this post was submitted on 21 May 2024

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Syncthing saved my ass (feddit.it)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

62 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Note for Americans: here WhatsApp is the de facto communication standard. Literally nobody uses SMS/iMessage/Facebook messenger/signal. And carriers still charge 2 euro for a MMS which completely kills iMessage/RCS (if accidentally send MMS, it's expensive)

I switched phones and instead of copying manually /Android/data/media/com.whatsapp I used the new feature of pairing via qr code.

Besides that's a not very well designed feature (you need to start transfer on the old phone before logging in the new phone) because they really want to store unencrypted backups on Google drive, the transfer completed in a short time.

Maybe too fast, I was expecting at least one hour to transfer the 5000 photos 10gb, instead it completed in 20 seconds.

So I told myself, ok photos not transferred, I'll just do that manually and directly put them in the photo archive on my PC rather than keep them mixed with all the "happy holidays" trash.

I browse the old phone to /Android/data/media/com.whatsapp and... It's empty. Wiped clean after the "successful" transfer process!

Luckily I had set syncthing (the fork on fdroid, the one on play store doesn't have access to whole storage) to have a full overnight backup! On my PC I still had all the photos, almost deleted too as I noticed that I didn't set the "trash can" option

Conclusion: go to download syncthing fork from fdroid and have a safety net from mistakes like this

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Signal all the way.

[–] [email protected] 44 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Signal is particularly secure when you have no contact using it.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago

I just forced them all. They usually want something from me so they can at least use what i wish.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago (16 children)

Signal sucks hard when trying to transfer between iOS and Android (in either direction). I lost years of chats, photos, etc as a result.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 5 months ago (1 children)

syncthing is an extremely valuable piece of software in my eyes, yeah. i've been using a single synced folder as my google drive replacement and it works nearly flawlessly. i have a separate system for off-site backups, but as a first line of defense it's quite good.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago (3 children)

I still wouldn't use WhatsApp.

Wait, why does MMS cost money?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago (3 children)

They decided the pricing 20 years ago during the early days of EDGE data pricing. Then they realized that the money that's flowing from users that accidentally send them is a gold mine, so they left the crazy pricing

[+] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

[deleted]

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

MMS yes, by deleting all the APN profiles. Always did it since 20 years ago

Can disable SMS sending by changing the "SMS center number" but I don't think can disable reception

Luckily in my country the carrier in the early 2000s they decided to scam users with MMS and the "internet button" nearby the "OK" button and not with the "SMS double dip" where both sender and receiver would be charged for texts - too prone to abuse from assholes with large plans

"Internet button scam" explained for young people: in the early 2000s some carriers charged 1-2 euro each time you started an internet session. This for two main reasons:

To block new chat apps. We had "jar" apps like ebuddy, IMO or jacksms that could let the user chat spending much less. They were super optimized for data saving and even at the astronomical 20 euro per MB that they were charging at the time, it meant a chat session with a friend would cost 8 cents instead of 3 euro of texts. I would make two short calls to my friend, it would mean "go online and check the chat"
Get free money from people with fat fingers. Opening the browser would immediately charge the user 2 euro. There was a competition between phone makers to place the "internet button" in the most asshole position. Nearby the "call" button, or as a dynamic button, like at the home screen, the "ok" button would open the internet, while in the menu would be "ok". I had a Motorola where they placed it in the middle or the D-pad and I always accidentally pressed it. This could be mitigated by avoiding the purchase of a "carrier branded" phone because it could be toggled off. If you bought a phone with Vodafone branding instead every button had a way to let you spend money

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I wouldn't be so sure if I were you. Everyone, and I mean everyone, uses WhatsApp here. Friends, family, work, doctors, landlords, etc. Not using WhatsApp will make you miss get togethers with friends, make it way harder to communicate with colleagues, take away a lot of convenience when talking to your doctor or landlord or something.

I have Signal groups with friends, but you're never going to be able to fully lose WhatsApp here unless you're prepared to be "that person" everywhere and miss a lot of convenience.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

It's the iMessage outside US

[–] TheGrandNagus 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Americans on Lemmy/Reddit always say this, but it's not easy.

WhatsApp is essentially SMS. If you don't use WhatsApp, you're gonna have a bad time. You won't be contacted by friends or family, you'll struggle to make friends or get dates, you won't receive 2FA codes for a load of services, in some places even government stuff is done via WhatsApp.

WhatsApp is about as optional as having an email address. You basically need it unless you want to live as a hermit.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The simplicity of Google Photos has me still rolling with that.

But for all my music, syncthing is the best. In my case it's synced to my phone though, and also backuped up from that to the cloud.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

If you self host, or want to try it out, Immich is amazing. It feels very much like Google Photos, but you can run it completely locally. Great integration with desktop and mobile, both Android, and iOS.

I'm not affiliated at all with the project.

