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Windows Touch sync to Android appears to be useless

SyncBack Touch is a cross-platform (Windows, macOS, Linux and Android) file server for use with SyncBackPro and SyncBackSE. It is free to use with SyncBackPro/SE V10 or newer. For technical support visit https://support.2brightsparks.com/
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mmullins_98
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Windows Touch sync to Android appears to be useless

Post by mmullins_98 »

Latest Win 10 ntfs file system syncing with Touch 1.5.0.0 to Android 9 on Samsung phones appears to be useless.
When a sync profile is run files are different because of modified dates. Copying files from Win causes modified date on Android to be the current date. As Android doesn't allow file dates to be changed and therefore a subsequent run to sync will flag all files that were copied as different again. All files have to be copied back to Win just to try to get the modified dates right which as stated makes Touch on Android useless. Win file explorer can copy a whole lot faster that using Touch.
It has been suggested to copy Win files to Android in a compressed file and then uncompress on Android to retain the modification date. I do not find this as a viable alternative.

I am evaluating SyncBackSE only to use Touch but will not buy if this is the only way to sync to Android phones.

If anyone knows of a work around please answer.
Kostas
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Re: Windows Touch sync to Android appears to be useless

Post by Kostas »

Hi,

You may try using Fast Backup which essentially uses it's own database to record the current state of the copied files thus not requiring scanning the destination. One thing to consider when using Fast Backup is that nothing should change the content within the destination path otherwise SyncBack will never know until you force a Rescan.

Another alternative would be using a MTP profile.

Thanks,
Kostas
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mmullins_98
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Re: Windows Touch sync to Android appears to be useless

Post by mmullins_98 »

Thanks but Fast Backup does not Sync and MTP is way way too slow.

I have multiple Android phones and each takes pictures that I want to save on PC and sync to other phones.
Kostas
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Re: Windows Touch sync to Android appears to be useless

Post by Kostas »

I am assuming you are having timestamp problems only when writing to the external SD card storage and not the internal storage, in this case I guess your only hope is Android 11 which allows full access to SyncBack Touch with the new access permission they've introduced in this Android version so we can set the timestamps correctly.

Thanks,
Kostas
mmullins_98
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Re: Windows Touch sync to Android appears to be useless

Post by mmullins_98 »

Thanks very much for your time Kostas!

Given that I am a Verzion customer in the US my Android version is the latest available to me. There is no telling how long it might be before Android 11 is available.

I decided to give MTP another try and what I see is that while the first scan took about 11 minutes to scan a folder with 29,000 pictures, the second scan took only less than 2 minutes. I also copied a couple hundred files which took a very reasonable time.
I don't understand why MTP can copy dates but it does work.
mmullins_98
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Re: Windows Touch sync to Android appears to be useless

Post by mmullins_98 »

Well, MTP transfer doesn't work right after all using the Android SD!

When the copy from Win to MTP Android device completes then the date on Win files shown on the MTP Android device in the Win File Explorer appear to have been copied to the Android device. However, after disconnecting the Android device from the USB connection and then connecting right back File Explorer shows no dates have been changed on the Android copied files. Using Android 9 SD card.

My conclusion is there does not seem to be a way to sync Win files to Android using Touch or MTP or SyncBackSE.
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