BTSync Android

[MRACHINI]

Just got my invite, syncing both my Nexus 4 and Galaxy Nexus,

i tried to sync system folder but i was denied access, hopefully next release will request root permission.

Amazing

UPDATE: The latest version of BTSync Android supports both selective and full sync, but still cant access any parent of sdcard folder on my devices.

Edited July 8, 2013 by MRACHINI

[Disappointed Cat]

I tried it out too. It works fine on rooted HTC Desire, Android 4.2, CyanogenMOD.

It didn't require root however.

My first impressions:

* I like the UI and the QR code approach.

* The folder view needs alphabetical ordering - it's chaotic now.

* I also like the on-demand solution but I have a different idea how it should work.

* Cellular data should be a per share setting.

I think there should be only one file browser in which the user can select which files should be always offline via long pressing or something. This also should work with complete folders, that almost no other programs support. By simply opening something it should be temporarly synced. Also creating the entire directory structure makes things inconvenient.

Keep up the good work.

[kos13]

Just curios have you tried mobile to mobile transfer?

[MRACHINI]

Just curios have you tried mobile to mobile transfer?

I created a folder to sync between both devices, but it doesn't start syncing until i tap the remote tab and tap the file i want to sync!

Edit: Speed is at maximum on both devices

[kos13]

There is no need to create folder to send files from one mobile to second one Just do two steps:

- Device 1. Go to Share tab and select files. Then device will show a QR;

- Device 2. Go to Share tab and scan QR.

[Disappointed Cat]

Not yet, but I will with my tablet soon. I imagine it will generate a QR code for my selected files, the other device scans it and downloads them. This is really awesome.

Will it sync if multiple devices scan it? We could spread files like drugs.

[kos13]

Yes, any amount of devices can scan this QR. Oh, and iOS based devices can scan this QR too.

[Disappointed Cat]

So this basically creates a regular share, right?

[kos13]

No, just one time share. For static connections between people or devices you have to create regular share.

This is model for sharing here and now, without need to worry about growing amount of "friends" in your list.

[wmb]

Just got my download link for the Android version too.

I did however register for the iOS app which I never got. Also I don't own any Android devices to test.

Could you please send me the link to the iOS version?

[kos13]

We are very limited with amount of iOS testers due to Apple's limitation.

[Disappointed Cat]

I dug up my old My Audio tablet (4.0) and it crashed before I could even install the app.

Anyway after dealing with the same old shit, BTSync installed and works without a problem.

I also tested the mobil-to-mobil feature. Works seamlessly.

I can't wait for this to be widely used.

[wmb]

We are very limited with amount of iOS testers due to Apple's limitation.

Alright. So sorry I can't help testing with Android.

[Disappointed Cat]

Here's another note: Mobil-to-mobil shares only show QR codes

so if one device doesn't have a camera it becomes a one-way feature.

Also the battery usage needs the same attention as CPU/RAM usage on the PC.

I can't run this non-stop.

[mstroud]

I tested this briefly this afternoon - very exciting! I'll test some more later tonight, but here are some early suggestions/impressions:

- Expand 'use cellular data connection' option to whitelist wifi SSIDs and/or network types, possibly on a 'per share' basis

- Add user initiated 'one time force sync' control which overrides above network preferences above and forces a sync, 'per share'

- Add 'longtouch' options for managing .SyncIgnore in file browser

- (Nitpick) Use more generic language in instructions, e.g. 'mobile device' instead of 'phone'

Many thanks to the BTSync team for the great work so far!

[capi]

I was also playing around with the Android version I got in my hands today and I really, really like it. It is great for a first alpha version (let's all keep this in mind ).

As feedback is the reason for us being alpha testers, I'd like to add the following thoughts:

- Please add most of the options on a per-share basis (like others requested), i.e. cellular data yes/no

- Add an option to a share to auto-download new files.

- Add an option to whitelist WiFis to use for sync (on a per-share basis).

- Add options to search LAN only / predefined hosts.

- Add a schedule for each share when to auto-sync.

- Add a possibility to remove downloaded files from inside the application (without removing it from the sync peers), i.e. distinguish between "Delete from shares" and "Delete from device only"

- Add possibility (on a per-share basis) to sync while connected to power only.

That's all that comes to my mind at the moment after the first few hours of playing with it. Thanks again to the whole team for this nice pice of software!

[capi]

Ah, one more thing:

The image backup works a little bit unintuitively regarding deleted images (from my point of view):

- If you delete a file on the device, it is also removed from the backup share.

- If you delete a file on the backup share, it is kept in the device's gallery.

For me, I would either make it a full sync (i.e. deleting on either side will also delete on the other side) OR write-only to the backup share, i.e. removing from device will not remove from backup share (in this case, it would really be a backup).

[downset]

Hi

i also got my invite today, but for me it is absolute useless with this selective sync mode.

Expected a real sync app so I hope you will add the option to sync everything automatically very quick.

greets

downset

[goli]

Hey there.

