Accounts and cloud drives
Sign in to a cloud service once in Settings, under Accounts, and its files appear as a folder in ~/Cloud, next to your other drives in Rover. Every app and every file dialog sees it like any other folder.
| Service | How you sign in |
|---|---|
| iCloud Drive | Your Apple Account email and password, then the code Apple shows on your iPhone, iPad or Mac, or texts to your phone |
| OneDrive | In your browser, with a personal, work or school Microsoft account |
| Dropbox | In your browser |
| Nextcloud | The server’s address, then in your browser, or with a user name and app password |
| WebDAV | The server’s address, user name and password |
Passwords and sign-in tokens are kept in Luft Keyring and never written to a file. Removing an account removes its keyring entry and the copies on this computer; the files stay in the cloud.
Files on demand
Section titled “Files on demand”Nothing downloads until you open it. Opened files stay for a day, up to 5 GB, and are cleared sooner when the disk runs low, so a large cloud drive doesn’t fill yours.
Keep on this device, on a file or folder in Rover, keeps it on your computer. Kept files open without a connection, and changes go both ways: within a few seconds of a change here, and every five minutes otherwise. Free up space turns it back into a file that downloads when opened; anything changed here is sent up first.
Rover marks each file:
| Mark | Means |
|---|---|
| Cloud | Online only; it downloads when opened |
| Check | On this device |
| Arrows | Syncing |
When the computer starts without a connection, the drive shows only kept files until it’s back online.
When the same file changes in two places
Section titled “When the same file changes in two places”If a kept file changes on this computer and in the cloud before they meet, both versions are kept. The newer one keeps the name, and the other gets one like Report (copy from OneDrive).docx or Report (copy from this device).docx. A notification says so, and Rover shows a note in the drive until you dismiss it or remove the copy.
Pausing
Section titled “Pausing”Syncing in the background pauses on a metered connection, such as a phone’s hotspot, and when the battery is at 20% or lower and not charging. Opening a file still downloads it, and changes made meanwhile go up once the pause ends. Settings shows why a drive is paused.
Sharing
Section titled “Sharing”Right-click a file or folder in a OneDrive, Dropbox or Nextcloud drive:
- Copy share link makes a link anyone with it can open.
- Open in browser shows it on the service’s website.
iCloud Drive
Section titled “iCloud Drive”- Apple asks you to confirm it’s you about once a month. When that happens, a notification and Settings ask you to sign in again; it only takes the code from your Apple device.
- App-specific passwords don’t work. Use your Apple Account password.
- With Advanced Data Protection on, iCloud Drive only works outside Apple devices when Access iCloud Data on the Web is on. On an iPhone it’s in Settings, your name, iCloud. After turning it on, sign in again and approve the request on your iPhone.
Renaming and folders
Section titled “Renaming and folders”Renaming an account in Settings renames its folder in ~/Cloud. Kept files live in ~/.local/share/luft-accounts/kept, and files downloaded on demand in ~/.cache/luft-accounts.