Viewing but not immediately syncing drives

I’ve searched a bit and couldn’t find a solution, so apologies if I’m asking a repeat.

My use case is that I’m looking to sync large amounts of files and data across a number of devices. The hope is that devices with smaller storage would have access to view these files and choose which files to sync (kind of like how Google Drive can do things at times), as opposed to a 100% always-on sync. Like, within the sync’d folders, I’ve got files that I can grab and ungrab from the parent computer.

Is this possible?

Syncthing does not do that natively.

Would a web server or a file server not be a better option for the devices with smaller storage?

Not possible and one of Syncthing’s biggest deficiencies compared to alternatives. (IMO)

It would be wonderful if there was a directory tree browser built into the web UI that let you browse the global state and check and uncheck what you wanted to sync on any particular machine, but this capability doesn’t exist…

There’s a long thread on this feature request at Selective Sync Feature(most important) .