The official, maintained syncthing app is available on Android through the Termux 'pkg' manager.
this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2026
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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.
How does it work on the background, do i need to always have a termux session on?
Yeah. Sorry I didn't see this.
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.
There was a lot of suspiciousness around the transfer at first, has that been resolved?
The maintainer for the Play Store version recently started maintaining a non-Play Store version as well.
He archived it.
Oh, damn.
Edit: Seems the new dev and the gplay maintainer have resolved their differences and are working together.
That link returned 404 for me
It worked for me? Not sure if OP changed it, but it goes to the latest repo just fine.
Foldersync Pro is incredible
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
Is there any way for it to sync from desktop to Android immediately when a file changes on the PC?
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.
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
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).
Its a great app, I've used it for 10+ years, paid for it 2 or 3 times because it's worth it.
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.
What is wrong with the fork from F-Droid?
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.
I know this may be contentious but can someone give an update/summary on what's going on with SyncthingFork on fdroid? And is it correct that SyncthingFork from GooglePlay is ok for now?
I've yet to upgrade from version 1 because of all the noise, is it still at an impasse, or has it resolved?
The original maintainer of Syncthing Fork (Catfriend1) passed the code, keys and stuff to another user, not publicly but behind the scenes.
This was not well received by the community and the majority jumped to the Google play version (published by nel0x but based on Catfriend1's code before the handout).
After some hiccups, nel0x and the new maintainer are joining forces to co-develop and publish the Fork on f-droid and gplay going forward.
Hey thanks, it was that last paragraph i hadn't kept up with. But i was hoping for something like that.
Maybe not quite what you need, but I use Syncopoli to push and pull files between my phone and server.
this doesn't give me confidence.
They just changed the maintainers? What in this thread does not give you confidence?
They changed to a random person and gave all abilities to quietly upgrade everyone's installs to the one maintained by the new random person. Then the new random person disabled things that allowed us to verify the app provided is the same one built from the Github repo. And now the new random person doesn't communicate well.
I've sometimes found that it just stops syncing on one phone. And I did turn off battery management.
I need something that's reliable.
I use resilio, but recently it used 20% battery in 6 hours overnight, when nothing needed syncing.
Build a Syncthing Android apk yourself. You don't need to update to every release. I'm still using 1.30 with 2.x.
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.
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.
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 if Syncthing ever has a Discovery server failure.
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.
What about kde connect? Never used it myself, or syncthing for android either, I use a USB cable and adb for backups
If u are using it for obsidian I can recommend self hosted livesync with couchdb
rsync has an android app.
FreeFileSync has an android app.
Probably https://opencloud.eu/ could be an alternative.
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.
@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.
How is the file sync integration? Even some of the commercial products have shocking implementations.
Does it support shadow copies of files?
@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
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
Someone just shared croc over at https://sh.itjust.works/post/53548000
https://schollz.com/software/croc6
https://github.com/schollz/croc
There is an Android app on F-Droid. https://f-droid.org/packages/com.github.howeyc.crocgui/
Did anyone try?