Just installed Syncthing on my Scale server. It looks like it doesn’t have users but rather folder IDs that are then used to sync devices. One of the cool features of Nextcloud is the ability to share files with other users. Can this be done with Syncthing?
Syncthing is very, very good at syncing, but I get the sense the developers are very specific about keeping to the core objective. There have been other features that would be nice, like have one device sync and archive old/removed files, that many have asked for but rejected. (There is a way, but it’s clunky and sometimes gets out of sync.)
I don’t think a cross-user sync solution would ever come to this app. You’ll have to create a unique folder and “device” for that.
So this is where I’m getting confused. Say I want to share a folder with my wife. We each have a phone: Phone_1 and Phone_2. I need to create two devices (Phone_1 and Phone_2) and 3 folders (my_folder, wife_folder, shared_folder). Phone_1 would sync to my_folder + shared_folder whereas my wifes phone (phone_2) would sync to wife_folder + shared_folder. All shared files would go in shared_folder. Both of us can edit files in the shared_folder?
You create a physical folder on device one, and in Syncthing create a sync job (which Syncthing calls a folder) and share it to device two, defining how the share works, and Bob’s your uncle.
From syncthing.net:
Syncthing is a continuous file synchronization program. It synchronizes files between two or more computers in real time, safely protected from prying eyes. Your data is your data alone and you deserve to choose where it is stored, whether it is shared with some third party, and how it’s transmitted over the internet.
Think of it like this:
- there’s a syncthing share
- you connect any devices you want to that share
- each device uses a local folder to act as that share
- the devices need to know each other
Then, syncthing sorts it all out. You can move a file into the share on phone1, and it’ll show up on phone2. Move it out of that share on phone2, and it disappears from phone1. Same deal for any other device connected to that share.
You can make this all simpler by using the same name for the share and on all folders:
- A share named Kim-n-Max
- A folder named /storage/emulated/0/shares/Kim-n-Max on Max’s phone
- A folder named /storage/Kim-n-Max on Kim’s phone
- A folder named c:\Users\Max\Kim-n-Max on Max’s computer
…all is pretty clear then.
You create a folder on one device and share it with other device. Both can edit files if you set the folder type as “Send & Receive”. If you edit the same file at the same time you will end up with 2 copies
Its an unlikely event that both would be editing the same file at the same time. I think I’ve achieved this. Been messing with Syncthing today. we each have a “shared” folder on our phones and the server has one too. I selected to share with both devices.
The trick now is when you have a PC with multiple users that want to share that “shared” folder. I need to work that one out … :-)
That’s right, all it is is an auto-copy program. It doesn’t host a shared folder like NextCloud; it just saves you the clicks (or commands) of copying your newly-changed files to all the places you want a copy to be.
If you edit a file on your machine, and your wife edits her copy, you might even find there to be a conflict. (I don’t use Syncthing so I don’t know how it handles this)
Where do you want to sync the phones to? I assume you have a server where you want to keep these, otherwise my_folder is just your phone’s local storage.
With that in mind what you described is a very straightforward synching configuration. You install it on the server, give it access to the three folders, install it on both phones, and configure it to sync:
- Phone1 local_folder to Server my_folder
- Phone1 shared_folder to Server shared_rolder
- Phone2 local_folder to Server wife_folder
- Phone2 shared_folder to Server shared_rolder
Don’t understand why you think you need users for that.
