8 ms·

Best sync software in my view. The only downside is that there is no good iOS app. I think the developers made the right decision focusing the software on peer

by aborsy 3y ago

Best sync software in my view. The only downside is that there is no good iOS app. I think the developers made the right decision focusing the software on peer to peer sync (i.e., not expanding to nearby “cloud features”: backup, photos, videos, office, etc).

ajd1988 3y ago
I couldn't agree more! Syncthing is like the reliable, quiet roommate who always does their dishes, whereas dealing with different file systems feels like trying to figure out who left their half-eaten pizza on the couch. Just needs the iOS app!
- celsoazevedo 3y ago
  There's Möbius Sync, but iOS restrictions means that it can't work in the background or access folders like it does on Android/Windows/macOS/Linux.
  - est31 3y ago
    iOS literally doesn't have "just there for storage" directories that are not icloud. Either you use the photos pool, or you use icloud, or you use per-app directories that are local to each app. But then those directories cannot be accessed by other apps. Even if access to individual files is implemented, it's often very buggy. Say you have a pictures directory shared via Möbius Sync. Then you want to edit one of the pictures with a pictures editing app that is not the builtin photos app. The app crashes, or cannot save an edited copy of the file into the same directory. I encountered this in real life.
    - btobolaski 3y ago
      Working copy has some of doing this. I had it syncing my logseq notes and it worked fine (other than merge conflict type things). The setup was fairly convoluted though. This is how it is done https://github.com/CharlesChiuGit/Logseq-Git-Sync-101/wiki/For-iOS-iPadOS-users-(Working-Copy) https://github.com/CharlesChiuGit/Logseq-Git-Sync-101/wiki/F...
    - withinboredom 3y ago
      Apple has a “files” app that lets you access your “home directory” on the phone. It def has “just there for storage” space. It’s literally the best way to access/delete some log files.
      - est31 3y ago
        That directory doesn't work with Möbius Sync however. It gives an error when you try to set it as the local path for sync. Also, I can't figure out how to access that from Linux via ifuse: https://github.com/libimobiledevice/ifuse/issues/58 https://github.com/libimobiledevice/ifuse/issues/58
        withinboredom 3y ago
        You might need to build ifuse from source or email your package manager to update it. For sync, they likely need to just update their library.
    - shjake 3y ago
      > iOS literally doesn't have "just there for storage" directories that are not icloud. Either you use the photos pool, or you use icloud, or you use per-app directories that are local to each app. Isn’t this no longer the case for the last 5 years or so? ‘Files’ allows to access local non iCloud folders and every app with the right entitlement can write/read there. You can even integrate your own cloud service into ’Files’ making in indistinguishable from iCloud (in some ways at least).
    - antman 3y ago
      iOS effectively blocks all background apps from accessing the internet except a few kb per sec. You are forced to pay apple for the convenience of a cloud backup. Walled garden dark pattern
  - lloeki 3y ago
    > it can't work in the background I could care less about that, I just want it to appear in Files.app ... but it's not available in the iOS FR app store (is it available anywhere but in the US app store?), so, deal breaker.
    - bibanez 3y ago
      I use Möbius and I'm in Spain
    - philippgerard 3y ago
      Available in Germany
    - celsoazevedo 3y ago
      Those are two of the reasons I use Android. - Syncthing is available in the Play Store. If it wasn't, I could use F-Droid or simply download the app from Github. - It works in the background and it has access to my folders. I can take a picture and few seconds later it's on my PC without having to change or move anything. Not saying that iOS is bad, but I felt tied when I had to use it. It's not for me.
