Syncthing for android discontinued

yellow-leaves

Announcement on the github page
"This app is discontinued. The last release on Github and F-Droid will happen with the December 2024 Syncthing version. Interactions (issues, PRs) are limited now, and the entire repo will be archived after the last release. Thus all contributions are preserved for any future (re)use. The forum is still open for discussions and questions. I would kindly ask you to refrain from trying to challenge the decision or asking "why-type" questions - I wont engage with them.

The reason is a combination of Google making Play publishing something between hard and impossible and no active maintenance. The app saw no significant development for a long time and without Play releases I do no longer see enough benefit and/or have enough motivation to keep up the ongoing maintenance an app requires even without doing much, if any, changes.

Thanks a lot to everyone who ever contributed to this app!"

"Discontinued" notice added to project repo's README on GitHub
Discontinuing syncthing-android announcement posted on projects forum

GrapheneOS

yellow-leaves Play Store requires apps to keep up with target API level which is largely about breaking changes for privacy and security improvements. This app still targets API 33 and target API 34 is required. Poorly maintained projects not taking security seriously aren't a good choice for important things like syncing your data.

DaRon

using the syncthing-fork from f-droid/droidify
https://github.com/Catfriend1/syncthing-android
still under development and works just fine - i am quite happy with it.

but yeah - this dev also mentioned the play store issues "Planning to close my Google Play Developer Account. Please say hi if you are interested in obtaining the latest gplay release files from me to help in publishing this app." from his github page

chock-a-block

DaRon can we expect updates if we use Syncthing from the F-droid store? I rely on it for pretty much everything I sync between my phone and computer, I would be devastated if I lost that.

godslayer

Is there a known alternative that works similarly like Syncthing but for Android?

Preferably not a fork of Syncthing itself.

Max-Zorin

godslayer

Not exactly the same thing by any means, but there is LocalSend https://github.com/localsend/localsend thaat provides transfer over WiFi

dregrinfuces

Well, that's a pain in the tushy-indents. I guess I'm now interested in alternatives to Syncthing, too. Ugh. I'm going to have to re-think my backups.

dregrinfuces

Actually, it's more than just the backups I have to re-think. The big thing is automatically copying things like photos over to our Windows machines.

cdflasdkesalkjfkdfkjsdajfd

Max-Zorin +1 LocalSend is maybe the most simple solution to send files between devices and to share files on the fly

dot_______166

Max-Zorin I have never got localsend to function

Murcielago

Max-Zorin

LocalSend is a great app for sending files wirelessly, but unfortunately it lacks the option of automatic backups. Too bad, Syncthing was really great at that.

godslayer

Max-Zorin

Yup I already using LocalSend explicitly when I want to transfer files from or to my Pixel.

Syncthing delivers a better solution as it makes real time changes when changes or additional files are detected between different devices compared to LocalSend which is not only explicit but have to be manually triggered.

Man, I'm gonna miss Syncthing. Having it ensures my photos or videos are always backup instantly so losing my Pixel doesn't affect me for those irreplaceable data.

DeletedUser87

I just hope the development of the aforementioned Syncthing-Fork doesn't suffer from this. That's what I am using. Sometimes I fear what would happen if Google was actually split up, other times I would really welcome it to stop their shenanigans for good.

DaRon

chock-a-block
i never got automatic updates via f-droid running.
But i do get updates when using droidify. not on release date, though, but eventually...
example (dates coming from (https://github.com/Catfriend1/syncthing-android/releases and my droidify log)
v1.27.9.0 has been released on July 27th --> got it installed automatically on August 15th.
v1.27.12.0 has been released on September 13th --> no available as of now

DaRon

Murcielago Syncthing was really great at that.
godslayer Man, I'm gonna miss Syncthing.

i dont get it... its still there, still working AND there is a working fork still in development...
so, why worry?

Murcielago

DaRon

I'm not so much worried as i am sad. Syncthing is perfect for my needs for a local sync and backup solution, i liked and supported the project and haven't found something which fits equally well for me.

If the Android app is no longer developed, problems or security issues may occur at some point.

I'm glad that someone forked Syncthing but that doesn't mean that the developer is automaticlly equally trustworthy nor that the project will continue just as well as it did before.

But you're right in a way - that moment hasn't come yet and hopefully won't come...

Oggyo

It's really sad but thanks for sharing that news, @yellow-leaves.
I hope other devs will make Syncthing's great idea continue its existence by forks as @DaRon already linked such.

@Max-Zorin, LocalSend is also a great app but it serves a different purpose, at least for me.

@dregrinfuces, I use Resilio Sync as an alternative. It's a proprietary app very close to how Syncthing works. I implemented Resilio mainly because of my laziness (the app has official back-end support for my NAS) and having an iOS client support, too. It was the easiest and fastest way to deploy a Syncthing-like solution for me.

troika

I am very dissatisfied with this software. At that time, I proposed adding anonymous connection function, which means that I can share some files and everyone can connect to my computer without my confirmation. However, the developers firmly rejected my request on the grounds of insecurity.

GrapheneOS

The fork has major issues due to raising target API level without testing:

https://github.com/Catfriend1/syncthing-android/issues/1148

Recommend using a different sync platform instead.

876fi

GrapheneOS Could you please share some more useful tips on how to find high quality open source projects, what to look for/avoid; not necessarily Android related. Cheers!

cdflasdkesalkjfkdfkjsdajfd

GrapheneOS recommended alternatives? thanks

Mystified3527

Dumdum

GrapheneOS The fork has major issues due to raising target API level without testing:

https://github.com/Catfriend1/syncthing-android/issues/1148

Recommend using a different sync platform instead.

They still seem to be running into problems with supporting Android 15, so I am worried that they may not be able to maintain the app properly in the future if they are a month behind now. Also, @GrapheneOS recommended against using it for these reasons, which is why I am looking for an alternative.

LazyT

Try round-sync.

Using it to sync my fotos.