Per the GitHub readme:
This app is discontinued. The last release on Github and F-Droid will happen with the December 2024 Syncthing version. Interactions (issues, PRs) are limited now, and the entire repo will be archived after the last release. Thus all contributions are preserved for any future (re)use. The forum is still open for discussions and questions. I would kindly ask you to refrain from trying to challenge the decision or asking “why-type” questions - I wont engage with them.
The reason is a combination of Google making Play publishing something between hard and impossible and no active maintenance. The app saw no significant development for a long time and without Play releases I do no longer see enough benefit and/or have enough motivation to keep up the ongoing maintenance an app requires even without doing much, if any, changes.
Thanks a lot to everyone who ever contributed to this app!
This is extremely disappointing news. I have been using the Syncthing-Fork version, but since it is based on this app, this may be the end for that app as well.
Why not just publish via F-Droid or even just to Github to be installed via Obtainium?
What does “without Play releases” mean? What “active maintenance” is the developer expecting?
They already publish on F-Droid. It sounds like it was just a lot of built-up frustration from the last several years of Google blocking apps that require storage permissions and making it difficult to get restored to the Play store.
This was the bug from the last removal. They were going back and forth with Google unproductively for months. Hopefully the existing fork (which was also taken down from the Play store) can keep going on F-Droid.
I understand that. What I don’t understand is why they’re abandoning the project altogether instead of just not publishing to Google Play anymore.
Sounds like just Google being a typical corporation and having all of their responses returned by offshore workers paid $2/hour to reject applications they don’t understand.
As I understand it: because not enough people will use it through these ways, leading to not enough motivation for the dev(s?) .
Exactly. FDroid is a fraction of a percent of Android users. To get syncthing on your device you have to pass a lot of scary looking warnings on the way to get there. This is exactly what the monopoly trials were about.
Maybe more people would use it if they didn’t have the option of Play Store…?
He gave a reason, and said he’s not going to answers why questions, so your guess is as good as anyone else’s.
We should be thankful that this person maintained the app and put up with Google’s bullshit for so long.
If you find this app helpful, consider supporting whoever is willing to take over maintaining the app or a fork.