Syncthing-Fork

This review examines Syncthing-Fork for Android, a wrapper for Syncthing that enhances the user experience with significant improvements over the original Android UI.

• The user interface provides clear visibility into folder, device, and overall sync progress.
• Featuring the "Syncthing Camera," an optional utility allowing users to take photos collaboratively with friends or partners, which are stored in a shared private Syncthing folder without relying on cloud services. Note: This feature is currently in beta.
• A "Sync every hour" option is available, designed to conserve battery life.
• Users can apply individual sync conditions for each device and folder, allowing for greater customization.
• The recent changes interface enables users to click and open files directly.
• Modifications to folder and device configurations can be performed irrespective of whether Syncthing is running.
• The UI provides explanations regarding the operational status of Syncthing, enhancing user comprehension.
• Addressing previous concerns, the "Battery eater" issue has been resolved.
• The application facilitates the discovery of other Syncthing devices on the same network, simplifying the process of adding them.
• Support for two-way synchronization on external SD cards has been implemented since Android 11.

Syncthing-Fork for Android offers a dedicated Android interface as opposed to the built-in Web UI provided by Syncthing. It serves as an open-source alternative to proprietary file synchronization services, ensuring that users have complete control over their data — where it is stored, whether it is shared with third parties, and how it is transferred online.

The goals of this fork include:

• Collaborative development and testing of enhancements with community input.
• More frequent releases of the wrapper to promptly identify and resolve bugs arising from updates to the Syncthing submodule.
• Configuration options within the UI for users to enable or disable various enhancements as desired.

A comparative overview reveals that:

• Both versions utilize the Syncthing binary compiled from official GitHub sources.
• The synchronization functionality and reliability are contingent on the version of the Syncthing binary submodule in use.
• The fork maintains compatibility with upstream development; improvements may be integrated into the main project when appropriate.
• There are disparities in strategy and release frequency between the fork and the upstream project.
• The wrapper focuses exclusively on providing an Android UI experience.

For further information, please refer to the following resources:

• Website
• Source Code
• How Syncthing writes to external SD card
• Wiki, FAQ, and Helpful Articles
• Issues
• Translation Assistance