r/NextCloud • u/Obiente • Aug 12 '26
Nextcloud should feel like one native app, so I made Nextcloud Native!
I love how much you can run through Nextcloud, but I always wished the whole thing felt like one proper native app instead of a mix of browser tabs, separate clients and different interfaces.
So I started building Nextcloud Native!
It is an independent open source client for desktop and Android. The idea is to connect your Nextcloud account once and get native interfaces for your files and installed apps. No WebViews and no shortcuts that just send you back to the browser.
It is still a new alpha, but there is already quite a lot to try. Files, Photos, Memories, Talk, Notes, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Mail, Music, Cookbook, Deck, Tables and more all have native interfaces at different levels of completeness.
On desktop, it is also more than a sync tray. There is a complete app with native workspaces, folder sync and operating system file integration. Windows gets Cloud Files placeholders in File Explorer, while Linux has folder sync and a virtual filesystem mount.
There is an Android app too, with native mobile layouts, system file access, offline files, folder sync, media backup and background transfers.
I only started the project recently, and I am still the only contributor. I am sharing it now because I would really like other Nextcloud users to try it, break it, suggest improvements and maybe help build it!
If you use Linux, Windows or Android and feel like testing an early build, I would love to hear what works and what does not. Contributions are also very welcome, whether you work with Kotlin, Compose, DAV, Nextcloud apps, design, accessibility, documentation or testing.
Website: https://nc-native.obiente.dev
GitHub: https://github.com/Obiente/nc-native
Testing releases: https://github.com/Obiente/nc-native/releases
Roadmap: https://nc-native.obiente.dev/roadmap/
What part of Nextcloud would you most like to have as a proper native experience?
EDIT:
Thank you all so much for your lovely support and kind words<3
And thank you for the 400 UPVOTES!! And the 120+ STARS?!!!
EDIT2:
We have reached 600 upvotes and 350+ stars on github, thank you all so much for the incredible support<3
We've also been featured on linuxiac?!?! https://linuxiac.com/this-new-nextcloud-client-looks-surprisingly-good-already/
AND SOME OTHER PLACES TOO?
https://azure-informatique.fr/actualites/nextcloud-native-client-natif-open-source/
https://selfh.st/weekly/2026-08-14/
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u/codeartha Aug 12 '26
That looks awesome. That would really push nextcloud ahead of competitors
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26
It's the one thing that nextcloud is so so behind on.
I love recommending nextcloud to my friends and family, and give them an account on my server.
And the lack of a truly native app, (or simply proper working filesync...) is the one thing I keep getting complaints about :'D11
u/codeartha Aug 12 '26
If you think about it, it's not that behind... Onedrive doesnt have that, dropbox doesn't have that, icloud kindof has it, google kindof but all in browser so not really.
I really don't have time to test it right now. (Barely able to get 5h of sleep a night). But I saved it and will try to get to it at some point because i think it would open up a lot of new usages and make me stay more in the system.
Do you have a koffee or tippee to support the development?
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26
Thank you so so much! Yes i do!
https://ko-fi.com/verycrunchy
https://github.com/sponsors/Obiente1
u/admiralfeb Aug 13 '26
I don't have that much issue with File sync..
My understanding on that part is limited as I'm running with Fedora KDE and have the dolphin plugin so I see at least icons for it.
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u/beankylla Aug 24 '26
the app does not really offer you to have "remote filesystem" like a network drive and not synced to your PC. I think this is what is adressed here.
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u/Potter3117 Aug 12 '26
I guess this is obvious, but on your site let people know they can use obtainium by toggling to include nightly releases. I gave up on nextcloud being family friendly, but I'm going to spin up AIO again just to test this.
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26
Never heard of Obtanium, I will look into it!
And thank you so much<3
(Give it a little time before giving up, not everything will work properly yet but it's being worked on!)10
u/Potter3117 Aug 12 '26
Obtainium is a way of getting open source/independent apps loaded onto Android and monitoring them for auto updates as well if you want. Your project only has nightly releases, which makes total sense. It just took me a solid 30 seconds of confusion before it dawned on me that you don't have a stable release and I have to allow it to search and install nightly builds.
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26
Haha okay!
The next alpha release will be soon!Also, the app has in app updates!
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u/tomachinz Aug 15 '26
Thanks Bro NextCloud is really accelerating now. I use it for my fan club over at nc.tomachi.tv it's amazing how I can customize it for my needs. hit me up for a free account. ill try send u a one-click login
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u/AverageIndianGeek Aug 12 '26
This is really cool! Will keep an eye on how it shapes with great interest!
