F-Droid

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F-Droid is an installable catalogue of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform. The client makes it easy to browse, install, and keep track of updates on your device.

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Syncthing for Android discontinued (github.com)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

36 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemdro.id/post/14305957

Per the GitHub readme:

This app is discontinued. The last release on Github and F-Droid will happen with the December 2024 Syncthing version. Interactions (issues, PRs) are limited now, and the entire repo will be archived after the last release. Thus all contributions are preserved for any future (re)use. The forum is still open for discussions and questions. I would kindly ask you to refrain from trying to challenge the decision or asking "why-type" questions - I wont engage with them.

The reason is a combination of Google making Play publishing something between hard and impossible and no active maintenance. The app saw no significant development for a long time and without Play releases I do no longer see enough benefit and/or have enough motivation to keep up the ongoing maintenance an app requires even without doing much, if any, changes.

Thanks a lot to everyone who ever contributed to this app!

This is extremely disappointing news. I have been using the Syncthing-Fork version, but since it is based on this app, this may be the end for that app as well.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 month ago (2 children)

What a shame, I spent a lot of time working on syncthing-android (probably around four years). But in the end I stopped for the same reason, it's very demotivating to be so reliant on a corporation like Google which is entirely indifferent or even hostile to open source apps. Every year with the new Android version there are new required features or mandatory changes to implement, and if you don't comply they don't allow publishing new app versions. That's not a big deal for commercial apps with fulltime developers, but it's a lot of work for small apps maintained by volunteers. And it's never anything that would benefit syncthing-android or it's users, just busywork that takes away from bug fixes and feature development.

The good thing about open source is that someone else can always pickup and continue the work. Google's shenanigans were what drove me to server administration and backend development, which finally led me to work on Lemmy. The experience with syncthing-android definitely taught me a lot about how to run a popular open source project.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Did not know you were also heavily involved in another project that I have relied on for many years now. For my part it really serves to show how few people in the open source space can really make an impact on other people's lives. Obligatory thank you for your effort o7. It mattered to me.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

You're welcome :)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I am so grateful for your work on both of these projects.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

With pleasure :)