S3Drive - general

John

I’ve updated to the latest version of Google Play. Synchronisation is working, as I can see that my modified files are being updated, but I still can’t see the sync jobs, so I can’t delete or edit them. (edited)

Hi John, do you see e.g grey screen indicating some error or perhaps sync list is empty? (edited)

A grey screen with no error and no synclist, just grey

Sherlock79

Oh, one more question. How are the accounts saved and synchronised across devices? I just realised that the account information I saved on Android is also available on my desktop.

Can I please get an answer on this? Thanks

Sherlock79

Oh, one more question. How are the accounts saved and synchronised across devices? I just realised that the account information I saved on Android is also available on my desktop.

There is no mechanism to auto-synchronize account data between the devices. Once you setup accounts on your device, you need to set it up again on your other device. In order to improve that process, use can export JSON config from the S3Drive and then reimport it on the destination device. This doesn't happen automatically, so ultimately user has full control if they want to export their account data from their device Secure Storage. There is cross-device sync mechanism though. Once you're logged in to same S3Drive account on two different devices. All file changes on one end, gets transmitted to your other device, so you can see instant UI updates. Once E2E encryption is enabled, these updates are E2E encrypted as well. This sync behaviour can be disabled in the Account settings though. (edited)

1

Thanks for the clarification. Can you please help me understand what you mean by "all changes on one end"? Are you referring to file changes or config changes?

Sherlock79

Thanks for the clarification. Can you please help me understand what you mean by "all changes on one end"? Are you referring to file changes or config changes?

Sorry for not being precise enough. Files, folders etc. not config.

Cool, makes total sense now

11:04 AM

Thanks again for clarifying

Sherlock79

Thanks again for clarifying

No worries. Are you finding any other behaviour, your comment seem to imply that actually more data was synchronized:

just realised that the account information I saved on Android is also available on my desktop.

but in principle that's not what S3Drive is capable of (intentionally though) at the moment.

No, I think it was a user error on my end. I think I imported the rclone config on both devices and then I forgot it and thought that S3Drive did it. And I freaked out as I thought my rclone config might have been saved/synched. And that wouldn't be zero knowledge

11:09 AM

I am glad that the config is not getting synched

Sherlock79

No, I think it was a user error on my end. I think I imported the rclone config on both devices and then I forgot it and thought that S3Drive did it. And I freaked out as I thought my rclone config might have been saved/synched. And that wouldn't be zero knowledge

Cool, thanks for clarifying. We don't rule out implementing such feature in the future, but it would certainly be opt-in with WARNINGs, so nothing to worry about. We have two camps at the moment. Users who would like as much setup automation ... and users who don't want any account data to be transmitted anywhere. Perhaps further improving current config export/import might actually be enough to satisfy all use-cases (edited)

I mean, technically there are ways of e2ee synch of the config. But it comes down to trust as well and that's tough with a closed source solution.

11:15 AM

I was thinking a lot about your problem statement around open sourcing the app and it must be hard as there are pros and cons. More contributors, faster development, better trust, but revenue at risk.

11:17 AM

I never look at source codes but it gives me peace of mind and builds trust. And I still pay for the app if asked. E.g. I really like the Immich licensing model. But I am not sure how profitable it is.

Sherlock79

I mean, technically there are ways of e2ee synch of the config. But it comes down to trust as well and that's tough with a closed source solution.

In the past, when we ran PhotoSync for S3 (which later evolved into S3Drive), there was actually a way to safely transmit credentials using end-to-end encryption. There was a QR code containing an ID placeholder and an encryption key. This feature didn't make it into S3Drive though, as the previous implementation was Android-only.

1

Makes sense. Again, I am happy without synching credentials. Gives me peace of mind.

Sherlock79

I never look at source codes but it gives me peace of mind and builds trust. And I still pay for the app if asked. E.g. I really like the Immich licensing model. But I am not sure how profitable it is.

It's complex topic as you say and there isn't best solution, only compromises. As far I am concerned Immich took of, once FUTO provided backing, but I am not exactly sure how it works.

