Cross‑Device File Sync Made Easy: Top Open‑Source Tools and a WebDAV Service
The article compares three cross‑platform file‑synchronization solutions—LocalSend for LAN point‑to‑point transfers, Syncthing for decentralized multi‑device syncing, and JianGuoyun's WebDAV cloud—detailing their features, limitations, and practical usage tips.
1. Point‑to‑point transfer: LocalSend
LocalSend is a free, open‑source, cross‑platform tool that enables secure, fast file transfer over a local network. It automatically discovers other LocalSend instances in the LAN. On networks that block broadcast or multicast packets (e.g., the campus network of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications), discovery fails, so users must manually configure the IP addresses of the two devices.
Alternative tools such as KDE Connect can provide similar functionality, but LocalSend works on almost all platforms and is the most convenient for this scenario.
Project address: https://localsend.org/zh-CN
2. Decentralized file sync: Syncthing
Syncthing is a free, open‑source, cross‑platform tool that synchronizes files in real time across two or more devices without any central cloud service. It provides a web‑based GUI for managing shared folders, monitoring sync status, and viewing device relationships.
Devices are linked by unique device IDs; folders are identified by unique folder IDs, allowing different path names on each device. The GUI shows the folder ID needed to create a new shared folder.
Syncthing includes Git‑like version control and ignore‑file capabilities.
Syncthing for Android existed, but maintenance stopped after the last update in December 2024 because Google Play refused storage permissions. The binary remains downloadable from GitHub and F‑Droid.
Project address: https://syncthing.net/
3. Lightweight WebDAV cloud: JianGuoyun
WebDAV provides a storage service that applications can read from and write to directly. Zotero can connect to a WebDAV endpoint to synchronize papers and notes across devices.
Traditional Chinese cloud drives such as Baidu and Quark lack native WebDAV support. JianGuoyun offers free WebDAV with a monthly quota of 1 GB upload and 3 GB download, which is sufficient for typical academic workflows.
WebDAV connection guide for Zotero: https://help.jianguoyun.com/?p=3168
Project address: https://www.jianguoyun.com
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Network Intelligence Research Center (NIRC)
NIRC is based on the National Key Laboratory of Network and Switching Technology at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. It has built a technology matrix across four AI domains—intelligent cloud networking, natural language processing, computer vision, and machine learning systems—dedicated to solving real‑world problems, creating top‑tier systems, publishing high‑impact papers, and contributing significantly to the rapid advancement of China's network technology.
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