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It helps to take a step back and think about Syncthing as a file sharing utility in general.
Syncthing allows you to share any number of folders with any number of other devices with any type of sharing structure you want (2 way file sync = filesharing, 1 way file sync = backing up). You can also set up file versioning on files within a Syncthing folder’s settings.
Note: Syncthing is not intended to be a true file backup utility, and some people will get quite upset if you portray it that way, which I get, but also it just works… and you just need to be reasonable about how you do things, just remember it is a general filesharing tool that you are USING to backup files.
You are the cloud with Syncthing, but unlike something like Nextcloud there is no special central file server nonsense, there are just Syncthing devices sharing folders to other Syncthing devices so you can do it however you want. You do need two devices of course, your phone you want to backup and the device you are backing up onto (which could be a computer with usb drive attached), but from there you can add new devices and share the same folder/folders to them and leapfrog important files without needing to sit there and think out some complicated system or architecture ahead of time.
Syncthing is very “organic” because it is so simple, but it is also very powerful, I have relied on it for years in a variety of contexts and have never really been let down.
One tip, if you want your own personal cloud, a raspberry pi type device, or an old phone plugged into the wall can serve as your server that is always listening for file edits/updates from devices in a folder share. Otherwise you have to make sure Syncthing devices are on the internet at the same time to sync files, though there is actually a quite nice GUI interface for resolving file conflicts if they do happen (I have used it quite a few times and resolved issues).
If your files are smallish, just setting the “file versioning” setting under a Syncthing folder’s settings to a number like 5-10 versions can provide even more confidence you won’t lose something but I digress…
I love Syncthing!
edit you can also do weird little hacks if you need to by doing things like setting up a Syncthing folder share on a Dropbox folder to sync files in ways you wouldn’t otherwise be able to do, it isn’t a recommended practice but shrugs I have also done this many times too and haven’t had any serious issues.
You don’t need a full backup of your phone, you need a backup of all the relevant data! What do you need to backup other than contacts and media in your home folder? (documents, downloads, music, podcast, DCIM etc…)
If there is relevant data “locked up” in your apps can you export it in some form to somewhere like your downloads folder and sync that folder?
Yeah but you can also set it to copy your DCIM photos folder or whatever (if you want to backup files, make it a one way folder sync in the folder options in Syncthing), if Syncthing is limited it is because of Android’s filesystem limitations not Syncthing.
Also consider an option that uses termux if Syncthing doesn’t work such as this one that uses rsync and termux.
https://howtos.davidsebek.com/android-rsync-termux.html
^the above tutorial may look intimidating at first, but each step is explained very clearly
You can also use termux to install Syncthing and then take advantage of termux’s ability to work around Android file system limitations.
Use syncthing and just sync all your important folders!
On F-Droid app store use Syncthing-forked
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.github.catfriend1.syncthingfork/
There are probably other more wholistic and specific ways to do this with apps specifically designed for it, but Syncthing you can use for pretty much anything and any other internet connected device you have you can use Syncthing to share/backup files too.
You don’t even need internet to use Syncthing, it will work entirely over your local network if both devices are on the same network.
supersquirrel@lemmy.cato
PC Gaming@lemmy.ca•Bethesda Dev Says Cuts Were Rare Before Xbox Took Over: 'All Of A Sudden We Have Yearly Layoffs'English
6·12 days agobefore anyone says Microsoft/Xbox are idiots and are sabotaging themselves… yes they are but also this strategy is an extremely successful longterm strategy so long as you have enough money to survive the temporary collapse and can buy up large chunks of the industry during the downswing.
Eventually if you keep doing this then you own most of the industry and neither developers nor gamers have any choice but to accept the crap you serve them. Problem solved.
supersquirrel@lemmy.cato
PC Gaming@lemmy.ca•Behold, "the whole story of Steam's economy in one picture": the top 1% of games earn 84.5% of estimated revenue, and most games barely make anythingEnglish
161·12 days agoThis is one of the reasons why the narrative is nonsense that renting games is better because you can easily own “too many games” if you keep buying them and then… oh no!!! You own too many digital games!!!