      - lloeki 3y ago
        I just found out it's a regulation from France regarding encryption (mostly declarative paperwork), so it's not an Apple App Store thing. Seems like Apple's App Store enforces it, but maybe not Play Store? And so either it may be published but may not be in compliance with regulations, or SyncThing did the paperwork but Mobius Sync did not. https://github.com/MobiusSync/MobiusSync/issues/27#issuecomment-767107425 https://github.com/MobiusSync/MobiusSync/issues/27#issuecomm... Apparently Blink hit the same snag, which was resolved. https://github.com/blinksh/blink/issues/355 https://github.com/blinksh/blink/issues/355
riceart 3y ago
What’s wrong with möbius sync?
- generalizations 3y ago
  It doesn't work in the background. But that's not the app's fault, it's just an iOS restriction.
- aborsy 3y ago
  Not available in my region!
  - tech234a 3y ago
    https://github.com/MobiusSync/MobiusSync/issues/27 https://github.com/MobiusSync/MobiusSync/issues/27
  - renonce 3y ago
    Which region are you using? I’m not sure with the case in other countries, but in China we buy Apple accounts for several CNY ($1~$2 in US dollars) to bypass region restrictions.
sneak 3y ago
It also phones home by default unless you turn it off (via crash and usage reporting), and in the default vendor-provided state grants arbitrary remote code execution ability to the developer (via unattended auto update which is on by default). Fortunately most distro packages and docker containers disable this dangerous behavior
- berkut 3y ago
  It also connects to many "Discovery" servers on the internet in its default configuration, which you don't need enabled if you're just syncing between machines on an internal network.
- celsoazevedo 3y ago
  > It also phones home by default unless you turn it off (via crash and usage reporting) Is this new behaviour? I haven't set up a new device recently, but it always asked me if I want to enable that or not.
  - sneak 3y ago
    Usage reporting. Crash reporting is on by default without asking, as is use of the public relays. The arbitrary remote code execution vulnerability is much more troubling and critical, however. Most people don't realize that by running syncthing they grant the syncthing developer the ability to execute any code they want on their machine (including the ability to read or exfiltrate any file on the filesystem).
- JeremyNT 3y ago
  > in the default vendor-provided state grants arbitrary remote code execution ability to the developer (via unattended auto update which is on by default) I find this a curious, borderline alarmist framing of the automatic update mechanism. Many pieces of software have automatic updates. What you say is no less true for common programs like Firefox or Google Chrome. Obviously you have to consider your threat model, but the number of people willing to trust a specific Syncthing binary they're downloading from the internet, but who are wary of trusting published updates going forward, must be relatively small. (I am a Linux user and use the OS packages rather than automatic updates, but automatic updates are quite common outside of Linux distro packages)
Reptur 3y ago
Yea, I ended up using an IOS SSH app to a server and interact with the synced folder. Not perfect, but works.
princevegeta89 3y ago
Is there a way to leverage this software and deploy something like a self hosted Google drive that also allows us to generate public links for sharing ?
- kornhole 3y ago
  Try Nextcloud, Seafile or another server installation.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
em-bee 3y ago
