Syncthing-Fork

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Syncthing is a server-less syncing solution and allows to sync specific folders and files between devices without the use of a server! It exists for any major platform out there, including Linux systems, macOS, iOS & Windows. Syncthing can be used e.g. to continuously synchronize photos from a phone to a computer (or to another phone), or to remotely sync a KeePass database between your devices.

Note: For Android devices, we recommend Syncthing-Fork found on F-Droid. In the next example we'll show you the general process of how to synchronize the photos and a KeePass database file from the phone to the computer.

 

Step 1: Install Syncthing across your devices

Be sure to install Syncthing on each device you want to sync data with. For computer systems: https://syncthing.net/downloads/ 

• For Android: install Syncthing-Fork from F-Droid to ensure you're using the open-source version.

• For iOS, there is Möbius Sync, which can interact with Syncthing devices

Note: If you bought your Above Phone in 2025 or later, you should already have Syncthing-Fork installed by default.

 

Step 2: Set Up Syncthing-Fork

• Open Syncthing-Fork: Launch the Syncthing-Fork app on your device.

  • Grant Permissions:
Allow the app to access your storage and files as prompted. Note: This permission is absolutely safe to grant, since Syncthing does not connect to any servers on the internet.

Syncthing-Fork will need access to your storage - or at the very least to the files and folders that you want to sync. You can either give it permission to all of your files (this is safe with Syncthing) or use the Storage scope feature and specify the folder you'd want to sync.

For Syncthing-Fork to be able to sync in the background it will need the extra privilege of being able run in the background. Here it depends on whether you want to Syncthing to be able to start automatically and run in the background.

Note that this may affect your battery life.

Also note that you can still define the 'Run conditions' at a later point.

 

Syncthing can be setup to automatically started based on your location. This feature can be used so that you can have your devices sync automatically once you’re at home and connected to your own WiFi, for example.
This is optional and can also be skipped.

Finally, Syncthing will ask for notification permission, which will just allow the app to show you things in the notification section. We recommend to enable this, since those notifications can be crucial - once you see what these notifications are and what they show you, you could still decide to disable them.

   

 

Step 3: Configure Syncthing-Fork

Once through the initial setup of permissions, you'd see a screen similar to this on your phone:

Note the tabs on the top:

1- FOLDERS - this is where you can see and configure the folders that Syncthing is monitoring and syncing when needed

2- DEVICES - this is where you can see and configure the devices that are paired

3- STATUS - this is where you can see the current state of your Syncthing instance and change the 'Run conditions'

  • Find your Device ID:

Syncthing will automatically generate a Device ID for your device. Note this ID for connecting with other devices. It's a long string of capital letters, but it can also be displayed by a QR code for easier use.

Tap on the three lines top left to get to the sidebar menu.

From there you can see your device ID as string of letters and as a QR code. In our example the identifier of first device (Above Phone) starts with 4S7...

    • Add a Folder to Sync:

Inside the FOLDERS tab, tap on the 'Add Folder' icon towards the top right In our example we will create a new folder for a synced KeePass database file (.kdbx)

• Give this folder name for your own reference.

• Next, we'll want to select the folder containing the photos and videos you want to sync.

To do this, tap on Directory (folder icon) - this will open the file manager and take you to a screen similar to this:

Look for the horizontal folder tree highlighted in the picture and scroll to the left in there until you get to the root, which is the name of your Pixel phone.

Tap on that.

Because of Androids security policy, Syncthing will not work with every default folder. Easiest might be to create a new folder with the 'Folder +' icon towards the upper right.

We'll create a new folder for the KeePass database file here and manually copy/move our database file into this folder.

In our example we created a folder and named it 'KeePass database', then we proceeded to move the already existing .kdbx file into that same folder, using the 'Files' app.

Tap on USE THIS FOLDER Then tap on ALLOW for the next prompt.

 

Step 4: Connect to Another Device

• Add Remote Device: On the other device, open Syncthing and note its Device ID. In our example the identifier of the second device (Above Book) starts with 2FA...

Back on your primary device, in the DEVICES tab - push on 'Add Remote Device'

Then either enter the Device ID of the other device, or scan its QR code from inside Syncthing-Fork.

Make sure the Device ID is correct.
In our example the second device's identifier starts with 2FA...

• Share the Folder: Still inside the Add Device screen, enable the folders you'd want to sync with the remote device.

 

Example 1: Photos taken from phone

The next picture shows how to enable the Android Camera folder from the Add Device screen - this will then sync all photos taken from the phone to the second device.

 

On your second device (Above Book in our example) you'd get a prompt to accept a new device connection.

After clicking on Add Device verify the Device ID of the first one (4S7... in our case)

Next you may want to specify where this synced folder is going to be on your second device.

In our example it will create a folder called Android Camera right in the Home directory of the Linux system.

Also, depending on what it is you want to sync, you may want to check the options Syncthing can give you in the other tabs: General / Sharing / File Versioning / Ignore Patterns / Advanced

Click on Save once you're clear with all details here.

Example 2: KeePass database Let's do another example with the KeePass database folder we created. From the Create Folder screen, we can specify which device to sync our folder to. Note: Your other device already needs to be paired for it to show up here. In our example we'll enable the syncing for 2FA... which is our second device (Above Book).

Another thing to point out is the Folder Type - which allows to specify whether it would only Send changes or Send & Receive any changes made from this first device to the second device. This can be useful in different scenarios - for example if you want to backup your files to your second device and then be able to delete / move those on the first device, they would still stay present on the device that is not sending changes of that same folder to the other device.  

Now in our example the idea is to be able to access and edit the same KeePass database file (so that it can be accessed with KeePassDX on the Above Phone and KeePassXC on the Above Book). So we'll want the changes to go both ways! After pushing on the checkmark, there will prompt set up a new folder on the second device.

Like shown in Example 1, we'll want to specify the folder path for the KeePass database folder, which in our example would just be a new folder with that name inside the Home folder of our Linux system.

Click on Save and you'll see this new folder connection inside the FOLDERS tab of Syncthing-Fork on your first device.

 

Once connected, you'd see the second device listed on your first one inside the DEVICES tab of Syncthing.

Now with everything set up, let's start syncing!

 

Step 5: Start Syncing

• Syncing Begins: If the 'Run conditions' are met, Syncthing will automatically start syncing the selected folder between devices. You can monitor the syncing progress in the app.

Note: Syncthing-Fork allows you to define 'Run conditions'. Be sure to check these and that your device is in the right state for syncing to start.  

Step 6: Check Sync Status

• Monitor Sync Status: Check the status of your sync in the Syncthing interface, where you can see transfer progress and file status. On the computer you'd see the folders and devices you set up and the state of connection / synchronization with them.

 

Additional Tips

• No transfer limits: Syncthing comes without any boundries - you can sync and share as many files and folders as your storage can hold! Note that you can set up remote connections with other people too.

• In order for the syncing process to start, both devices need to be online at the same time (or connected to the same local / WiFi network) and the app must be running on both devices respectively.

• Wi-Fi Connection: For larger files, ensure both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network for faster transfers.

• Privacy: Syncthing syncs files directly between devices without storing them in the cloud, enhancing privacy.

• Settings: Explore the app settings to adjust sync frequency and other preferences.

• Syncthing-Fork offers you some useful extra features in the STATUS tab to check and specify the run conditions.