As I am usually complaining about something
I thought I would take this chance to dis-complain
and add another data-point to the discussion.
The android app works well for me:
I run it on a 6P running standard Android 7.1.1
and on a rooted HTC M8 running Cyanogen 11- M12
and multiple Linux/ Kubuntu 14.04 machines.
I have 2 different configuration points to @totoba:
I always start it manually - not on bootup.
I don’t try to sync external sd cards.
(I have given up on external sdcards on Android,
so many apps don’t work with them).
I don’t sync thousands of files, but I do sync hundreds.
Some directories are 4gb of 50-750mb map files.
That said, I don’t really get any crashes
(or maybe so few that I don’t notice them).
I do sometimes get high cpu and a hot phone
but that happens even without Syncthing running.
(Still can’t find the cause).
Sometimes I do need to go into the web gui - but I don’t really find it painful.
Maybe I’m just used to more pain that @Antony Male
I think that you are not having much issues becsuse your sync is relatively low. I am wishing that the devs try at least synching 20k/20+ GB files when they have time
I’m using syncthing-android on my samsung s3 with Android 6. I’ve put my files to sync on my SD card in the subfolder Android/com.nutomic/syncthingandroid/files. There the App has full read write access. My Music App and Gallery app only need read access in my case. Syncthing runs stable for me
Personnaly I am totally satisfied with the android SyncThing client. My phone is a Sony Z5 Compact (Android 6.0.1). My synchronized data (1200 files, 84 folders, 7 GB)are stored on a external 32GB SD Card. No problem so far
Thanks a lot for these products, server and client.
The app works nicely for me too (1st gen Moto E, Marshmallow), I have it syncing only when charging to save my battery, and I only sync a folder of 100 images (for wallpaper), so I’m a fairly light user. My gripes are:
Have to disable ‘run conditions’ to get into the app (as OP said)
No native access to SD card
The data page says there are only 8 Android users (in the last 24h). I guess most of us must be represented here then!
Google play says that there are 50,000 - 100,000 installs, and that’s ignoring F-Droid. I think the issue is more that Android users aren’t prompted by the usage statistics window (since that’s part of the Web UI which most android users don’t visit), so they aren’t represented on data.syncthing.net. (see below)
The Android app also has a prompt for usage tracking. The reason for the low number there is because we have Linux as compile target, instead of Android, due to problems with the Go compiler. However, you can recognize Google Play versions by the builder (felix@P50). I’m not sure what the builder for F-Droid is though.
Anyone who wants a stable Syncthing client on Android should use the Termux builds under Termux, it works rock solid for me with 25+ gb on my phone. You just have to make couple scripts to start it and stop it.
Could you provide a link or short how-to, please? Is the key of your suggestion running plain syncthing binary because that’s what we also do in the wrappers.
Install https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.termux/ (also on gplay) then in termux install syncthing (pkg install syncthing). Then it is like the desktop stuff, you run it in the terminal.
You can still use your syncthing app configs, you just need to copy them under your config folder inside Termux after exporting from the Syncthing app, so that you do not have to create new identity and keys etc.
Termux offers home screen shortcuts to bash scripts, you can create scripts to start and stop syncthing so you do not have to type or call the scripts manually from the terminal.
Basically you use it without the Android app, behaves more like the desktop versions
Yeah that sounds like it works… Even I feel a little uncomfortable hearing about this back-to-the-roots approach. It’s valid as walking bare foot in some positive way - thinking about it, I’d miss all the run condition stuff (can be done by Tasker?!). Does syncthing-android really play that bad on your phone? I’d be keen on reading more about what doesn’t work well for you …
I stopped using the app, so I cant comment on the recent changes. Basically it was only good for couple hundred megs, it was not working properly with the type of synching I wanted to do from my phone which meant synching many gigabytes.
The current terminal approach is much more solid to me, and it behaves much better with phone sleep mode. The battery usage is much less. It is super easy to stop the sync, all I do is press a shortcut on my home screen. I do not need to open the app, find the menu stop it etc.
The only issue with Syncthing in general which also affect the battery usage negatively on Android is that, Syncthing gets super chatty and busy if it is having hard time syncing some files, which ends up eating up battery even more. But that is easy with the terminal aproach, I see it in the terminal and I kill it.
Btw you can still use Tasker, I think Termux has a tasker plugin, also you can call Rest api calls from Tasker to manage your Syncthing under Termux.
The Android Syncthing app passed the “wife test” for me a long time ago. She syncs several GB of audiobooks and pictures between her laptop and phone. Once i set it up for her, it has run without any interference from me 98% of the time for almost 2 years, over two different phones and laptops. She’s never complained about battery use and it only syncs over wifi, just as designed.