Here's my first impression. I'm using the android version on al Cyanogenmod driven Samsung Galaxy S2.

• No GUI issues. Even those things I would have done the other way around look like they are designed this way.
  
• My mobile devices computer name is more limited then the computer names of Windows and Linux clients. My Windows and Linux clients have names with between 24 and 31 characters. I love to use fqdn here since I expect to sync lots of machines. My mobile phone seems to be limieted to 20 characters.
  
• Would be nice to be able to decide per folder if I want automated synchronization or on-demand. Automated should be variable polling time to avoid mobile phones that are awake constantly. Let's say "very x minutes" and "very time I open the app". Would be realy nice to have polling intervals different for battery and power-cord powered devices, since when I'm at work and the phone is plugged in to the docking station, synchronization can be easily done every 5 minutes, where when I'm on the road polling might be completely unnecessary.
  
• If we're on the polling thing: Would be nice if I could bring my files into a download priority. There are some files, let's say a keepass file, that need to be as recent as possible. Others (music, e.g.) isn't that necessary for me. So synchronization priority is the thing here.
  
• My windows device shows that my mobile phone is syncing currently. It says "88.7MB" and shows an arrow pointing bottom-up. But my phone isn't syncing, its just not up to date. But since it does not sync automatically, the indicator is plain wrong.
  
• Or: This can be a bug. Maybe the phone *should* sync autoatically but doesn't.
  
• Synchronization on demand by clicking on a file name on the "remote" tab works quite well.
  
• After having taken a photo of the QR code and after the share is configured, I would expect to have anotification popup saying "new sync XYZ configured". When I did the procedure with the first share I didn't notice that it's completed because it didn't take halfe of a second to complete. So I took three or four photos of the very same QR code until I realized that the sync is already active.
  
• Would be nice to know wich devices are connected. Curently it only shows "3 devices online". When I'm at my office, there's differend subnets for wireless and wired computers. There's even different subnets for differend wired computers due to security reasons. And there's different firewall configuratoins between internal subnets and between one subnet and the internet. I really don't know which device can connect to which TCP or UDP port. So the list of connected device names is missing currently -- as well as having individual synchronization state indicators for individual remote hosts.
  
• When clicking the trashcan button on my mobile device, it says "Remove the folder". This is sounds really dangerous, since It could stand for "delete content from the file system as well". I would suggest to have three buttons here: "Cancel (keep sync)", "Unlink sync but keep file system content" and "Remove sync and delete files as well". I'm not sure if the "delete files as well" button should lead do an additional "really" neg.
  

To give a little hint about my setup:

I currently have two shares. One contains "music", which is plain filled with binary MP3 files. Another one is "private". It contains private stuff, such as keepass files or ssh keys. The private folder is EncFS encrypted, I just do synchronize the encrypted stuff. Selecting each singe file to be synchronized here is pointless because the file names are several random characters. I simply do not know which file contains which content from inside of the btsync app.

But all in all: Feels nice, especially as it's the very first public version.

Kind regards,

Stephan.

[goli]

Here are two additional points:

• Somebody else already mentioned that sync options "Use relay server if required", "Use tracker server", "Search LAN" and "DHT Network" are missing. It seems that currently only "Use tracker server" is active. All of my hosts that have never been set to "Use tracker server" are not connecting, although they have "Search LAN" enabled.
  
• The QR code photo button is missplaced on my S2. Only its lower ~3px are visible, which less than the space between the QR code photo button and the "OK" button.
  

Kind regards,

Stephan.

[qcbqoucq]

great app, seems stable for an alpha.

one suggestion:

please, please, please, make tray icon optional. i hate such icons and i don't use apps that don't offer a way to disable them. and if there's really no other way, then at least allow making it transparent.

thank you!

[s---70]

Hello!

I've tried the app on my Galaxy s2 and it's great, but I noticed something:

When I sync my camera folder with my windows laptop, all images that have not been taken in left landscape mode are not in the right orientation. Dropbox somehow does this correctly. It would be great to fix that.

thank you very much for this great software!

[Bujiraso]

I've got the app installed but is there really no way to enter a secret without using QR?

For me, there is no option to show a QR on the windows client either. I'm assuming this functionality exists on other platoforms.

[eseelke]

For me, there is no option to show a QR on the windows client either.

If you right-click on a shared folder, there should be an option called "Connect mobile". This will show a QR code that your mobile device can use.

If you don't have that option, it is likely you are not running version 1.1.15 and will need to upgrade as earlier versions are not compatible with the mobile versions.

[rossmoore]

Generally positive, some really slick design around QR codes that worked really well.

Bug:

I tried camera backup, worked great to start with. But then it didn't back another photo up Deloitte having auto backup enabled, then that just became a normal folder sync and the camera backup seemed to reset.

Other thoughts:

I echo what others have said about being able to control file by file or folder by folder, and also control whether mobile data is used by share rather than overall.

Great to see the alpha though.