Problem un-sharing folder on Android

Support Android
1

I want to point out a pretty critical bug, and I can’t imagine how bad it is at the moment.

If someone uses this program intensively then he has different folders that he shares with Person1 and other folders that he shares with Person 2 and again other folders or even shared folders that he shares with Person3.

The following happens on the android: If I share a folder with Person1 and then accidentally share the same folder with Person2, and then find that I have made a mistake and push the lock back, then the correction decision is ignored by the Android version.

If Person2 does not accept the folder, she will be informed endlessly that I want to share the order with her, long after I have already put the bar back in the Android-UI.

If I then look into the web UI, I discover that there is the tick next to the folder that I accidentally shared, even though I removed the lock in the Android UI. So I remove the tick also in the Web-UI

So now there is no deadlock between the Android UI, and the hack is in the Web UI. Only you don’t see that. You think that if you have pushed the bar in the web UI back, then everything is over. And what is really happening? Person2 will continue to be notified that I want to share the folder with her.

After some hours I was informed by Person2 that Syncthing still want to share the Folder. Then I got my phone and found that it was true. The lock wasn’t pushed, but the tick was back in. If I now uncheck in both UI and close the program, the hack in the Web UI will reinsert itself and the Android UI will continue to share the folder with Person2.

Now if Person2 accepts the folder at some point, the data will be transferred even though I have taken the ticks out several times.

WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN IS LOGICAL FOR EVERYONE: Once the ticks have been removed, a notification should no longer be displayed on the Person2 Computer, and no single bit should be transmitted.

Person2 was using a Microsoft Version.

2

I changed the topic title and classification so people have a chance to understand what it’s about. (No idea about the actual issue, sorry.)

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3

Important is that you do not close it. It is a real Bug and it is easy to verify. Just make the steps like I have described.

4

I don’t have an an Android, but I would guess that if this was broken in general there would be lots of people complaining about it. Not saying it doesn’t happen, but there may be something specific to your setup that causes it. If you look at other android troubleshooting threads there are instructions for extracting logs and such which would probably be helpful in this case too.

2 Likes
5

This isn’t an Android specific issue. I’ve seen it as well on OSX systems I administrate. Basically, once a share has been extended there’s no way to un-extend the share (from a user perspective).

Sharing A to B: If A un-shares before B accepts the share, the notification on B is functionally permanent even through restarts of Syncthing. You can only Ignore or Accept (on B), both are wrong answers here (excod suggests the notification on B should clear itself).

6

This is correct, and perhaps not optimal. The other side will have recorded the fact that the folder has been offered and keep that notification until acted upon. It won’t actually work when added though if the other side has retracted the invitation in the meantime… It will in fact become an invitation in the other direction, instead, if/when they accept the folder…

But that’s distinct from

which indicates something out of whack between the Android wrapper and the config proper.

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7

It seems to me like this would happen because person 2’s device does not know whether person 1’s device is offline, or has revoked the shared folder. Is this true?

I feel like it is sub-optimal to have person 2’s device still show the notification, so I think we should try and brainstorm ways to make unsharing the folder propagate to other devices that have yet to act on their notifications.

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Sorry, but please don’t hijack a random thread that has nothing to what you are discussing

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@Vicentardern, Not sure why Audrius indicated your post was off-topic. Un-sharing an accidentally shared folder before the recipient accepts the folder and receives the data is a security issue. So I agree this would be good to fix.

Imagine I accidentally share “~/payroll-for-all-employees” instead of “~/dinnerrolls-for-all-employees” and then I’m unable to stop the propagation by turning sharing back off. Uggh.

10

This specific thread is about a user having a very specific problem, not a catch all lets talk about unsharing thread.

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11

I agree with you. I got sidetracked. My apologies, but I wouldn’t consider it an intentional hijacking. Would you mind splitting the topic perhaps?

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12

I showed pretty clearly that Person1 doesn’t realize that he still shares the folder with Person2. That means we are dealing with an error that does not give feedback. You think you have stopped sharing the folder and still you share the folder. Therefore, the probability that many people complain is very low. You don’t get it that you still share the folder.

13

Is this a robot ?

14

No it is not! It’s someone spending time to make Syncthing possible.

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15

I actually excavated an Android device and tried this now. It doesn’t happen for me. Sharing/unsharing works as expected.

3 Likes
16

OK Jakob. I already start to write a step by step “howto”. I will continue it and will forward it to you.

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