Is the NextCloud desktop app stand-alone like the Android app for Nextcloud? or it just a shortcut to running it from the browser?
Right now, every time I open in the systray the Nextcloud app, it pops up a window stating “All synced!” with a list of recent activities below it.
If I click on my icon on the right side top, it states I can “log out.” among set status or remove account. This gives me the impression I am connected to my Nextcloud server.
But when I click on one of the listed apps at the top right corner, it brings up my browser and asks me to login.
Based on the link below and what this person I quote shares below, I am led to believe this is not normal.
“The issue is that the desktop-client is not asking for password by itself but is opening a browser windows to log in and to approve access. That is not what I want. When I am starting a desktop session the client opens a browser window every time and is asking for approval. I found no solution to keep the client logged in as under Windows or other Linux.”
The only purpose of the desktop client is to synchronize your data. So that you can work with your data locally. By data I mean things like files or photos. All other apps such as calendar, contacts, etc. are not accessible through the normal desktop client.
The login of the desktop client is working as intended.
There are two szeanarios, obviously. The first is that the client is logging in in the background as you expect, and the second is a logging in via browser.
I do now know when the first takes place or the second. That seems to be a hidden secret, maybe some other can explain more details.
Running an OpenSuse Leap Linux, the client was asking via Browser, now with an OpenSuse Tumbleweed not.
It’s normal for them to open in your default browser when you click on one, since they’re just shortcuts to the online versions of the apps. Whether or not you then see a login screen depends on whether you’re already logged into your Nextcloud account in your browser.
If you’re referring to the desktop client login process itself, which is unrelated to the app shortcuts mentioned by the OP, then yes, newer versions of the desktop client also use the browser for logging in and setting up your account, a process known as Login Flow.
However, you should only need to do this once. Once logged in, your operating system should securely store the credentials (username, access token, server URL, etc.) so that you don’t have to log in again after every reboot. On Linux, this is typically handled by a key store such as gnome-keyring or kwallet.
Yes, that apparently IS my issue / problem. Every time I close chrome, or reboot, I have to login again with full credentials. The android apps do not have this requirement.
That sounds like the client is logged in and everything is working as expected.
That’s because the client is connected.
That’s expected behavior. Those apps aren’t actually part of the desktop client. The items listed there are just shortcuts to the web interface of Nextcloud (like Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, etc.). The desktop client itself doesn’t include those apps. It’s main purpose is file synchronization between your Nextcloud server and your local machine, as @mritzmann already pointed out.