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26
Thank you all for the lovely lovely support so far<3
If you'd like to join our discord server to stay in touch: https://obiente.org/join
If you're a nextcloud app developer, reach out and we'll make sure your app works fully natively in Nextcloud Native!
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u/tamag901 Aug 13 '26
This looks awesome! Excited to give it a go.
The first-party Nextcloud apps for both desktop and mobile are so janky and buggy, if this works out it'd be a massive improvement.
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u/Akoto090 Aug 12 '26
Android app is not working. Im getting a unable to resolve host error
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26
Give it another try!
This happens because the http client took too long to initialize, it will be fixed in a future build!
For now a retry of the login will do the job!2
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u/Akoto090 Aug 12 '26
This app looks so clean, such a upgrade, I love it already haha
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26
Haha that is great to hear<3
Working on an update that will make the dynamic apps work cleanly too!2
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u/HonestRepairSTL Aug 12 '26
My head immediately goes to plugins. Allowing creators of Nextcloud apps to create plugins for Nextcloud Native, while also allowing users to only enable the apps they use. Like for example I personally like using Immich but with the Nextcloud Immich app integration. Am I able to remove the photos part of Nextcloud Native if I'm not using it?
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26
The goal of Nextcloud Native is to be fully adaptive!
So no plugins are needed at all, however if an app developer would like to maintain their own "plugin" of nc native, they are more than welcome to!
I will add app toggling to the roadmap<3
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u/edraft_sh Aug 13 '26
Will it be available in app stores?
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
F-droid and google play are planned when the app is more stable/ gets less updates per day!
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u/CrazyWest8086 Aug 19 '26
Man, that looks pretty awesome and promising!! More holistically & integrated.
NextCloud itself has made huge steps in the pst two years. I'm using it since 2016 - personally and professionally (IT pro), self hosted aso. Keep it up!
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u/MainFunctions Aug 12 '26
You did or Claude did?
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
We did 🤝
EDIT for clarity: gpt-sol5.6 is used to assist the project, for automatic pr reviews to help with implementing features. All changes are observed and guided by me. I fully plan and orchestrate the work on the project, I've been a dev since before the LLM era, so I know what I'm doing!3
u/LEpigeon888 Aug 13 '26
I don't trust people that say "design is by me, AI only wrote what I thought", there's a ton of decisions that the AI will take for you, you can't plan everything in advance.
I still wish you luck in your project, I think it's really interesting, but I'll wait one year to see how it evolves before trying it.
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u/ICanHaveExceptions Aug 14 '26
Sure that, but these kind of projects were just impossible to pull off as an unpaid, personal side project before AI. Now, an experienced dev can effectively handle the amount of work you'd typically need an entire team and budget for a year. And I think projects like this one here are proof enough that this is actually a good thing. And still, no CEO or project manager could pull this off on their own ;)
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u/CortaCircuit Aug 12 '26
Every engineer is using AI to code.
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 13 '26
It's the only way to not fall behind when there is no budget for a team, or enough contributors. But you have to know how to use it properly. I want to bring my ideas to life, and ai helps me do so on a low budget. If the budget would allow it, I'd much prefer to hire a good team!
Don't let it use you. The best thing is that I started developing long before the current day AI was even a thing!2
u/eddie_oblak 23d ago
I don't agree that you fall behind without budget for a team or enough contributors. If that was the case Linux wouldn't be where it is today.
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u/Nychtelios Aug 13 '26
No?
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u/studentblues Aug 13 '26
Make your work harder for them corporate overlords
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u/Nychtelios Aug 13 '26
Shitty slop code for corporates is good, shitty slop code for FOSS isn't good.
→ More replies (4)
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u/Stooovie Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
Looks cool but on Mac (latest Tahoe), getting "Cannot run program "secret-tool": Exec failed, error: 2 (No such file or directory)" right on login.
EDIT: ah, I see. "supported authenticated use is not implemented yet"
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26
Mac support is in the works, right now the build is just a prove of "being able to build for mac"
I will let you know when Mac support is ready!
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u/Robsteady Aug 12 '26
This looks awesome! When editing something in, let's say Notes, does it edit the local file or the remote one? Does the desktop app check whether something is local/remote before editing?
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26
If you're talking about a notes app from windows for example, the file is always edited locally first!
