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Syncthing Android App Discontinued

(forum.syncthing.net)
397 points opengears | 17 comments | 20 Oct 24 14:51 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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jasonjayr ◴[20 Oct 24 15:37 UTC] No.41896030[source]▶
From the (current) final comment at https://github.com/syncthing/syncthing-android/issues/2064

> Nothing came of the discussions with google. Demands by Google for changes to get the permission granted were vague, which makes it both arduous to figure out how to address them and very unclear if whatever I do will actually lead to success. Then more unrelated work to stay on play came up (dev. verification, target API level), which among other influences finally made me realize I don't have the motivation or time anymore to play this game.

replies(1): >>41896431 #
izacus ◴[20 Oct 24 16:22 UTC] No.41896431[source]▶
I don't think Google was ever buy a "I don't want to use file APIs because writing the code would be hard." excuse for a security issue. I don't know what kind of exact "discussions" were possible here for "give me access to all user data, photos and everything because I don't think I want to use SAF APIs". It's like that dude in your company that will have a meltdown in PRs over his better way instead of fixing the comments and having code submitted.

Apple won't let you write into random directories past their APIs either, just because it would be too hard to use ObjC/Swift.

replies(8): >>41896508 #>>41897183 #>>41897242 #>>41897307 #>>41897422 #>>41898178 #>>41899343 #>>41900928 #
homebrewer ◴[20 Oct 24 16:31 UTC] No.41896508[source]▶
Put a lot of scary warnings around it then. It's for the user to decide if they want to take the risk or not. Google took something that solved real problems better than any alternative could, did so for many years, and destroyed it for no real reason other than to further tighten control they have of the supposedly "open" platform.
replies(4): >>41896583 #>>41896829 #>>41897279 #>>41897419 #
izacus ◴[20 Oct 24 16:40 UTC] No.41896583[source]▶
They did, the upstading app developers like this one just forced people to give them full access to all data in the app (or the app wouldn't run) and ended up not implementing scoped storage - something HNers outright demanded several times and exposed as a good upside of iOS.

So stick had to come out. The full filesystem access is now reserved for apps that manage full filesystem (e.g. file explorers) and that's it. Scoped storage APIs were introduced in 2013, 11 years ago and Play started enforcing them in 2020, so the experiment with scary warnings was running for 7 years and developers refused to give up on that sweet full private file access.

Granted, SAF is quite a shitty API.

replies(4): >>41896622 #>>41896917 #>>41897111 #>>41898012 #
1. smashed ◴[20 Oct 24 17:18 UTC] No.41896917{3}[source]▶
It's my phone. It's my data. It's my choice to install the app. It's my choice to grant the permissions to all files. Because guess what, I'm using the app to sync all my files.

I really can't agree with Google in this particular case.

replies(6): >>41896988 #>>41897081 #>>41897176 #>>41897744 #>>41898751 #>>41899325 #
2. izacus ◴[20 Oct 24 17:28 UTC] No.41896988[source]▶
And yet you'll blame Android when some app steals a lot of data just like it always happens on this site.
replies(1): >>41897460 #
3. sdoering ◴[20 Oct 24 17:41 UTC] No.41897081[source]▶
I couldn't agree more. Given how much frigging hoops I had to jump through to get my Obsidian over syncthing setup to sync with my company iPhone - I nearly gave up.

I grew up when computers didn't babysit me and tried to act like the good old GDR, knowing every thing better than their citicens.

Nowadays, I feel more and more hindered by computers, not enabled. Computers used to be a production device (I could create things with them).

Phones are not a computer - phones are a just "consume like we want you to" device.

The problem is, I want my phone to be a creation device. A device that allows me to create content, text, to do lists, shopping lists, ideas and store them. And(!) sync them using the tools I decide to use. And not force me to use tools I friggin hate, because they just don't get the job done.

replies(2): >>41897115 #>>41897622 #
4. Philpax ◴[20 Oct 24 17:45 UTC] No.41897115[source]▶
How did you get iPhone Syncthing + Obsidian working? I was under the impression that it was basically impossible to share Möbius Sync's directory with Obsidian.
replies(2): >>41897574 #>>41899305 #
5. maxboone ◴[20 Oct 24 17:55 UTC] No.41897176[source]▶
That's why you can install through F-Droid right?
6. swatcoder ◴[20 Oct 24 18:31 UTC] No.41897460[source]▶
Have you considered that it's a plural "you" that you're choosing to pit yourself against, with different people each weighing different complaints?

Almost by definition, the people who argue strongly for free use of their hardware and software are almost never the same people who argue strongly for safety and security restrictions. You seem to be frustrated by a contradiction or inconsistency that doesn't exist.

It's true that Google can't win the hearts of both sides, but they surely know that -- you don't need to get so personally frustrated on their behalf. It's just a company with a product in a market, and the market is never going to be uniform.

7. aborsy ◴[20 Oct 24 18:47 UTC] No.41897574{3}[source]▶
There is a new app Synctrain which does this.
8. skydhash ◴[20 Oct 24 18:53 UTC] No.41897622[source]▶
I gave up. My phone now is just a communication and utility device, and thus I don’t feel the urge to upgrade until it can’t do those tasks. I went back to computers (and Linux) to be able to just use them as a computer.
replies(1): >>41898451 #
9. sigh_again ◴[20 Oct 24 19:11 UTC] No.41897744[source]▶
The java.io.File API isn't removed from Android, nor inaccessible. You can absolutely still use it. Google Play has chosen to not accept it on their store unless you justify it (to their non working bots). In this case, the dev chooses to just drop the entire app because maintaining it just for Fdroid feels pointless.

There's very few permissions on android that are system/privileged/preinstalled.

10. trav4225 ◴[20 Oct 24 21:04 UTC] No.41898451{3}[source]▶
Same. I wish there were an alternative (a practical pocket computer), but there really isn't. So I too gave up on fighting my phone, and have also completely stopped doing mobile development. I now treat my phone essentially as an untrusted, prepackaged walled garden with limited utility. :-/
replies(2): >>41899196 #>>41900960 #
11. growse ◴[20 Oct 24 21:46 UTC] No.41898751[source]▶
You don't have root. Google does.

I'm not saying that's a good thing, but it's not exactly a secret when you bought it.

12. fsflover ◴[20 Oct 24 23:01 UTC] No.41899196{4}[source]▶
> I wish there were an alternative (a practical pocket computer), but there really isn't.

There really is: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5.

And it's my daily driver.

replies(1): >>41909637 #
13. JADev62096 ◴[20 Oct 24 23:17 UTC] No.41899305{3}[source]▶
Got it working myself. I set up a share inside of Mobius Sync that reaches into the Obsidian folder. (note the entire thing, just one vault). I think there was a popup saying it was unsupported but I haven't had any problems yet.
14. wruza ◴[20 Oct 24 23:20 UTC] No.41899325[source]▶
That’s still not your product though. You only bought a licence.

Flash your favorite open firmware, enjoy and let regular users who cannot do that avoid permission extortion. The world has needs and issues, it is not spinning around your skillset.

15. aerique ◴[21 Oct 24 05:36 UTC] No.41900960{4}[source]▶
I use Sailfish OS as my daily driver since 2013.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailfish_OS

replies(1): >>41909634 #
16. trav4225 ◴[21 Oct 24 23:30 UTC] No.41909634{5}[source]▶
Thanks for the info. I haven't looked at this in a while. I'll take another look!
17. trav4225 ◴[21 Oct 24 23:31 UTC] No.41909637{5}[source]▶
Appreciate the feedback. For some reason I feel like I dismissed this as an option at one point, but that was long ago. I'll take another look!