Hi everybody. A few months ago, I started my Nextcloud journey with high expectations. I was looking for a replacement for OneDrive and OneNote, and I chose Nextcloud because of its appealing concept. I subscribed to a paid hosting plan with https://thegood.cloud/, I installed the PC sync client on my Windows PC and the Android client (version 33.1.0) on my Pixel 6a phone.
Now, a few months later and after a lot of experiments, I’m in doubt and even somewhat disillusioned. My basic need is file synchronization across three environments: PC, web, and phone. On PC and web, it seems to work reasonably well, but the phone is the problem. The Android app is unreliable, and it’s also poorly documented. This undermines Nextcloud’s completeness and usability as a solution.
Here’s what I’ve experienced:
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I’ve been storing and editing my notes using the Android app, both with and without the dedicated Notes app. But no matter what I tried, storing and editing notes (.md files) on the phone is unreliable. Sometimes changes aren’t uploaded - but hey, then they magically reappear when the note is reopened in edit mode on the phone. Other times, changes are uploaded, but the file’s modification date isn’t updated. Btw, these issues seem to occur primarily with notes (.md files), not with spreadsheets or .doc and .odt files.
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I tried using Nextcloud as a sync service for an external note-taking app, Obsidian. Obsidian doesn’t support Nextcloud’s API but saves notes in a folder on the phone. At first glance, Nextcloud seems to support this: there’s an internal storage location at
Android/media/com.nextcloud.client/nextcloud/<username>/Notities. And indeed, Nextcloud does save some of my content in that folder. But strangely: not all of it. Why only some files are saved there is completely unclear. And if I delete one of the saved files using Android’s file manager, the file remains visible in the Nextcloud app; so, Nextcloud storing some files locally in that folder seems pointless. Manually adding files to that folder is also useless because they don’t appear in the Nextcloud app. In short: this folder is unusable for integration with other apps, like Obsidian. -
After (too much) searching and reading, I discovered that you can enable “two-way sync” in the app. Nowhere is it documented what this actually means (what behaviour can expected from it). But regardless, it doesn’t solve the above issues. Enabling two-way sync on certain folders doesn’t seem to make any difference at all.
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Positively: the combination of Nextcloud with the note-taking app Joplin has worked reliably so far (Joplin supports Nextcloud’s API so it does not need a synchronised local folder). So, you might say, “just use Joplin.” But Joplin uses a database and doesn’t have a web version, so then I can’t edit my notes in a browser.
I’ve read a lot on the internet about NC having issues with syncing on Android phones. Some say it works better with non-Google phones. Others suggest using additional apps like Syncthing or FolderSync to make Obsidian work with Nextcloud. But trying all these things will take me even more time, and it’s uncertain whether they’ll provide a sufficient solution.
The biggest problem, therefore, is the lack of documentation for the Android app. On Nextcloud Documentation , the app (mobile client) is briefly mentioned twice, but there is no complete description of how the app works. Why not? The desktop client has proper documentation, so why not the mobile app? Without a user manual that explains what the app can and cannot do and how to use it, the app feels like an incomplete product. It’s unrealistic to expect an average user to reverse-engineer how the app works.
Another example: If you click “Help” in the app’s settings, it opens the help forum. But the help forum is no substitute at all for a proper help file (user manual). The forum should only come into play after the user has consulted a proper help file. Every software package has a help file.
Why am I posting this? Because I would like Nextcloud to become a success. But in my opinion, a mobile app is an indispensable part of NC. Therefore NC can only achieve widespread adoption (especially under non-tech users) if:
(a) proper and complete documentation for the mobile apps is added, including an FAQ/Howto for circumventing known issues, and
(b) the app reliably delivers the promised functionality.
Until then, I can’t confidently recommend Nextcloud to the average computer user.
I therefore hope that someone will take the initiative and add documentation for the mobile apps. I might be willing to contribute to that, but the foundation needs to be laid by someone who truly understands the mobile app.