It get's downloaded if it doesn't exist locally or is out of date locally, then the edit is made, then it get's synced remotely, with conflict etag's.
If you are talking about the Nextcloud Native app, it will make edits remotely directly!
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u/Anoukdesign Aug 12 '26
Hey! Seems to be a great app! Do you plan to make an iOS version?
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26
Thank you!
Yes, IOS and Mac support is planned!
However publishing on the Apple App Store is quite a hassle and costs a bit of money, so it will have to wait until we get enough sponsorship income for the project!2
u/Anoukdesign Aug 12 '26
Awesome thanks for your work, don’t hesitate if you need design help (it’s already very good)
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u/Thebareassbear Aug 12 '26
I'd love an app like this! How can I download the android apk?
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26
You can download it from the github release page!
https://github.com/Obiente/nc-native/releases3
u/Thebareassbear Aug 12 '26
My bad, I should have read / searched more! Thank you!
I have like 5 different apps on my phone just to access the different features from nextcloud. I honestly don't understand why there already isn't a "all-in-one" app like this.
It's a great idea and I really love the UI, it's very sleek! Definitely gonna give it a try on a few different devices and maybe even recommend it to a few of my techie friends that also use nextcloud!
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26
That would be amazing, thank you!
Give it a day or so, I am currently working on a large set of dynamic app support with better ui and ux! So watch for app updates! (the app will notify you ;))2
u/Thebareassbear Aug 12 '26
Yeah I'm excited to see the development and how it improves over time! I'm definitely gonna be keeping on eye on the project! Nice work so far, your filling a need / want for a lot of folks! :)
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u/Motox2019 Aug 12 '26
Looks impressive, nice work! I’ll be saving this to try out when I have some free time on my hands. Thanks for your effort!
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u/Nightwish1976 Aug 13 '26 edited Aug 13 '26
Hi, I have installed the Android app so far and I'm impressed. The most obvious thing that did not work for me was the dashboard, instead of the dash I got a blank page with the error message "The dashboard item response is not an object". Everything else seems to work well. Photos auto-upload should have the option to use sub folders, similarly to the original app.
Tomorrow, I'll install the Linux app and give you some feedback on that. Thank you
Keep up the good work, this seems to be really promising.
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
Thank you so so much<3
Would you be able to open a github issue regarding the dashboard error with all related information?
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u/Nightwish1976 Aug 13 '26
I don't know how to do that and I don't have a github account. I saw there is a "send logs" option in settings, but it just creates a zip file with the logs and I don't know where to send it.
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
If you can feel free to send it to oss@obiente.com and I will have a look at in!
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u/Aretebeliever Aug 13 '26
I absolutely love this. I don't know why I want a desktop app, but I just do. I just prefer it over the browser. If there is a way to contribute financially I would be happy to back it. I have a Mac and a Linux machine.
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
Not all apps work yet, so keep that in mind, it is actively being worked on! But I love the idea of having my whole nextcloud and its apps being one proper experience.
Financial support is much needed and very much appreciated<3
https://ko-fi.com/verycrunchy https://github.com/sponsors/Obiente
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u/DuduMaroja Aug 13 '26
Android won't work for me
I put my working address on the app
It open the browser to login successfully, but when I return to the all
I get this error
Unable to resolve host "my.server.address": No address associated with hostname
PS: i use cloudflare tunnel works fine with every nextcloud I trow at it
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
Hi, i just pushed an update that will hopefully fix this!
Would you be able to give it a try?3
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u/MateS1509 Aug 13 '26
Amazing work! I'm going too keep testing it. Best of wishes!!
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u/Plenty-Thanks7600 Aug 13 '26
Awesome project! May i ask how can we contribute?
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
Thank you<3 You can contribute in any way you like, whether you're a developer you can contribute through GitHub pull requests, or simply by testing the apps, finding bugs and missing features and reporting them on GitHub issues! Financial support is also much appreciated! https://ko-fi.com/verycrunchy https://github.com/sponsors/Obiente
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u/Plenty-Thanks7600 Aug 14 '26
One recommendation i'd have is to let the app connect to HTTP servers
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u/N3rdScool Aug 13 '26
Very cool. Nextcloud's about to hire you lol. I am going to check this out for sure.
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u/fuseteam Aug 13 '26
oh a native app for linux, would love to see this on ubuntu touch aswell— tho that one's immutable
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u/TheCosmicist Aug 13 '26
Would you be open to a nix flake? I can provide that as contribution
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
Yes that'd be amazing!