which tool besides syncthing can do automatic backups of my phone? by automatic i mean copy photos and other data to a second device of my choosing as soon as they are created. the primary use for syncthing on my phone is to make sure data is backed up immediately. i have yet to find an app that has the resilience and flexibility of syncthing for this purpose. apart from that the primary issue i have with syncthing is that the app on a device can not tell me if all data in a particular folder is fully copied to the other device. it only tells me if all local folders are complete. it also gets confusing when you have more than a few devices and sync between all of them. i recently discovered that i had a set up A<->B<->C but A and C were not connected. i never noticed because A and C were always in sync, until device B died. but it took me some time to notice that because i didn't realize that i missed to connect A to C directly. it would be nice to have some way to get an overview of the whole graph to see what syncs to where.
- kornhole 3y ago
  >automatic backups of my phone? Full Android phone backup to a drive can be done with Seedvault on a schedule. I think you are asking about automatic upload though. I use Nextcloud to auto upload new pictures to my server as well as for Seedvault backup.
  - em-bee 3y ago
    yes, automatic upload. schedules are impractical for phones that are not connected to wifi on a schedule. i also occasionally use the phone to take photos of items that i want to process on my laptop right away. syncthing is faster and more convenient than taking my camera and then moving the sd card from the camera to the laptop. for nextcloud i would need to set up a server that probably also needs to be always online. syncthing allows me to backup to my laptop and is opportunistic about it, ie whenever both are on wifi. i am also using syncthing to manage my audio files. on the laptop i decide what i want to listen to by copying the files into a specific folder, and that gets copied to the phone. when i am done with a file i delete it from the phone, and that gets synced back to the laptop. syncthing is perfect here, and so using it for backup in the other cases is worth it over having yet another solution.
ubermonkey 3y ago
"The only downside is that there is no good iOS app." That's a dealbreaker for iOS folks, though. I hate the mission creep Dropbox has embraced, and would definitely consider something else, but I need access to my stuff on Windows, MacOS, and iOS. Anything that doesn't hit all three notes isn't a contender.
- hparadiz 3y ago
  To me it's a dealbreaker for iOS. iPhones are just toys that don't get real work done. I take a photo with with my phone and it's synced to my Linux desktop in 1-2 seconds.
  - lost_tourist 3y ago
    Strange flex on ios users lol.
    - ubermonkey 3y ago
      Kind of a dumb, insecure, tribalist flex, but it's HN so it's what one expects here.
  - ubermonkey 3y ago
    >iPhones are just toys that don't get real work done. That speaks more to your failure than to iOS's. I've been getting meaningful work done on iOS for a decade. It sure is popular for a certain sort of HN poster, presumably deeply insecure about their own choices, to drop in and do their best to shit on iOS whenever anyone says something positive about it. It's predictable as clockwork, but as useful as tits on a bull.
    - RalfWausE 3y ago
      Tits on a bull would be incredible useful from an economic perspective i would guess...
  - shjake 3y ago
gcr 3y ago
Check out Möbius Sync, which I've been using. It's reliable for the most part, using geofencing to try to remain on in the background.
Casteil 3y ago
It is pretty nice - I've been using it for over a year to sync files between my Windows desktop and 14" M1 Pro. I've only come across a few hiccups: - Sometimes MacOS updates "break" Syncthing (fairly easy to fix, just have to re-authorize permissions) - Sometimes you end up with a (large) file/folder syncing that you don't want to sync.. Trying to sneak in an ignore rule after the fact and delete the file/folder from the device you don't want it on? That usually doesn't go over well.. I usually end up having to pause sync and fix the resulting conflict manually.
renonce 3y ago
> there is no good iOS app There is. Check out Mobius Sync - it’s as fast as PC on foreground and supports background syncing (albeit slower). You do have to pay a little but it’s worth the cost and you get it forever. I use it routinely to sync all my files on PC on the go.

