Edit: Thanks for all the suggestions. I’m going to try sticking with syncthing and try the fork of the UI and see if that keeps everything working.

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I want to sync files between my linux PC and Android phones (mostly for Obsidian notes).

Can anyone recommend a good real-time sync?

I’ve been trying syncthing, but despite turning off battery optimization for the app, it rarely sees the phone as connected. I don’t want to have to remember to check syncthing every time I edit a note.

I use resilio for syncing between PCs but it looks like it has a high battery usage on the phone, as if it is frequently polling for changes.

I use FolderSync for occasional scheduled syncs (e.g. updating my MP3s from the server to my phone), but a scheduled sync either is frequent enough to affect battery or it risks sync conflicts.

Cloud services such as OneDrive, Dropbox and Google Drive don’t show up as big battery drains, so I assume that they use change notifications from the OS instead.

Are there any real-time 2-way sync apps for phone that don’t have big battery drain and are not for cloud providers?

  • deadcatbounceEnglish
    0•10 hours ago

    If you’re using Obsidian for free then maybe try the built-in link which you’ll find in the built-in options I think. It’s a cost option but cheap. I think it eliminates the problems I’m having (below). I’m stubborn.

    I’m not having problem with Syncthing, bar dealing with the stupid attempts to deal with deleted files that Android leaves laying around. I have .stignore files with .trashed-* and .trash/ entries on the Linux machine. Still having problems with _ed directories though and Syncthing conflict files when the sync isn’t fast enough when I switch between the two.

    Sometimes it takes Syncthing a while to work out the best route between the two nodes. Sometimes days. It used to send my packets to the internet before letting them back into the local network. Eventually it found a more direct route between them. I’m not sure but I think it has something to do with local IPv6; I’m talking out of my ass though.

    I’m not affiliated to Syncthing or Obsidian besides being a happy user.

    I have decent battery life on my Pixel 7 Pro. I have the respect battery save setting on so syncing stops at 20% or so I think.