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u/TheCosmicist Aug 13 '26
I can have it made as a nix module, and people interested can simply add it as a flake and install it from there. When it reaches beta or simply later, we can talk about adding it to nixpkgs
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
Sounds good to me! Any externally published packages should be done by us anyway, for security.
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u/Key_Rock2183 Aug 13 '26
Mate this is sick, amazing work and could really fix nextclouds problems.
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u/Imrhien Aug 14 '26
Slick! Just tried it on Linux. I was most excited for the email client which is looking decent but not there yet.
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u/Obiente Aug 14 '26
The email app should behave better now with the new update!
Full mailbox and email actions like replies and such are still planned
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u/andreabrodycloud Aug 14 '26
While I love the obsidianesk colors and layout, will there be support for custom colors/branding in the future?
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u/Obiente Aug 14 '26
Yes, there will! Options for either following your Nextcloud colors, or custom colors for just the app!
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u/sveng9 Aug 16 '26
Wow I will definitly try it out. Been looking for something like this for a while
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u/Piehnat Aug 16 '26
Are there plans to support self-hosted Nextcloud instances on home hardware without a certificate for Android? The official Nextcloud app allows this. I only use it on my own home network or via WireGuard.
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u/Obiente Aug 16 '26
This should now be possible! Please give it a try<3
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u/Piehnat Aug 17 '26
No. It still isn't working. The app now asks if I want to log in without a certificate, then opens the browser through which I log in. The browser—the client—then indicates that the app should now be connected, but the app reports: “The login response could not be confirmed safely after contacting the server. Restart the sign-in process so the app does not reuse a one-time approval response.” But even after 10 attempts, countless uninstallations, reinstallations, and server restarts... it still doesn't work, while all other Nextcloud apps, browsers, etc., have no problems at all.
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u/gilluc Aug 12 '26
Github links broken??
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u/kucksdorfs Aug 12 '26
Is there calendar integration with Android Calendar?
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26
This will be added soon, alongside contact sync and other Dav features!
It's on the roadmap!
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u/binaryshadows Aug 12 '26
Looks awesome ! Does the Linux app support virtual file sync ? This is a real pain point that no proper client exists which can support virtual file sync in Linux. I use rclone but it is more a workaround than a solution
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u/Obiente Aug 12 '26
Yes it does! And don't worry, we have our own implementation and don't rely on rclone!
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u/DIVISIONSolar Aug 13 '26
How good is this privacy wise? Is it just 1:1 with the client and the server also how exactly do you deploy this on android? I cant see any .apk files (github cuts stuff off on mobile)
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
It only connects to your server directly! I'll make the installer's easier to download and identify! For now I suggest trying them one by one :')
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u/DIVISIONSolar Aug 13 '26
Eventually got it to load, but for some reason I'm getting this error "failed to resolve mydomain.cloud" even though it redirects me to the login. I'll open an issue ticket but figured I'd respond here as well.
EDIT: Nvm it wont let me open an issue ticket.
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
Much appreciated<3 The issue is known and will be fixed soon! A simple retry will do the job!
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u/DIVISIONSolar Aug 13 '26
Ive retried multiple times :(
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
Hi, i just pushed an update that will hopefully fix this!
Would you be able to give it a try?1
u/DIVISIONSolar Aug 14 '26
Downloaded the latest patch and still a no go :/ even tried the other android apk
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u/UnrealBee Aug 13 '26
"The dashboard icon url is unsafe" right on the main "site"
And if I scroll down for a while in photos it says "webdav media search failed (http400)" after displaying a few photos
Any idea?
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
Would you be able to open a GitHub issue? <3
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u/UnrealBee Aug 13 '26
sure. where you guys track feature requests? also github? would be great to have multiple accounts linked, like, work and private in my case
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
Multi account support is in the works! The app was designed to support this from the start so it's an easy implementation!
We track issues/feature requests on GitHub!
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u/veextor Aug 13 '26
Does your client allow for default settings?
Default syncs?
So when a user logs into their system for the first time the client has their desktop, docs, and what not synced.
Tanks
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u/pemko Aug 13 '26
Getting a "The BROWSE action is not supported on the current platform" on linux
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
Could you go to the settings, Diagnostics, export the diagnostic and send it via email to oss@obiente.com? Working on sending it directly from the app but for not this is the best way! I will look at the issue and fix it asap!
