mobile Syncapp Mobile: Wishlist

[thunder]

Reduce the hassle of users to type and mistype long key phrases...

Easy way of sharing passwords could be:

- QRCode generated on the desktop and scanned by the smartphone / tablet

- Generate and share passwords between mobile devices by qr code or NFC!

[Nihilist]

Obviously the space limitation is a big one but it doesn't have to be an either or. Simply add the functionality like drop box to only download when you click on it and also add the option to make it full sync. The option to sync only on wifi is a no brainer... Doing this on individual folders would be even better. So I could setup a folder for my tablet and pc which I only want to full sync at home as more of a means to transfer files to my tablet wirelessly.

I assume it is going to have a launcher and GUI, will this be used as the main way to interact eg, you get a file view of the folder or mainly as a way to change settings etc.. I don't think you really need the file view this can be taken care of with explorer apps as it is on the desktop.

Thus I guess the bulk of the app will be as a service, giving other apps access to the service's functions would be useful.

I don't think there is really a lot of out of the box thinking you can add to the mobile version of this app is there?

Features:

• Add to the "share" list so you can click on a file or whatever from another app and share it out to sync - Maybe this could be used for even stuff like contacts, emails, texts... I dunno.. Write them to a file in the sync folder... or that could be handled by the 3rd party app dev. Talk to the Titanium backup crew about adding "backup to sync"
  

• QR/NFC as suggested by thunder is a great idea, I guess sharing via, text,email would be nice as well.
  

• Option to sync only at set times of the day
  

I like the idea of setting up uTorrent to use one of the sync folders as it's autoload torrents from folder. Not sure how useful this would be the otherway.. eg autoload Bittorrent on mobile.

[eseelke]

I think a good way to sync folders on the mobile device would be the ability to sync a sub-folder of another sync.

For instance, I have a backup sync between my notebook and my NAS for my Pictures folder. Rather than syncing this large folder with my mobile device, I would prefer to create a folder called "Mobile" in my Pictures folder and have my device only sync that folder.

For this to work, the Sync app would need to be able to sync sub-folders. Rather than creating another sync in my app, I think it might be easier to create a file in my Pictures folder that is read by BTSync to sync the sub-folder Mobile. Ie, Create a file called .SyncSub in Pictures that contains text similar to "MOBILESECRETKEY Mobile". This file basically would mean to sync a folder called Mobile using the secret key MOBILESECRETKEY. I would want the .SyncSub file synced across all devices that sync the Pictures folder so that Mobile gets synced no matter which device was online at that time.

[Gameguy95]

What I'd really like for my iPhone is something like Dropbox has, where the computer could keep a list of all the files in your sync folder and allow you to download them without syncing the whole folder because I often use BTSync to sync settings for apps and large DVD ISOs which would obviously not do me any good on my phone. While its true you could set up a second sync folder for this, that is simply not practical when I want a file synced on both my computers and my phone because I would then need to make sure I kept the same version of the file in both folders.

Also for people talking about all of iPhones restrictions like sand boxing, what you're failing to realize is that any kind of app that so much as mentions torrents yet alone uses BitTorrent is highly unlikely to get approved for the App Store, meaning any SyncApp on iPhone would more than likely be a cydia app for jailbroken iPhones only. Keeping that in mind, some of the features people requested like the "journalist" feature one person mentioned where any pictures taken would automatically be synced to the computer, would be perfectly possible, even if impractical because the BitTorrent team woul likely need to hire some cydia app developer to teach them how to do that because things like that aren't as easy in iPhone as Android where if you search on the Internet there's probably a guide how to do that already.

[bryan]

This is outside the normal sync devices mode but a 'sneakernet' mode would be nice. Only sync files that are on the local lan computers and not on the remote lan computers. Then when the phone is moves to the remote lan it would sync the files to the remote lan.

For example, small files have no trouble syncing across the internet but if you suddenly got a large iso or video file it can clog the connection. This would sync the file to a phone and then when you went from work to home it would then sync the file to the home computer and then remove the file from the phone.