by aborsy 3y ago

ajd1988 3y ago

I couldn't agree more! Syncthing is like the reliable, quiet roommate who always does their dishes, whereas dealing with different file systems feels like trying to figure out who left their half-eaten pizza on the couch. Just needs the iOS app!

celsoazevedo 3y ago
There's Möbius Sync, but iOS restrictions means that it can't work in the background or access folders like it does on Android/Windows/macOS/Linux.
- est31 3y ago
  iOS literally doesn't have "just there for storage" directories that are not icloud. Either you use the photos pool, or you use icloud, or you use per-app directories that are local to each app. But then those directories cannot be accessed by other apps. Even if access to individual files is implemented, it's often very buggy. Say you have a pictures directory shared via Möbius Sync. Then you want to edit one of the pictures with a pictures editing app that is not the builtin photos app. The app crashes, or cannot save an edited copy of the file into the same directory. I encountered this in real life.
  - btobolaski 3y ago
    Working copy has some of doing this. I had it syncing my logseq notes and it worked fine (other than merge conflict type things). The setup was fairly convoluted though. This is how it is done https://github.com/CharlesChiuGit/Logseq-Git-Sync-101/wiki/For-iOS-iPadOS-users-(Working-Copy) https://github.com/CharlesChiuGit/Logseq-Git-Sync-101/wiki/F...
  - withinboredom 3y ago
    Apple has a “files” app that lets you access your “home directory” on the phone. It def has “just there for storage” space. It’s literally the best way to access/delete some log files.
    - est31 3y ago
      That directory doesn't work with Möbius Sync however. It gives an error when you try to set it as the local path for sync. Also, I can't figure out how to access that from Linux via ifuse: https://github.com/libimobiledevice/ifuse/issues/58 https://github.com/libimobiledevice/ifuse/issues/58
      - withinboredom 3y ago
        You might need to build ifuse from source or email your package manager to update it. For sync, they likely need to just update their library.
  - shjake 3y ago
    > iOS literally doesn't have "just there for storage" directories that are not icloud. Either you use the photos pool, or you use icloud, or you use per-app directories that are local to each app. Isn’t this no longer the case for the last 5 years or so? ‘Files’ allows to access local non iCloud folders and every app with the right entitlement can write/read there. You can even integrate your own cloud service into ’Files’ making in indistinguishable from iCloud (in some ways at least).
  - antman 3y ago
    iOS effectively blocks all background apps from accessing the internet except a few kb per sec. You are forced to pay apple for the convenience of a cloud backup. Walled garden dark pattern
- lloeki 3y ago
  > it can't work in the background I could care less about that, I just want it to appear in Files.app ... but it's not available in the iOS FR app store (is it available anywhere but in the US app store?), so, deal breaker.
  - bibanez 3y ago
    I use Möbius and I'm in Spain
  - philippgerard 3y ago
    Available in Germany
  - celsoazevedo 3y ago
    Those are two of the reasons I use Android. - Syncthing is available in the Play Store. If it wasn't, I could use F-Droid or simply download the app from Github. - It works in the background and it has access to my folders. I can take a picture and few seconds later it's on my PC without having to change or move anything. Not saying that iOS is bad, but I felt tied when I had to use it. It's not for me.
    - lloeki 3y ago
      I just found out it's a regulation from France regarding encryption (mostly declarative paperwork), so it's not an Apple App Store thing. Seems like Apple's App Store enforces it, but maybe not Play Store? And so either it may be published but may not be in compliance with regulations, or SyncThing did the paperwork but Mobius Sync did not. https://github.com/MobiusSync/MobiusSync/issues/27#issuecomment-767107425 https://github.com/MobiusSync/MobiusSync/issues/27#issuecomm... Apparently Blink hit the same snag, which was resolved. https://github.com/blinksh/blink/issues/355 https://github.com/blinksh/blink/issues/355

riceart 3y ago

What’s wrong with möbius sync?

generalizations 3y ago
It doesn't work in the background. But that's not the app's fault, it's just an iOS restriction.
aborsy 3y ago
Not available in my region!
- tech234a 3y ago
  https://github.com/MobiusSync/MobiusSync/issues/27 https://github.com/MobiusSync/MobiusSync/issues/27
- renonce 3y ago
  Which region are you using? I’m not sure with the case in other countries, but in China we buy Apple accounts for several CNY ($1~$2 in US dollars) to bypass region restrictions.

sneak 3y ago

It also phones home by default unless you turn it off (via crash and usage reporting), and in the default vendor-provided state grants arbitrary remote code execution ability to the developer (via unattended auto update which is on by default). Fortunately most distro packages and docker containers disable this dangerous behavior

berkut 3y ago
It also connects to many "Discovery" servers on the internet in its default configuration, which you don't need enabled if you're just syncing between machines on an internal network.
celsoazevedo 3y ago
> It also phones home by default unless you turn it off (via crash and usage reporting) Is this new behaviour? I haven't set up a new device recently, but it always asked me if I want to enable that or not.
- sneak 3y ago
  Usage reporting. Crash reporting is on by default without asking, as is use of the public relays. The arbitrary remote code execution vulnerability is much more troubling and critical, however. Most people don't realize that by running syncthing they grant the syncthing developer the ability to execute any code they want on their machine (including the ability to read or exfiltrate any file on the filesystem).
JeremyNT 3y ago
> in the default vendor-provided state grants arbitrary remote code execution ability to the developer (via unattended auto update which is on by default) I find this a curious, borderline alarmist framing of the automatic update mechanism. Many pieces of software have automatic updates. What you say is no less true for common programs like Firefox or Google Chrome. Obviously you have to consider your threat model, but the number of people willing to trust a specific Syncthing binary they're downloading from the internet, but who are wary of trusting published updates going forward, must be relatively small. (I am a Linux user and use the OS packages rather than automatic updates, but automatic updates are quite common outside of Linux distro packages)

Reptur 3y ago

Yea, I ended up using an IOS SSH app to a server and interact with the synced folder. Not perfect, but works.

