This came up in the GrapheneOS informal chat on Simplex, that the Syncthing-fork repo disappeared. There is a fork with new maintainers. Large thread on Syncthing forums as well with speculation that it is another repo reset by Catfriend1 (has happened 3x?), Catfirend1 may have a new GitHub account, what is the way forward?, etc.
Anyone have an assessment of this?
I have no insider information or anything, but just based on vibes, it seems more like a messy and poorly communicated project handover than anything malicious. Catfriend1 handed over the project and if they were going to do something malicious, they likely would have just kept it under their ownership so no one would notice.
That said, the communication has been really poor, and the whole thing is a bit of a red flag, so I switched from the GitHub build to the F-Droid build for now. Not a perfect solution, but at least ensures that the app Iām using corresponds to the source in the Git repo.
Honestly, there is basically no communication when it comes to the new maintainer and the community, as the repository is completely locked down, and they have not joined the official Syncthing forum.
You should be able to continue using the current version of the Syncthing-Fork app with updates disabled (or even the discontinued official app as a matter of fact) for a long time before any incompatibilities arise. When it comes to Android, there is also https://martchus.github.io/syncthingtray (experimental but should be usable), and a possibility to run Syncthing via Termux as well.
Here is some more communication on this issue. It looks like theyāre putting a plan together now although I too think this was a poorly handled transition. Now it will be a different maintainer and different collaborators working on the project is what I gather.
I installed termux. I installed syncthing from command line and run it.
I synchronized all my existing drives without any issue. It works PERFECT without any config on termux. no dependency. works via any web browser. raw syncthing.
I also use it like that but many people prefer a wrapper like Syncthing-Fork for its ability to run Syncthing conditionally (e.g. only when connected to a charger, only on Wi-Fi, etc.). Otherwise, when used via Termux, Syncthing will just run in background 24/7, which can cause significant battery drain (because maintaining connections to the discovery server and other devices is expensive), and it will use mobile data as well (unless you block data usage for Termux itself 
), so there are some drawbacks.
Looks like this has now wrapped up: status Ā· Issue #16 Ā· researchxxl/syncthing-android Ā· GitHub
Nel0x:
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you @researchxxl. I took some time to really think this through because I initially wanted to give this collaboration a genuine try.
However, the communication (or lack thereof) over the last few weeks has convinced me otherwise.
To be clear: disregarding the understandable community concerns by simply stating āthere wasnāt anything exotic.ā is just plain wrong and a massive understatement.Without wanting to imply anything nefarious, this transition couldnāt have been handled in a more unprofessional and sketchy way.
In a critical project like this, a transition of ownership woud have required complete upfront transparency.Appearing with a new account and no prior track record, backed only by vague connections to Catfriend1 is a major red flag.
Instead of pausing to shortly introduce yourself, addressing fundamental concerns on the Forum, or build necessary trust, you chose to rush out releases. If this is how the collaboration starts, I am not interested.I do appreciate the invite, but I want to focus my passion on this great project itself, rather than spending any more time worrying about the legitimacy of the project or dealing with this friction.
Therefore I am extending my repository to build general Syncthing for Android releases - going beyond just GPlay - and continuing my work there.
Which project users decide to use is ultimately up to them.
On my end, community contributions are always very welcome (especially from Catfriend1 of course, should they ever decide to make their comeback)
So anyone using, or looking to use, Syncthing on Android should probably use Nel0xās version. Maybe Researchxxl will prove to be worthy of trust in the future, but as of right now theyāve at best only demonstrated incompetence at managing an open source project. At worst itās malicious.
An upside of this whole mess though is that Iām finally getting around to self-hosting Nextcloud on an old laptop. Funny how that works.
The GitHub - nel0x/syncthing-android: Syncthing - A Syncthing Wrapper for Android. repo was changed to Public Archive on Dec 27. Drat. Anyone have more news?
Forum User:
Does anyone know why nel0x retired their announced continuation of full development and maintenance of the app?
From nel0x:
Because for now we have agreed on continuing development on @researchxxlās Repository (and I donāt want mine to be a ācompetingā repo) and @bege, yes they donāt have anything against it, hopefully it will be merged into the Syncthing Org by researchxxl sometimes in 2026.
Damn, not sure what is wrong with Syncthing on Android but that sounds like a huge rollercoaster as a whole.
Somebody has a TLDR as of why so? Not sure I want to read 200 messages on their forum to figure out the reason without drowning into the drama.
Maintainer went MIA, the repository history vanished, then transferred to someone new, they did not join syncthing forum initially, then an older community member volunteered to maintain it (they were building the play store releases with the original repo as upstream), then both talked as far as I can see, the person repo was transferred to joined the forum, and now they are looking to collaborate and eventually bring the app back into the parent organisation of syncthing for ownership stability. The original repo maintainer was known to have nuked repo a few times before from what I read.
Someone can correct me if I missed something.
I just gave in and started using syncthing from android terminal app via the web GUI.
2.0.13 appeared in FDroid last week. Iām not sure what it is, other than maybe syncing with the codebase given numbers, but thatās a big assumption.
Been using the syncthing binary from Termux for the past 6 weeks or so with no noticeable battery drainage or sync errors/conflicts.
The web UI is very mobile-friendly and allows for greater customization.
With an automation app such as Tasker, it can be reliably run only when connected to a certain Wi-Fi network. Iāve also set up an automation to perform a package upgrade on a regular interval.