1

Finding a sustainable open source model is an extremely hard nut to crack for sure

Sherlock79

Finding a sustainable open source model is an extremely hard nut to crack for sure

I think we've outlined that in our message: https://s3drive.app/faq?q=opensource Most open-source solutions tend to create closed ecosystem (only client is open-sourced), so they can sell the missing puzzle (that's back-end usually). In our case we create open-ecosystem that's compatible with most protocols, S3, Rclone etc. Had we open-sourced our client we'd sort of opened up our last "closed" puzzle, therefore not much left to sell (and fund the project as a result). Having said that, there are projects (thinking about Cryptomator) where source code is open, you can build it yourself, but if you don't want that hassle you can get license to use mainline release (Google Play). That's yet another approach. (edited)

S3Drive - Zero Knowledge E2E Encrypted Storage

Easily transform any S3, WebDAV or Rclone compatible back-end into your personal encrypted file storage. Drive mount, Sync, Backup, File Versioning, Search. Preview different file formats (pdf, markdown, txt, audio, video)

1

Anyways, keep up the great work. I have been struggling with Round Sync for a while but the lack of progress and direction combined with the bugs was not great. I just discovered S3Drive a few days ago and I am really impressed with the maturity of it. Still playing with it to see how it fits my use case but it's very promising. Well done.

Tom

I think we've outlined that in our message: https://s3drive.app/faq?q=opensource Most open-source solutions tend to create closed ecosystem (only client is open-sourced), so they can sell the missing puzzle (that's back-end usually). In our case we create open-ecosystem that's compatible with most protocols, S3, Rclone etc. Had we open-sourced our client we'd sort of opened up our last "closed" puzzle, therefore not much left to sell (and fund the project as a result). Having said that, there are projects (thinking about Cryptomator) where source code is open, you can build it yourself, but if you don't want that hassle you can get license to use mainline release (Google Play). That's yet another approach. (edited)

Yeah and that's why I mentioned Immich who don't paywall anything and there is no closed ecosystem whatsoever. Just wondering if enough people buy the licence or not ... They should.

wisenull joined the server. 4/7/2026 1:49 PM

Bingofps joined the server. 4/9/2026 6:32 AM

Hi , this will be a feedback/review/questions , hopefully it will be useful for all of us I remember joining this discord years ago when looking for e2ee cloud storage service was still in beta back then , but i was confused about the service , an app or cloud provider , and the name itself didn't help me , hope you can consider changing it since what you offer isn't limited to s3 fast forward to today , looking for a way to do backups on my pc and phone , I use rclone , it works great for normal transfers , but for syncing , need a good app to manage backups while rclone works in backend , a few web searches later i find myself back here , first on android side : 1 - i'm using grapheneos and app crashed because it can't run with dcl (dynamic code loading) via memory disabled , roundsync for example and almost all my other apps work fine with dcl disabled 2 - i ticked File watcher , i assume this will make s3drive work like syncthing ? on pc side windows 11 : 1 _ antivirus stopped the install and i couldnt even allow it in options and had to disable the av to be able to install the app , which shouldn't be the case ofc 2-since desktops don't have batteries , no need to have it as constraint in sync options

3- is there a way to check rclone version (in android too) ? , and can you have an rclone updater in the app ? in case if s3drive doesn't have an update in certain period , we will always have ability to have rclone up to date especially that latest version patched some cves 4 - can you add bandwidth limiter app wise ? 5 - can you add possibility to add custom rclone flags when setting up a transfer ?

8:04 AM

8:08 AM

stumbled upon this forum post about a user interested in S3drive : https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/research-about-s3drive/36980 maybe one of the team members can answer his/her questions , and it's a very popular forum among privacy enthusiasts , more exposure for you guys , reddit and rclone forums are other options too

ReSearch about s3drive

Hey everyone, I’ve been looking into S3-compatible storage clients for Linux and came across S3Drive. It seems like an interesting alternative to tools like rclone, especially for people who want a more “Google Drive–like” experience. From what I understand: It supports S3 providers (Backblaze B2, Cloudflare R2, etc.) Has a GUI + sy...

Paul joined the server. 4/9/2026 4:12 PM

CubityFirst joined the server. 4/9/2026 4:56 PM

I'm not a fan of the current file folder browser on Android. Since it doesn't use the system method, it's hard to find recently created vids and pics (edited)

Leonardo

I'm not a fan of the current file folder browser on Android. Since it doesn't use the system method, it's hard to find recently created vids and pics (edited)

I get that. We've had to find some compromise. The system/native one doesn't allow selecting root folders for Sync. You shall be able to enable the old one in the settings. Does it work for you? (edited)

Oh yeah that works. Thanks

Maybe you can get inspiration from the nextcloud app on how they implement it properly without running out of RAM? I can easily select from gallery in their app

4:47 PM

Is it normal that when I share a folder from the ultimate 12GB free service, that the contents are visible but when I rename the files, they will not be visible anymore and later on when I add more files, they appear as encrypted. Why is that? So it's not possible t oshare a folder and just keep adding and removing stuff and expecting the recipients to always see the latest state of the share?