.

          The iOS app of NC is slow as well, and not good enough for using to sync keepass files, but the Linux app seems to be good enough.

          And yea, just learned, that sync thing apparently works without a server but all P2P? That is 100% killer feature 😃👌🏻

          • DrDystopia@lemy.lolEnglish
            1·
            2 months ago

            The NC app (and DAVx5 contacts and calendar sync for that matter) do provide a WebDAV mount point on android so I suppose I could access content directly. And someone mentioned there’s DAV support in some clients as well. Perhaps I’m just overly worried about losing access, with Syncthing the files are on my device no matter if my self-hosted home solution or internet goes down.

            But the no-server cloud function of Syncthing is absolutely a killer feature. And very important as a simple and easy privacy solution for inexperienced users IMO. I was hoping for a better windows solution, not a deprecation of device support.

            Speaking of servers, I also run a Syncthing server so I can sync files without having two user devices online at the same time. Syncthing natively support encryption at rest (files on disk) so it satisfies my absolute demand of never storing unencrypted personal files on a server. Even if the server is disk encrypted, in my own home and only accessibly through VPN…

            Encrypted password database in encrypted storage on an encrypted storage only accessibly by encrypted connection via an encrypted connection… Maybe I’m overdoing it. Who am I kidding, I’d get a rottweiler to guard my home server if I could.

  • ma1w4re@lemm.eeEnglish
    4·
    2 months ago

    OH NO, I hope the fork will continue for a bit otherwise I’m so cooked 🥶🥶🥶

  • The Snark Urge@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    2 months ago

    Just got into using Syncthing for my home network, was thinking I should add it to my phone. Makes sense it dies the instant I consider it

    • DrDystopia@lemy.lolEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      Consider yourself lucky, I feel the pain of seeing the end of years of a loving relationship.

    • iturnedintoanewt@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      The way i understand it, this stops maintenance for Syncthing, but Syncthing-fork in fdroid will continue its development and support as usual. Both show if you do a Syncthing search in fdroid. The fork is more up to date with features.

    • 1984@lemmy.todayEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      Lol, I was also looking at installing it last weekend.

      I guess this thing is on the same connection as my stock choices.

          • 486@lemmy.worldEnglish
            4·
            2 months ago

            Perhaps the hard dependency was a mistake, but not them moving more and more code to their proprietary library. It appears that their intent is to make the client mostly a wrapper around their proprietary library, so they can still claim to have an open source GPLv3 piece of software. What good is that client if you can only use it in conjunction with that proprietary library, even if you can build it without that dependency?

            • dan@upvote.auEnglish
              2·
              2 months ago

              mostly a wrapper around their proprietary library

              I’m not familiar with exactly what Bitwarden are doing, but Nvidia are doing something similar to what you described with their Linux GPU drivers. They launched new open-source drivers (not nouveau) for Turing (GTX 16 and RTX 20 series) and newer GPUs. What they’re actually doing is moving more and more functionality out of the drivers into the closed-source firmware, reducing the amount of code they need to open source. Maybe that’s okay? I’m not sure how I feel about it.

                • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                  4·
                  2 months ago

                  To be fair, the project page says this:

                  The password manager SDK is not intended for public use and is not supported by Bitwarden at this stage. It is solely intended to centralize the business logic and to provide a single source of truth for the internal applications. As the SDK evolves into a more stable and feature complete state we will re-evaluate the possibility of publishing stable bindings for the public. The password manager interface is unstable and will change without warning.

                  So there are two ways this can go:

                  • they complete the refactor and release it as FOSS
                  • they complete the refactor and change the clients to be proprietary

                  I’m going to stick with them until I see what they do once they complete the refactor.

        • Carighan Maconar@lemmy.worldEnglish
          22·
          2 months ago

          I don’t get it.

          How is that a problem to people wanting to work on or work with Bitwarden? Or am I misunderstanding the wording on it?

          It just seems to say that you cannot rip this SDK out to use it on something else. Which makes sense as far as an internal library goes, at least on the surface?

          • ammonium@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            2 months ago

            It doesn’t make sense for an internal library for an open source application, it that case it’s not open source.

  • Moonrise2473@feddit.itEnglish
    3·
    2 months ago

    Does anyone know why it was forked and the fork got all the improvements while the official app is in the exact same state of when it was launched years ago?

    It was because all the proposals got rejected?

    Because if he rejected all the improvements I don’t really understand why he’s saying “nobody wants to help development”

    • imsodin@infosec.pubEnglish
      6·
      2 months ago

      It’s all in the open, you can go dig around for reasons. As usual there wasn’t a single simple one. Neither was it some kind of complete fallout, we e.g. collaborated on translations and I have been in contact around various things with the one that forked.