[slawson2000]

I would really like to see items able to be uploaded from the phone/mobile device (like pictures), but then a link to view items stored on other computers. This link would allow you to either view (download, view, delete in a day or so) or sync (download and save).

Start with a simple system and then add bells and whistles. I think just even linking to files on the computer would be a huge leap.

[FranzVz]

I'd like the ability to auto-sync everything (or check every x amount of minutes).

Right now I have to click each file separately from the remote tab, so it downloads to my local phone. Please make it so this is automatic like the desktop versions of sync. Thanks!

[Varnagas]

Updated client on PC this morning, updated client on Android this morning. All is great at last - now full auto sync is here! Keep up good work.

My suggestions on Android (or generally mobile app):

• First of all cosmetic tweak on app status icon - make it spin when sync is going on !
  
• I would not mind having app running all the time in background, so option to launch on boot would be good, along with ability to hide status icon, so it only show up when transferring. This one is second in line after auto-sync that we now have.
  
• Sync schedule is another great feature this app could have. Sometimes syncing all the time is not an option on mobile device or some folder is changed constantly.
  
• Option to select auto-sync, scheduled sync or no local sync for each folder (maybe even sub-folder) separately.
  
• Some might enjoy sound notifications when sync starts and completes.
  

This is all for now what I thought to myself when using android app and other sync tools on mobile. Take care and sync-on

[rusl]

I'm using mobile version 1.1.7 on Android. I use 1.1.27 on Mac desktop and Linux desktop. This mobile app is awesome.

A few suggestions for more 'features': I'd like to be able to see which devices my phone is talking to and what the transfer status is with each device (just like how the web UI and Mac desktop versions allow this information to be seen). I would also like to be able to specify the connectivity settings for the folders - DHT, trackers, predefined hosts, etc.. I regularly wear a tin-foil hat and prefer to use only my predefined hosts.

Keep up the good work devs. This project is coming along beautifully.

[YxTerWd]

My wish: Symbian client.

I know it's old and it's dead but ...

[Varnagas]

Is it only me on my stock 4.1.2 or everyone on android, that every time sync app is launched, it indexes all sync folders again, even if last time all was fully indexed and synced?

[slawson2000]

Question. I could not find the answer elsewhere, but is there a tentative release date for a Windows Phone Mobile App?

[mbob]

Especially on Android devices I do not let it run all the time, I often start it just to sync with the desktops, and then quit it again.

So maybe add an option to automatically shutdown BTSync when all folders have been synced.

[wmb]

Currently I only wish an iOS app to be released to public, alpha or not

[otonwallace]

There is planning for a windows phone app?

[Varnagas]

Thanks for adding app to Google Play Store - now at least phone app will update automatically! Good work guys

[FLAcharlie]

Bittorrent Sync Android app - add to preference to only sync over wifi, not over cellular data.

[xitr]

Sending a file using the share android button. http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2011/12/16/sharing.png

Show qr-code or copy to the network share folder

[gabkdlly]

Immediately after syncing on Android, BittorrentSync should perform a "media scan". This would allow for viewing and playing media files that have been synced more easily. This would make moving audio files to my phone much easier, no need to attach a cable and mount the SD card.

[T42]

Most things have been covered by other posters, but I'd like to add/reiterate/clarify:

1. Scheduling - enable, on a per-sync basis, the ability to limit transfers to set times. My specific application is to sync my phone backups to my own server on a nightly basis (I use Titanium Backup on a nightly schedule, and currently FolderSync copies the backups to my SFTP server after TTBackup completes. Unfortunately, Foldersync has some consistency issues). Limiting this sync to late-night hours (and wifi) means it happenswhile I'm asleep, and doesn't kill bandwidth/battery during the day.

2. Push Only/No Comparison/New Files Only - Related to #1, the existing Backup feature is great, essentially providing the one-way sync I need for my backups. From a performance perspective, having it sync only new files, and not perform a comparison would speed up the transfer process and reduce network bandwidth. Implemented as an option that can be enabled/disabled per sync folder would allow an initial sync to ensure all files are there, then disabling the comparison would allow for faster syncs. By only syncing "new"/"changed" local files (and marking them old/unchanged) this would provide all the backup functionality I need, without requiring a comparison of the target - simply copy the new files, overwriting any existing on the target (overwrite could be an option).