princevegeta89 3y ago

Is there a way to leverage this software and deploy something like a self hosted Google drive that also allows us to generate public links for sharing ?

kornhole 3y ago
Try Nextcloud, Seafile or another server installation.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

em-bee 3y ago

which tool besides syncthing can do automatic backups of my phone? by automatic i mean copy photos and other data to a second device of my choosing as soon as they are created. the primary use for syncthing on my phone is to make sure data is backed up immediately. i have yet to find an app that has the resilience and flexibility of syncthing for this purpose. apart from that the primary issue i have with syncthing is that the app on a device can not tell me if all data in a particular folder is fully copied to the other device. it only tells me if all local folders are complete. it also gets confusing when you have more than a few devices and sync between all of them. i recently discovered that i had a set up A<->B<->C but A and C were not connected. i never noticed because A and C were always in sync, until device B died. but it took me some time to notice that because i didn't realize that i missed to connect A to C directly. it would be nice to have some way to get an overview of the whole graph to see what syncs to where.

kornhole 3y ago
>automatic backups of my phone? Full Android phone backup to a drive can be done with Seedvault on a schedule. I think you are asking about automatic upload though. I use Nextcloud to auto upload new pictures to my server as well as for Seedvault backup.
- em-bee 3y ago
  yes, automatic upload. schedules are impractical for phones that are not connected to wifi on a schedule. i also occasionally use the phone to take photos of items that i want to process on my laptop right away. syncthing is faster and more convenient than taking my camera and then moving the sd card from the camera to the laptop. for nextcloud i would need to set up a server that probably also needs to be always online. syncthing allows me to backup to my laptop and is opportunistic about it, ie whenever both are on wifi. i am also using syncthing to manage my audio files. on the laptop i decide what i want to listen to by copying the files into a specific folder, and that gets copied to the phone. when i am done with a file i delete it from the phone, and that gets synced back to the laptop. syncthing is perfect here, and so using it for backup in the other cases is worth it over having yet another solution.

ubermonkey 3y ago

"The only downside is that there is no good iOS app." That's a dealbreaker for iOS folks, though. I hate the mission creep Dropbox has embraced, and would definitely consider something else, but I need access to my stuff on Windows, MacOS, and iOS. Anything that doesn't hit all three notes isn't a contender.

hparadiz 3y ago
To me it's a dealbreaker for iOS. iPhones are just toys that don't get real work done. I take a photo with with my phone and it's synced to my Linux desktop in 1-2 seconds.
- lost_tourist 3y ago
  Strange flex on ios users lol.
  - ubermonkey 3y ago
    Kind of a dumb, insecure, tribalist flex, but it's HN so it's what one expects here.
- ubermonkey 3y ago
  >iPhones are just toys that don't get real work done. That speaks more to your failure than to iOS's. I've been getting meaningful work done on iOS for a decade. It sure is popular for a certain sort of HN poster, presumably deeply insecure about their own choices, to drop in and do their best to shit on iOS whenever anyone says something positive about it. It's predictable as clockwork, but as useful as tits on a bull.
  - RalfWausE 3y ago
    Tits on a bull would be incredible useful from an economic perspective i would guess...
- shjake 3y ago

gcr 3y ago

Check out Möbius Sync, which I've been using. It's reliable for the most part, using geofencing to try to remain on in the background.

Casteil 3y ago

It is pretty nice - I've been using it for over a year to sync files between my Windows desktop and 14" M1 Pro. I've only come across a few hiccups: - Sometimes MacOS updates "break" Syncthing (fairly easy to fix, just have to re-authorize permissions) - Sometimes you end up with a (large) file/folder syncing that you don't want to sync.. Trying to sneak in an ignore rule after the fact and delete the file/folder from the device you don't want it on? That usually doesn't go over well.. I usually end up having to pause sync and fix the resulting conflict manually.

renonce 3y ago

> there is no good iOS app There is. Check out Mobius Sync - it’s as fast as PC on foreground and supports background syncing (albeit slower). You do have to pay a little but it’s worth the cost and you get it forever. I use it routinely to sync all my files on PC on the go.