I just noticed that @nel0x created a new syncthing-fork repo with this statement:
Syncthing-Fork was previously developed and maintained by Catfriend1. As they seem to no longer be actively maintaining the project, I will try to continue its maintenance - not just the Play Store releases but the entire app going forward. Thank you Catfriend1 for building and sharing this amazing project and all the effort you put into keeping Syncthing available on Android!
@nel0x are there any missing features in the Play Store version vs Github or F-Droid releases? For people who use the Google Play Store anyway, would you recommend that version over an Obtainium install?
Thank you for taking the initiative! One thing that may be good going forward is switching to a new app ID for your fork. Currently the app ID is still com.github.catfriend1.syncthingfork - Catfriend1 is no longer involved, and this is also the same ID as is used by researchxxl, so it causes version conflict.
We should probably call it Syncthing-Spork for two reasons:
When choosing between Syncthing-Fork and Syncthing-Spork, new users will pause and wonder why it exists, which we can reference this thread so they understand the full story. Engagement achieved; also, someone will ask about this anyway, and proactively showing the origin story would be a good solution.
Naming Pipeline: If you, @nel0x, mysteriously disappear for some reason, we won’t run out of naming ideas going forward.
I reached out to the owners of F-Droid to ask them to roll back to the previous trusted version and freeze the account key until everything is settled.
They will not take any action at the moment since nothing malicious has been released so far. They asked to be kept in the loop once there is an update to share.
If something fishy gets released, please report it.
@syncedbits There are no missing features, the GPlay release is fully on par with the GitHub/F-Droid versions. As for which to use: Obtainium is a very valid option (and great for bypassing Google), but we shouldn’t have any illusions, >90% of users will stay on Play for the sake of convenience. Use whatever fits you best …
@d98b@DireMunchkin Good catch with the ID! Migrating the 100k+ users on the Play Store should definitely be avoided. For now continueing with com.github.catfriend1.syncthingandroid (already used for GPlay) would be the least burdensome option and for most the ID is mostly a cosmetic internal detail anyway …
As for the naming I appreciate the humor d98b but going back to a simple, professional display name feels like the best way to rebuild project confidence. Unlike the hardcoded AppID, that kind of “soft-branding” is flexible and can always be changed later on or reused by others if required.
General Note: For technical details we should maybe slowly leave this 148-reply topic behind and move to specific topics and Issues/PRs on the Repo itself.
@jan-kaufmann@aTosser Honestly that seems like a reasonable response from F-Droid for now. I mean it’s good that they’re now keeping an eye on it but we should be carefull reporting or flagging reserachxxls repository “preemptively” without specific malice.
I can simply move forward by spinning up a seperate F-Droid Listing.
@nel0x, respectfully no, it’s not preemptive. The facts are clear, a project with a very large community changed hands with absolutely no transparency and apparent dubious behavior. It’s pretty damning that researchxxl does not give anything to vindicate themselves and clearly has no desire to.
Not only that but to instead immediately call your trustworthiness into question is tu quoque.
If a new f-droid listing is the way forward then once everything is set up something needs to be done about the existing one. Not everyone is reading messages in this forum and aware of the ownership change.
Anyone can create a new fork of an archived repo - that’s what open source is about. But they don’t silently inherit the full user base of the original. As it stands today, all existing users will continue to pull from researchxxl without noticing any difference.
It would be fair if Catfriend’s work would be treated as any archived repo. Anyone can fork it and if users want updates they can choose which f-droid listing they want to use in the future. At some point the old one from Catfriend should be closed if this mess cannot be thoroughly explained.
Is it fine to stay on Play store release for now? Is there some reason it hasn’t been updated to the latest catfriend’s release before the takeover/transition?
For someone coming in new to all of this it’s quite confusing situation, the original repository suddely disappeared, then came back under different name, then the playstore version repo got archived and now you also have the nel0xes’ new repository (for the play store version?) but no link to the play store version, so it’s confusing if the playstore version is even linked to it?
Well done. Due to the general panic attacks, we now have two versions. I don’t know which one I should trust more.
nel0x has been around awhile and folk in this thread and on github have a lot of trust with them . additionally theyve been responsible for the play store releases for a long time. their repo is at GitHub - nel0x/syncthing-android: Syncthing - A Syncthing Wrapper for Android. ; from what im seeing this is the repo / build folk will be using for the time being, myself included.
long-term researchxxl’s code might be trusted but theyve done nothing to help build trust with the community that ive seen.
In the meantime, I would rather switch to something completely different, if it were available.
in the above folk mention syncthing tray which has an android release now. there are some notes in their docs about quirks with their android builds but it looks to be usable. this is what id recommend if you want to totally change apps. just be sure to read their android document on quirks and things to be aware of prior to setup.
To add to syncthingtray migration guide, be careful and use example instance first, syncthingtray Android version is still experimental. For obtainium usage the apk name inside the zipped release is “syncthingtray”
I’m still on nel0x gplay version, I’m just gonna wait for nel0x version release since I’m not confident enough in trying syncthing tray for now.
@nel0x i hope we can at least share our knowledge and improvements as time passes and code diverges.. have not see a java code commit from your side yet so i appreciate your courage to tackle this as a new app. looking through your repo history shows you regularly pulled the code from the forks upstream repo which now landed here.
Hi, landed here after doing a web search for the Android battery drain issue and reading issue 16.
I’m thankful people are stepping up and making things right, a signal that neither syncthing nor the android app are declining.
Governance and trust are “real work” and table stakes in an app like syncthing whose trust level and utility makes it a prime candidate for supply chain attacks. If I can’t trust syncthing, I would be better off crawling back to Dropbox.
Contributors who think this just a fun app to hack on can continue to do so, but I want people at the helm who understand the above.
I am personally invested syncthing-android continuing to work for a long, long time. I have been using syncthing since 2020 or so. Professional dev since 2013. I created an account to say, “hi” and also say I’m willing to lend a hand.