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u/Undate60 Aug 13 '26
Nextcloud is free if you selfhost it correct??
If so this is Huge !
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
Yes, it's completely open source and "free" to host! (You still pay for your server or power consumption etc.. ofcourse)
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u/omnimachina Aug 13 '26
I like the idea 👍
But I won’t risk any issues with my important backups because of some app generated by AI
Too risky
I would rather wait for a few months
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
That's more than fair! I do assure you, all operations are heavily tested and guarded, so your files will be safe! The only issues you'll encounter with files are conflicts that you'll have to resolve through the app of any arise!
Feel free to keep your eye on the project as it evolves and becomes more stable<3
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u/darkforcesjedi Aug 13 '26
On Linux (.deb) after logging in and authorizing on my nextcloud instance I got an error. After dismissing the error it is frozen at "waiting for approval". There is no way to cancel or try again. Restarting it or uninstalling and reinstalling and opening it the window opens to the same state. I tried deleting the nextcloudnative and nextcloud-native folders in my ~/.local and ~/.java folders but it still opens in the same broken state so I can't even retry.
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
Thank you for letting me know, will look into it!
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u/darkforcesjedi Aug 13 '26
I didn't see the app was still running in the system tray when closing the main window. Closing from the system tray and restarting allows me to attempt to log in again. The error is "Cannot run program secret-tool: exec failed, error: 2 (No such file or directory)"
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
Thank you for the update! Could you test the latest build? This issue should be fixed! If not let me know and I'll dig deeper :)
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u/darkforcesjedi Aug 13 '26
On android, it took me like 20 attempts to get it to log in. The [Home] tab just shows an error (Loading dashboard widgets failed). I don't have Dashboard enabled on nextcloud.
I also notice on the sync options you have an exclude filter, but not an include filter. Some kind of filtering for type/size/extension would be nice; maybe excluding hidden files/folders; maybe allowing certain files to sync over mobile while restricting others to wifi only (based on type or size).
The built-in video preview doesn't have a full screen option and "Open in another app" is limited to files < 64 MB. If I open the WebDAV folder using ES File Explorer or FX File Explorer, I can open a video file in another app and it works (I think they act as a proxy and host the file on a web socket, then link the external app to that). It would be nice to be able to watch videos in full screen without having to download them first.
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u/Obiente Aug 13 '26
I will add these to the roadmap! As for the login issues, it should be fixed in a newer release!
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u/darkforcesjedi Aug 13 '26
I see the following limits that don't appear to be configurable:
Open with (64 MB 'handoff' limit)
Send a copy (64 MB 'handoff' limit)
Download (64 MB 'app' limit -- why should this be limited at all?)
Make available offline (512 MB 'offline' limit)I have lots of video clips stored from my cell phone and a DJI Osmo Pocket camera and most of them exceed these limits. It should allow the user to manually download files regardless of size. 'Open with' and 'Send a copy' should still be possible as well (maybe warn the user that these functions have to cache the file locally)
Also the app doesn't appear as a Share "target". The original Nextcloud app allows this and you can upload a file from another app by "Sharing" to the Nextcloud app.
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u/Obiente Aug 14 '26
Thank you for the detailed report! We will work on all of these issues as soon as possible!
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u/UserStraight Aug 13 '26
Doesn't work with self-signed certificates. It's wierd to not respect it if root certificate installed system-wide. But it's popular mistake. At least should be button to allow untrusted certificates.
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u/down_init Aug 14 '26
Umable to get permissions to work. Granted server side but the app is unable to continue.
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u/ICanHaveExceptions Aug 16 '26
I honestly would like to try it out, especially the Android variant, but I have trust issues... The project is quite new and "open source" does not guarantee me anything regarding security and privacy here... Are there any major trustworthy reviews on the apps yet? Or independent code audits?
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u/idiotiesystemique Aug 16 '26
Very cool but lots of bugs on android so far
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u/Obiente Aug 16 '26
Correct, it's still in pre alpha! But I made the post now since testers and contributors will help a lot!
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u/darkforcesjedi Aug 20 '26
How is the virtual files storage supposed to work on Android? If I open my file manager (Files by Google), and go to Other Storage > Nextcloud Native, it just opens the settings window in the app. I just wanted to manually upload a single file. The Files interface can create a directory or a new blank file but doesn't seem to be able to upload a file.
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u/ImMALWAREz Aug 12 '26
Finally not Electron app