this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2026
56 points (92.4% liked)

Selfhosted

54576 readers
753 users here now

A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.

Rules:

  1. Be civil: we're here to support and learn from one another. Insults won't be tolerated. Flame wars are frowned upon.

  2. No spam posting.

  3. Posts have to be centered around self-hosting. There are other communities for discussing hardware or home computing. If it's not obvious why your post topic revolves around selfhosting, please include details to make it clear.

  4. Don't duplicate the full text of your blog or github here. Just post the link for folks to click.

  5. Submission headline should match the article title (don’t cherry-pick information from the title to fit your agenda).

  6. No trolling.

  7. No low-effort posts. This is subjective and will largely be determined by the community member reports.

Resources:

Any issues on the community? Report it using the report flag.

Questions? DM the mods!

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

With the official app no longer updated (i don't trust the forks), i'm looking for alternatives for 2 way sync between my Android phone and my Linux server. I've tried nextcloud a long time ago and the experience was very bad. Are there any new tools that i can use?

top 30 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 1 points 5 hours ago

I've been using Fork for years. Möbius on iOS has financial support from a 3rd party that uses Syncthing in their own processes, so I suspect it will stay around.

That said, Resilio Sync is the other most-viable option I know (and use).

It's a little less kind to battery with larger folder pairs, and uses more memory since it stores the index in RAM. But it's robust.

[–] irmadlad@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

rsync has an android app.

FreeFileSync has an android app.

[–] non_burglar@lemmy.world 14 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Synching fork has been passed to a new maintainer for a couple months now. The new github is https://github.com/researchxxl/syncthing-android.

If you were using the old catfriend1 version, update your fdroid version and the source will switch over.

This is all out in the open and is resolved, there have been several app updates since then.

[–] Kangy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 hours ago

That link returned 404 for me

[–] midribbon_action@lemmy.blahaj.zone 26 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

The official, maintained syncthing app is available on Android through the Termux 'pkg' manager.

[–] SatyrSack@quokk.au 8 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

Just yesterday, I was idly wondering if Termux could be used to run Syncthing instead of using questionable Android apps. Neat to see that it's working, and setting it up just now was as simple as on any other Linux device.

[–] KeenFlame@feddit.nu 3 points 13 hours ago

If u are using it for obsidian I can recommend self hosted livesync with couchdb

[–] maj@piefed.social 12 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Foldersync Pro is incredible

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 1 points 4 hours ago

It's a fantastic app, but doesn't do sync like SyncThing or Resilio Sync.

It can do things similarly if you work at configuring it, but it can never monitor a remote and sync based on file changes there. That's not a criticism, it's a function of the file system approach it takes - it can sync with many different file systems, but it doesn't have a client at the other end - it simply interfaces with that file system. Fantastic actually.

I've used it since about 2010, it was my solution for moving files back and forth for a long time. I still use it for specific things, but I've put more effort into ST and Resilio Sync config and management because they're full-on sync suites.

[–] dimjim@sh.itjust.works 5 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

That's what I currently use, it has a fantastic and easy to use UI. It also lets you migrate your desktop license between distros, which was super helpful while I was distro hopping a bunch in the beginning lol

[–] bandwidthcrisis@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

Is there any way for it to sync from desktop to Android immediately when a file changes on the PC?

[–] dimjim@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

There is an option in the Folderpair for instant sync, I believe that is what you're looking for. I've never used it, as I also just do scheduled syncs

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

Instant sync only works for local folders it can monitor. Since it doesnt have a client on the other end, there's no way to make this happen (it would have to monitor the destination).

This would require keeping a connection open between devices, which is a high cost from a network (and especially battery) perspective.

Its a great app, I've used it for 10+ years, paid for it 2 or 3 times because it's worth it.

[–] dimjim@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 hours ago

Ah, that makes sense. A bit aggressive for my needs. Thanks for the info!

[–] bandwidthcrisis@lemmy.world 2 points 12 hours ago

I should add that I do use it for backups, it's a great program, but I've only ever used it for one-way scheduled syncs.

[–] wltr@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

What is wrong with the fork from F-Droid? I use it. I see no difference with the original, I’d say it’s even better. If you don’t trust them for some reason, why discard Syncthing as a project? I assume it can be built then. But I have no idea how.

By the way, I’m happy to use Sushi Train on iPhone. Works very well, and is lovingly polished. Now Syncthing is a centrepiece of my workflow to sync my files.

[–] NullPointerException@programming.dev 11 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (1 children)
[–] wltr@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 18 hours ago

Oh, thanks, I missed it. It’s a very long thread. I’ve read only the first 40 messages so far, so I cannot really comment on that. But here is a nice advice from there:

FWIW It is possible to run Syncthing via Termux — it’s not as integrated but it runs fine.

[–] passenger@sopuli.xyz 4 points 17 hours ago

What about kde connect? Never used it myself, or syncthing for android either, I use a USB cable and adb for backups

[–] florge@feddit.uk 5 points 18 hours ago

Maybe not quite what you need, but I use Syncopoli to push and pull files between my phone and server.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 5 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Build a Syncthing Android apk yourself. You don't need to update to every release. I'm still using 1.30 with 2.x.

[–] NullPointerException@programming.dev 9 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Its only a matter of time before they push a backwards incompatible change that causes older clients to stop syncing, Or a security bug is discovered in the older code.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 4 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

And when they do, you take care of it. Also, if you use Tailscale or equiv, you can stop Syncthing's exposure to the internet. Then you can stay on a fixed version across clients and limit unexpected breakage that comes with autotomatic updates.

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 2 points 4 hours ago

Yep.

I run Tailscale on every device that can run it, and have a TS router in one device at home for devices that can't run it.

Its my fallback Syncthing every has a Discovery server failure.

[–] db_geek@norden.social 2 points 19 hours ago (2 children)
[–] Nighed@feddit.uk 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

How is the file sync integration? Even some of the commercial products have shocking implementations.

Does it support shadow copies of files?

[–] db_geek@norden.social 0 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

@Nighed Sorry, but I currently don't use Opencloud and I don't have insights in the code.

But maybe the code itself has an answer for your question.
https://github.com/opencloud-eu

[–] Nighed@feddit.uk 1 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

the answer is yes! https://docs.opencloud.eu/docs/admin/welcome/features#files-on-demand

may try to give it a spin later this year

[–] mjr@infosec.pub 2 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

Didn't nextcloud fork from that because reasons?

edit to add: no, that was ownCloud. You are in a twisty maze of project names, all different.

[–] db_geek@norden.social 2 points 12 hours ago

@mjr I think, you are writing about Owncloud.

Opencloud is newly written with Go, so it can't be a fork of PHP driven Owncloud or Nextcloud.

https://www.heise.de/en/news/Ex-ownCloud-devs-seek-new-start-at-OpenCloud-Owncloud-owner-wants-to-sue-10254438.html