I use Nextcloud on a Freedombox server where Nextcloud runs in a container. I use the Notes app on my pixel 9a (grapheneos) and sync the notes I make on my phone over to my home server. It is not the main use I make of the server but it is handy and just right for the bits and pieces I keep there.
Over the last few weeks I have had sync problems using the Notes app which, when I dug in to them today, turned out to be authentication issues between the Notes app on my phone and my server. I decided I needed to get to the bottom of the problem when I realized that notes from my phone were not updated to the server over the last couple of weeks.
I first noticed the problem when I tried to access a note file that I update daily from my phone using a web browser to look at the same file on the server. It presented me with two panels and asked me to resolve the conflict. I ran into that twice and made the wrong choice both times losing a few days of updates.
Today I wrote several paragraphs of notes and ran into the same problem. I searched for solutions and chose uninstalling and reinstalling the app on my phone. I hoped that the process would keep the files on my phone so the recent edits would not be lost. I didn’t find a simple way to back up what was on the phone that had not made it to the server.
When I did the reinstall, the edits from my phone for the past couple of weeks that had not made it to the server seem to be gone. Although it would be nice to be able to find them somewhere, I have had no luck with that.
Nothing critical was lost. The files on my phone now are what they were when the sync last worked a couple of weeks ago. I can recreate the items that are missing but I thought mentioning it here might be a useful heads up for anyone faced with similar sync issues. I do not know of a solution but reinstalling the app loses the unsynced updates from the phone.
I am very happy with the app and Nextcloud in general. The little problem I have had here is all my own.
