LibreSync
The Android app that keeps your phone's music, photos, videos and files in step with your own server. How to get it, connect it, choose folders and read its status colours.
On this page
LibreSync is a small Android app that keeps folders on your phone in step with folders on your own server. Your camera roll goes up to the server. The shared Music, Photos and Video come down to the phone. It talks to your server and to nothing else, with no Google services in between.
It is a preview: it works and is in daily use, but you may meet the odd rough edge. It needs Android 8 or newer.
Getting the app#
Download the APK from the download page on libreportal.org. The first time, Android asks whether your browser may install apps. Say yes for this one download.
LibreSync checks for new versions itself, but only if you say yes when it asks. You can change your answer any time in Settings, under Check for updates. See Phone apps and privacy for exactly what that check sends.
Connecting it to your server#
Open the app and it asks which server to use. There are three ways in, from easiest to most manual.
- Continue as. If the LibrePortal phone app is already signed in on this phone, LibreSync shows a card such as "Continue as Sam". Tap it, allow the sign-in, and you are done. LibreSync is handed a one-time code for your server and never sees your password.
- Pair with a code. On the server, an admin opens Admin, then Shared folders, then Add a phone, and shows a pairing code. Press Scan a code in LibreSync and point the camera at it, or type the code in by hand. This is the way to set up someone else's phone.
- Other ways. Type your server's address, then sign in with an app password. This is for when the first two are not possible.
The first time it connects, LibreSync asks Is this your server? if the server uses its own certificate. That is normal for a server at home. Check that the address is yours and carry on.
Why not just type a password
Your real password is never stored on the phone. LibreSync keeps a token or app password for each server, locked with a key held by Android, so a lost token can be cancelled without changing your password.
Nextcloud and ownCloud#
LibreSync is not only for LibrePortal. On the first screen choose Other ways, then add an ownCloud or a Nextcloud by its address. Its files then sync as another source, alongside any LibrePortal servers. You can add several servers. Each one shows as a card on the home screen with its own status.
Choosing folders#
After connecting, LibreSync lists the folders it found. Folders you have not set up yet are shown as suggestions, and nothing syncs until you press Start syncing. To change your mind later, open the server's card and use the Folders screen.
- Shared Music, Photos and Video. These are the shared folders your LibrePortal keeps for everyone. They appear under Shared on your LibrePortal. See Sharing a media library for how the apps on the server read them.
- Your camera. Switch on a camera-roll folder and its new photos and videos are copied up to the server. Place tags are kept.
- Your other folders. Anything else the account has.
Each folder goes one of three ways: to the phone, to the server, or both. If both sides change the same file, both versions are kept.
LibreSync never deletes anything on your server.
Before it starts, it checks that the phone has room. If a folder would not fit, it says so, and it stops syncing while less than 500 MB is free. In Settings you can limit syncing to Wi-Fi only (mobile data is then never used) and Only while charging. Instant sync lets your server tell the phone the moment something changes, over one quiet connection to your own server, so there is no Google push service. Check for changes is the safety net that looks every few hours as well.
What the colours mean#
Each server has a small status pill on its card.
| Colour | What it says | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Green | Synced a moment ago | Everything is up to date. |
| Amber | Syncing, Can't reach or Not private | A sync is running, the server cannot be reached right now (it tries again by itself), or the connection is not encrypted and LibreSync is waiting for your OK. |
| Red | Needs attention | Something needs you. Open the card: it says what, in plain words. Common causes are a sign-in that has ended, a phone that was disconnected from the server, or not enough space. |
| Grey | Paused, Not synced yet, Not set up, Away | Nothing is wrong. Syncing is switched off, has not run yet, has no folders chosen, or the server only works at home and you are away from it. |
Not private
Not private means the address starts with http://. On your home network or over the LibrePortal VPN that is fine, and tapping I understand lets syncing carry on. Over the open internet, use an https:// address from Domains and HTTPS.
Privacy#
LibreSync has no trackers, no ads and no analytics. It contacts your own servers, and git.libreportal.org only for update checks if you allowed them. Nothing from the app goes into Android or Google backups. Synced files live in a LibreSync folder you can see in your file manager, so other apps with storage access can read them too.
The full list of permissions, and why each is asked for, is on Phone apps and privacy. The same text is inside the app under Privacy in Settings.
If something goes wrong#
- Red or amber status. Open the server's card. It names the problem and offers a button, such as Sign in again or Try now.
- Nothing syncs on a phone that is idle. Android sometimes holds background work back to save battery. The card says Paused by battery saver or Held back by the phone; its Allow button takes you to the setting.
- Can't reach the server. Check the phone is on the right Wi-Fi or connected to the VPN. If you use Rethink on the phone, make sure LibreSync is added to the tunnel. See The LibrePortal VPN.
- Files are not where you expect. Without the optional all-files access, synced folders go into the phone's own Music, Movies and Pictures folders instead of one LibreSync folder.
If the app stops unexpectedly#
If LibreSync crashes, the next time you open it shows LibreSync stopped unexpectedly. Your servers and folders are still saved. Press Copy details to copy a short report: the app and Android versions, the phone model and the technical error. It holds no account data, no server address and no file names. Paste it into an issue, then press Try again. Never post passwords or keys in an issue.