[–] IHawkMike 2 points 5 months ago (3 children)

That's been my plan to move off of Google photos. Decided on Immich a few months ago. Now if only I had some more of that free time to set it up.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Interesting.

Android 12 with syncthing-fork from fdroid does not allow access to the /android/data folder.

I want to backup my downloaded podcasts and whatsapp, but it can't do it.

Do you have an earlier android version?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

when adding a new share, you press on the cog, then it allows to choose /storage/emulated/0

but without root it can't access Android/data or /android/obb, it can only access Android/media

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[–] bdabb 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

"And carriers still charge 2 euro for a MMS which completely kills iMessage/RCS (if accidentally send MMS, it's expensive"

In signal why not just turn off resend as MMS? Problem solved.

[–] TheGrandNagus 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Relies on people actually using Signal, which is an immediate non-starter unfortunately.

Over time, the amount of signal contacts I have had went down, not up. IMO the Signal foundation has made multiple bone-headed moves that have stifled their growth and discouraged using Signal.

[–] Thade780 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

And carriers still charge 2 euro for a MMS

I'm in Europe and I don't pay for regular texts or MMS.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (4 children)

here all the plans have hundreds of "free" SMS but MMS are still 2 euro each even on the most expensive "all unlimited 300gb of 5g" plans

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

Crazy, I'm also in Europe and my provider stopped supporting MMS like a year ago

[–] Thade780 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I have a subscription with unlimited calls, text, and data. I pay (converted to Euros) around 45 per month. I also have unlimited roaming.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

i also have a subscription that includes everything, but the fact is that in italy, no carrier offers a plan that has even just 1 MMS included each month. Even the most expensive plan with the most expensive carrier does not include a single MMS.

1 MMS = 2 euro = imessage and RCS are dead

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

You can turn auto send as MMS off in Google Messages

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

that's now, 15 years too late to revert the "i need to be careful or the carrier will fuck my wallet" mindset that everyone got

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Even if my carrier tried charging me for a MMS, fools on me if they do succeed since I'm PAYG.

If they manage to fool you into paying for them? Fool on you for signing up to contracts that allow that behaviour. And the fact that you're looking for a solution to this is very "blinkered".

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It depends by the network.

Here Tim and Vodafone have teams of lawyers and professional scammers to brainstorm new ideas to extract more money from users.

For example, a few years ago they decided that the monthly plans should not renew every earth month, but every moon cycle. Can you imagine to rewrite the billing software to charge users every moon cycle instead of every month? A nightmare but they stole billions, because there are 13 moon cycles in a year instead of 12 months.

Another scam that they have on PAYG plans (literally everyone here is on PAYG plans because otherwise there's a 10 euro month tax derived from the 70s where mobile phone service was a luxury and not a necessity) is that they allow overdrafts up to 2 euro, but with a 2 euro fee. And they do plans like 10.90 monthly but only allowing paying credit in multiple of 10. So you might be 90 cents short, but they would first let you go in negative credit, then charge you 2 euro "overdraft fee" next time you add credit.

So as a population we are always vary of phone carriers. We are always on the defensive "OK, where's the catch, how would they fuck me"

Luckily I now have a plan from a swiss owned carrier that would take from my credit card the exact money that is needed to renew the PAYG plan. So the credit is always zero and there's no way that I'm spending more than I should

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Indeedys!

Exactly what I do and I feel the MVNO market here in the UK has kept things sane for quite a few years now. The problem exists when people take out "contract deals" and get themselves into "credit".

Also the fact we can now text our current operator for a PACode means we can jump between PAYG deals, monthly.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

In the US its nice because cell service is pretty much everywhere

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

That's kind of terrible. I'm sorry

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Meanwhile my carrier doesn't even support MMS.

[–] CodexArcanum 4 points 5 months ago

I keep my Obsidian notebooks and several source code repos in syncthing and then have them auto-shared between all my computers and my phone. Its been a great system, all my docs I need are readily available on all my devices with almost no delay and no cloud needed. A little advanced configuration to allow local deletes and I also have all my phone photos backed up this way too.

When I travel, I use my laptop and phone on a little travel router, so they're always networked together and syncing files. Definitely saved my butt a few times!

[–] mortalic 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I find syncthing on android wrecks my battery. How have you been using it that doesn't do this?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Make sure you are using syncthing-fork from f-droid and not syncthing from play store. Has much better battery life

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I'll never understand the people that have their photo archive linked to a chat app.

Where I live, line is the de facto standard. Soooo many people don't use any backup and just count on line to manage their pictures. Some dude went viral for losing 10years worth of family pictures when he went from iPhone to android. Line is a shit all that doesn't do any migration past 14days when changing os.

Just use Google photos and never think about it again? Or use self hosted stuff if you don't like the cloud. But for the love of God, don't count on the chat app...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

In my case it's just temporary. Every once in a while I'm supposed to take the phone, delete all the useless shit, archive the photos in the computer. Problem is last time I did that was over a year ago because procrastination

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