BitTorrent Sync 2.0 Sucks!

[Deozaan]

Does anyone have the installer for version 1.x? I want to revert my installation. I hate the new "improved" 2.0.

It went from a great, flexible, powerful sync application to a simple, "idiot-proof" application by taking away all the features I liked (such as being able to choose where you sync your files to instead of everything having to be in a monolithic folder structure like Dropbox).

[superboyac]

Does anyone have the installer for version 1.x? I want to revert my installation. I hate the new "improved" 2.0.

It went from a great, flexible, powerful sync application to a simple, "idiot-proof" application by taking away all the features I liked (such as being able to choose where you sync your files to instead of everything having to be in a monolithic folder structure like Dropbox).

Oh man!!  I was afraid of this.  The last few updates seemed to remove features rather than make it better.  So annoying.  I hate what they've done to the interface.  I especially hate that the "more options" triple colon thing is allllllll the way to the right and practically invisible.

[Deozaan]

Thanks to Lanux128 in the IRC channel for pointing out that you can manually type in the version number in the URL to get older downloads:

http://syncapp.bittorrent.com/1.4.110/

Though oddly enough I can't get BTSync to work (yet) since attempting to uninstall 2.0 and downgrade to 1.x...

Got it working again.

[superboyac]

oh...i see what has happened.  BTsync has gone "pro", so you can now pay an annual fee for the services.
This explains why they were tweaking the interface last year so aggressively.  They've been trying to make it more user friendly.  I don't like the changes, as my rant above shows.

The new alternative I have settled on...open source and free.  Syncthing:
https://syncthing.net/

It's not as easy to setup as btsync, but it's not bad.  it has an annoying cmd window that is open while it is running, and it can't autostart.  Fortunately, somebody has made something called Synctrayzor, which takes care of those issues, so that is the mod version I am using, and it's great!
https://github.com/canton7/SyncTrayzor

so i think i've said goodbye to btsync.  and it was great while it lasted.

[Deozaan]

I tried Syncthing and couldn't get it to work for me.

I'm still happily using my copy of BTSync 1.x.

[superboyac]

I tried Syncthing and couldn't get it to work for me.

I'm still happily using my copy of BTSync 1.x.

yea, that's a good way to go about it.  my favorite version was the one before they completely overhauled the interface.  this one:

[phitsc]

Do you guys have an opinion about the trustworthiness of BTSync from a privacy point of view (it being closed source). I'm thinking about backdoors and stuff.

[Deozaan]

Do you guys have an opinion about the trustworthiness of BTSync from a privacy point of view (it being closed source). I'm thinking about backdoors and stuff.

Sorry for the very delayed reply. Either I didn't see your post, or perhaps at the time I did see it but figured I'm no security expert so I'd wait for someone who knew more about it than myself to say something intelligent on the subject.

In my opinion, it's secure and private. At least enough for my needs. Especially since it is direct (private) P2P instead of public like regular BitTorrent. That is to say, it's essentially BitTorrent technology but no one gets access to the .torrent files except for the people you explicitly share the key with.

I suppose it's possible that there are backdoors in it, especially considering how BitTorrent.com has sold out the past few years, filling what were amazing, wonderful products with sleazy ads and using other questionable practices. I would say that if you are not attempting to share state secrets using BTSync, or other similarly sensitive documents, it's probably safe to use.

[phitsc]

Thanks for the reply Deozaan. Although I'm not trying to protect any state secrets I didn't have a good feeling using it, maybe for the reasons you state. I am experimenting with Syncthing now.

[Deozaan]

Thanks for the reply Deozaan. Although I'm not trying to protect any state secrets I didn't have a good feeling using it, maybe for the reasons you state. I am experimenting with Syncthing now.

I absolutely do not recommend BTSync 2.x, but I'm still happily using version 1.4.110. Good luck with Syncthing. 

[Deozaan]

Well, carp!

I finally got around to reinstalling my apps from backups after upgrading my tablet to Android M (during which I had some complications, and I ended up wiping everything, hence needing to reinstall apps from backups), but now BT Sync 1.4 just crashes and won't run.

I still refuse to update BTSync to 2.x.

Anyone have any recommendations for alternatives? @superboyac: Should I attempt once again to get Syncthing working?

[phitsc]

I'm using Syncthing to sync photos of two Android phones to a Synology NAS. What wasn't working for you Deozaan?

[Deozaan]

I'm using Syncthing to sync photos of two Android phones to a Synology NAS. What wasn't working for you Deozaan?

It has been long enough that I don't remember. I think things just wouldn't sync.

I've kind of just given up on rooting/backups/syncing anything from my tablet as it's become too much of a hassle dealing with all the time, especially now that Android is doing more frequent security updates. For some reason rooting makes it so the OTA updates don't work, and the last several times I've tried manually flashing, I just get stuck on the boot animation and I end up having to completely wipe the device to get the flash to take.

This adds extra hassle because I generally have multiple user accounts on my device, and setting everything up again after a fresh wipe is just too much, too often.

So BitTorrent Sync 1.x is still working great on my PC and on my Galaxy Nexus (which is nearly 5 years old, painfully slow, and still running 4.3 KitKat). But for my tablet I've kind of given up on all that.

[phitsc]

I'm using the latest Syncthing App which was released on Dec. 4th. Both our Android phones are non-rooted, running Android 5.1.1.

[superboyac]

Me too, been using syncthing for a while now.  I use it with the synctrayzor front end for the pc, basically so it has a tray icon.

I've found that the android app is buggy with me, so i've stopped using it.  but i'm rooted and mess around a lot, not sure.

[highend01]

@Deozaan

http://syncapp.bittorrent.com/1.4.110/

doesn't work (anymore?), do you still have a copy of BTSync 1.4.110 lying around, that you could share?

[Deozaan]

@Deozaan

do you still have a copy of BTSync 1.4.110 lying around, that you could share?

Yes. I kept a copy backed up just in case the link went down.

[highend01]

Thanks!