3. Phone-to-Phone Sharing - A mechanism to more easily Share items within Android. Currently I have a sync folder setup between our phones, so I can copy a file into the folder and it will show up on the wife's phone (and vice-versa). This is great for larger files, but is a little clunky - there's no notification of a new file, and placing a file there is a bit tedious (especially if coming from an app that doesn't provide easy file system access, or indicate the file name). Perhaps a "Share via BitTorrentsync" option would be useful, and the feature would be configurable within BitTorrentSync such that the user pre-defines the folder, and can enable/disable notifications. Notifications should allow launching of the shared file. Granted this would require setting up the shared folder between devices first, but if you build this as a feature you can walk users through the initial setup and share the secret via Email or SMS with a button (which is already implemented for other sync setups). I also see this as needing to be a one-way sync so that deletions won't be synced. This would also be needed if folders are sync'd between multiple phones.

4. Bandwidth management/throttling. I realize BitTorrent by design minimizes bandwidth usage - but being able to control that to some extent would be nice. Perhaps adjustable based on network type (wifi/3G/4G/SSID)

5. Interface Tweaks - The interface (on Android) is a little unintuitive. The small down-arrow for delete/pause is difficult to hit, which makes it hard to realize that it's a different function than simply touching the Sync Job name itself (took me about 15 minutes of tinkering to figure out that button was actually a different set of options). Perhaps using a touch on the Sync job to showthe config for the job, and touch-hold to bring up the alternate menu (which is more like standard Android functionality anyway). Even better - touching would show status, and touch-hold would bring up a menu which includes pause/delete/properties/history, etc.

6. Service Option - Provide a switch to run BTSync as a service or just an app.This would enable sync in the background without the main app running. With the service disabled, users could then choose to "Sync on demand" by launching the app.

Thanks for the great app - both on PC and Android. It has a LOT of potential to be a real game-changer.

[Limes102]

Checkboxes next to each folder in manual sync on the android app. Clicking download and then not being able to see which folders you have chosen to download is horrible. Currently it also means that you cannot stop a folder from being synced once you have selected it...

I have this problem because I am using it to sync my music library, but I don't want all the artists to be stored locally on my phone.

One other thing is, when you are selecting which folders to sync and you then enter a sub directory, going back takes you to the top of the list, meaning that you have to scroll back down to where you left off.

Thanks

[mbob]

Immediately after syncing on Android, BittorrentSync should perform a "media scan". This would allow for viewing and playing media files that have been synced more easily. This would make moving audio files to my phone much easier, no need to attach a cable and mount the SD card.

but it should be possible to enable/disable this on a per folder basis

[Ethan]

Please consider adding more than one (default) download folder.

I chose my SD card as the download folder. It's now full. My phone's internal storage as plenty of space but I can't assign another download folder to use for syncing.

So perhaps a feature allowing to add folders other than the default location?

[bradmurray]

Right now files larger that 2GB seem to be broken on Android. The problem is that it keeps trying to sync the file unsuccessfully. If you could set it to just ignore files that size then it would be OK until you get the sizes supported.

[Varnagas]

One thing I noticed with non-auto-sync. When you try to reach remote file you do not have locally, it is downloaded and you may use it.

While streaming media files and such is not top priority for now, other easy to implement feature popped in my head. Since mobile devices do not have huge storage capabilities for the price, one might not want to keep used files (like photos, videos) for keeping locally.

What I suggest is to add another sync option of sub-feature to download files for usage and remove them automatically after set time from downloading it or last time using it. This should also work with read-only and full sync keys (not removing it in other nodes after auto-cache-clearance).

Usage example/equivalent - dropbox mobile app and remote access it provides. White it also streams. But for simple use for media files auto clearance would be perfectly enough