When you buy an indie game you are supporting art whether you get to the game or not, remember that, which isn’t to say buy random games but I think this statistic underlines how much it does matter to the smaller game developers to take a leap and buy their indie games. It helps that they usually cost 1/50th the cost of a AAA game lol…
supersquirrel@lemmy.cato
PC Gaming@lemmy.ca•Phison's CEO says NAND supply won't catch up with demand for four years, so don't hold your breathEnglish
4·14 days agoIn a sense this AI bubble is really two things, it is partially a bullshit bubble full of idiots and it is partially an embodiment of the basic philosophy of Sun Tzu demonstrating the act of losing a war before it has ever begun by becoming obsessed with pouring everything into a costly illusion that only the elite are really enamored by.
The same thing with the F35, that thing is a thesis and world monument to the philosophy that the way to win a war is by making the opponent lose on multiple levels before you begin the outright war part. It doesn’t matter how well the F35 works or doesn’t work, the amount of resources and waste have already “lost a war” entirely from the diversion of a Trillion plus dollars of resources that could have transformed the US in any number of other more productive directions. The F35 already lost an entire war before it ever even fought in a battle.
supersquirrel@lemmy.cato
Technology@lemmy.world•Amazon Caught Destroying Rare Books to Train AIEnglish
141·15 days agoWhere I draw the line for whether it is ethical to light things on fire is when they start destroying rare knowledge and books as fast as possible for no other reason than to hoard and obscure knowledge for private benefit.
It is one thing to fund the creation of knowledge and then hoard it, it is entirely another to begin actively attacking and destroying pre-existing publicly shared resources of knowledge in the pursuit of monetizing access to that very knowledge behind a gargantuan profit motivated entity.
supersquirrel@lemmy.cato
Technology@lemmy.world•First test flight of largest all-electric aircraft used just $5 of electricityEnglish
13·17 days agoMeh just accelerate with F-force and then switch to G-force when you are up to speed and vice versa when slowing down, problem solved!
supersquirrel@lemmy.cato
politics @lemmy.world•Democratic Senate Candidate Rejects Kamala Harris Endorsement
517·17 days agoI don’t like Harris but Biden was far less competent and suited to the moment.
Obama’s biggest mistake was playing it safe with a DEI hire for an ideologically bankrupt, incompetent old white guy for his VP.
Harris doesn’t have charisma with normal people (though she is apparently great at getting fundraising from the rich and powerful…) but at least she showed some kind of awareness of how to play politics unlike Biden who stumbled through his presidency and failed campaign for re-election like a dementia patient sleepwalking out onto a busy highway.
supersquirrel@lemmy.cato
PC Gaming@lemmy.ca•Netflix closes Oxenfree developer Night School, just a month after praising its new game as one of the company's 'most successful cloud game debuts'English
45·18 days agoOne of the most difficult skills you have to learn as an artist is when to stop extracting, when to stop squeezing, when to let go and let something grow into a living thing far bigger than you.
Business majors and finance people are monomaniacally obsessed with extracting and squeezing until they smash their environment into a brickwall, at which point their job begins and they can scoop up valuable debris from the resulting calamity for cheap.
Ok well than go clean your room.
supersquirrel@lemmy.cato
PC Gaming@lemmy.ca•Epic Games Store Will Support Linux "Soon" [an "Epic Guy" on discord channel, during an "AMA"; discord's link in the comments]English
5·18 days agoYou can still get good news about cancer… in the relative sense.
supersquirrel@lemmy.cato
PC Gaming@lemmy.ca•Netflix closes Oxenfree developer Night School, just a month after praising its new game as one of the company's 'most successful cloud game debuts'English
1341·18 days agoI fucking hate business majors, get them the hell out of video game development.
You can’t run a videogame company if you think like a business suit.
supersquirrel@lemmy.cato
PC Gaming@lemmy.ca•Dev at id Software says Microsoft 'burned a lot of bridges' in the industry: 'They fundamentally don't understand art, they don't understand games'English
4·20 days agoMore like ‘carpet bombed a lot of bridges’ repeatedly while condescending all the screaming.






It is on F-Droid