Syncthing-android: 0.14 support (preferably mixed version support)

[paulhargreaves]

It's been like 23 hours ;-)

Seriously though, while we wait for versions of SyncThing that don't break the protocol on upgrade, can you bundle both 0.13 and 0.14 and have us choose? That way upgrading Android to 0.14 won't force everyone to have to upgrade all their machines, and vice-versa.

[capi]

Bundling both and choosing would be way harder than going the way we did until now: just bundle the new version.

Maybe this release would also be the time to change the version scheme of the Android version and start with a 0.14.0 version instead of 0.7.22. So that at least it's clear from major.minor what the supported Syncthing version is.

[Nutomic]

I'm currently in the last days of my bachelor thesis, so I don't have time to work on Syncthing. But I'll try to get it done in the next days.

Seperate versions would mean quite some extra effort, which I don't feel is worth the effort.

I'm not sure if going to 0.14.0 is a good idea. That also suggests we should go to 1.0 at the same time as Syncthing, and I don't feel we're ready to do that soon.

[capi]

I can understand the 0.14.0 vs 1.0.0 argument. It's a good one.

So 0.7.22 or 0.8.0 then?

[gdt]

I don't think avoiding 1.0 is that important. People attach all sorts of significance to version numbers, and that is essentially wrong.

The big thing is that users can know which incompatible version of syncthing the android client can interoperate with.

And, I think there is merit until waiting until 0.14 has had a few micro releases before updating. This incompatibility, while not syncthing-android's fault, is a major negative for dealing with syncthing, and having a bit of time for packaging systems to think about upgrading would help. Perhaps that's already true.

[Nutomic]

I will definitely go with a new minor version (so 0.8.0), to make it less confusing.

I think Syncthing is stable enough at this point that we can update right away, seeing as there were beta releases and all. It's just that I don't have the time right now. Syncthing v0.14 also allows for better backwards compatibility, so it shouldn't be such a big problem in the future.

[scienmind]

Regarding the version name convention, how about keeping something like:
0.8.0-0.14.0

[AudriusButkevicius]

That does not follow semver.

[scienmind]

Would it be possible at some point, to allow core ST to update itself as it does on standard linux/windows? Without requiring a wrapper's update?

Or is there an inherent android limitation preventing this?

[wweich]

Updating Syncthing while the wrapper app doesn't support the new config format and API changes (both happened before) isn't a good idea.

[scienmind]

It makes sense for minor/major versions, but at least allowing patches through (Major.Minor.Patch) would resolve more problems than it'd create IMHO.

[Nutomic]

Automatic updates of apps (or parts of apps) are forbidden by both Google Play and F-Droid. If you want that, you could compile it yourself.

Edit: Putting the syncthing version into the syncthing-android version doesn't make any sense to me. That's exactly why we have it in the changelog and in the settings, no need to make things more complicated.

[ghost]

... and good luck with your bachelor thesis !

[Nutomic]

Thanks, it's almost finished :)

[canton7]

That does not follow semver.

Semver is only important for libraries, where library users need to know whether they can upgrade without things breaking. It makes little sense for user applications.

[Nutomic]

I've just published version 0.8.0, which includes syncthing v0.14.0

[ghost]

... with summa cum laude
Thank you !

[RunasSudo]

@Nutomic FYI, the F-droid build of 0.8.0 is failing

[Nutomic]

@RunasSudo That's a problem on their side, because they don't have the latest support library. I pinged @mvdan on IRC.

[mvdan]

Apologies for the fire on our side. It should all be fixed soon.

[Schroedingers-Cat]

Still no update on fdroid: https://f-droid.org/wiki/page/com.nutomic.syncthingandroid/lastbuild_99

[jonasdemoor]

The people from F-Droid have pushed an update for Syncthing to their repos. All my devices are working perfectly now. Big thanks to both the F-Droid and Syncthing teams :)

[mvdan]

That took an embarassing amount of time. Most of us were on vacation and it was a tricky issue to track.

[capi]

I'll close the issue now, since all our markets have 0.14 now, and 0.13 versions are still available from f-droid.