Allow Camera Uploads to behave like Sync

[fwdekker]

Describe the feature you'd like

Camera Uploads allows automatic uploading of files and videos from the DCIM folder. However, when I delete a file on my phone or on my desktop, the file is not deleted on the other end. This is unfortunate, because I want the DCIM folder and the MEGA folder to be in sync.

Recently, the MEGA Android app started supporting Sync. Sync does delete the file from my phone when it is deleted on my desktop (and vice versa). However, if I disable Camera Uploads and then try Sync my DCIM folder with a MEGA folder, I receive a snackbar message indicating that this is not possible.

I would like to be able to make Camera Uploads behave like Sync. Either by (1) adding a toggle in the Camera Uploads settings for "Synchronise", or by (2) allowing Sync to select the DCIM folder (and then disabling the Camera Uploads feature, to prevent conflicts).

Additional context

I want to synchronise deletions because I manage my photos on my desktop. Every now and then, I look through my photos, and delete photos that are no longer interesting (e.g. a photo of a restaurant menu which I sent to friends), move them into folders by category (e.g. one for the year 2023, or one for a specific holiday). Unfortunately, these deletions/moves are not sent back to my phone, so my phone still has these uninteresting and wrongly categorised photos displayed in my gallery. The ability to sync my photos would be great!

[robinshi-mega]

Thank you very much, @FWDekker, for your valuable suggestions. The DCIM folder is a special directory on the phone, and the MEGA app handles it differently from other folders. We will take this requirement into consideration for our roadmap.

[generrosity]

If you don't mind us asking @robinshi-mega - how is DCIM different? Happy to google myself from a dev reference if you have one I just can't find the right term.

In the app we can see the raw subfolders - a folder per app, and occasionally loose files. For me the app reports not having enough permissions, and it cant open the request page (but I've checked through). Other apps treat these folders and photos as just normal files and seem to be able to manipulate them fine without stress on the system.

I can see how "camera roll uploads" merges the files and would maintain .thumbnails, or that specific phone brands would be more restrictive. Thats convieniant. But I'm really keen to see the seperate folders, sync seperate folders, and obviously back-sync folders.

We do have an option to specify the 'local camera uploads folder', but this doesn't release the other folders from being targeted.

Would it be viable to an "Advanced" (or 10-tap-hidden-dev) option to bypass the DCIM check maybe, with red text saying that its at your own risk?

sorry if this is well trod ground Thanks for your consideration :)

[generrosity]

@FWDekker looked around, and yes if they are setting their android compatability high they're using a low API number, so no direct access to this "special" folder.

Check out MegaSync (single folder trial, replaced by AutoSync timed trial). It does the arbitrary sync you want in the meantime until they sort access (or publish two apps, hidden by API versions)

Good luck!

[robinshi-mega]

Thanks @generrosity. Supporting sync of DCIM folder is in our roadmap. 👍

[generrosity]

Thanks @generrosity. Supporting sync of DCIM folder is in our roadmap. 👍

Thanks Robinshi!

If you don't mind us asking - is this in a 'pending wishlist' part of the roadmap, or has this been allocated to a specific release number or year?

kia ora

[robinshi-mega]

Hi @generrosity, it was already planned in our backlog, not "wishlist" 😄 I am not able to provide accurate release number yet, but roughly it should be no more than 2~3 months.

[generrosity]

Sorry @robinshi-mega - I was trying to find the right term for "feature in backlog, approved to be implemented, but not yet prioritised, or scheduled for a specific release" 😅

Thanks for the confirmation - looking forward to it. Thanks for all your work 😁

[generrosity]

Hi @robinshi-mega sorry to be a trouble - how is this looking?

I see a few minor PR going through, tho I understand this app is split across multiple parts and possibly more we can't see

[robinshi-mega]

Hi @generrosity, we haven't got capacity to start with this task yet, sorry for that. But it is definitely still among the tasks in the top of our backlog. Hopefully we would aim to start this task within a month, and get it done in 1~2 month time.

[msvantny]

Totally agree with @fwdekker. I stopped uploading from DCIM/Camera to the Camera Upload folder because it created chaos in my photo library. Normally, I take a lot of pictures and then select the best ones to keep and add to my Gallery. However, in the meantime, some of the pictures — including the ones I want to delete — have already been uploaded to MEGA. Then I have to go through them again, select, and delete them. It's just plain stupid.

I tried turning off the Camera Upload feature and using the SYNC function for the DCIM/Camera folder, but it didn't work. In the end, I created another folder synced with MEGA, and now I copy the cleaned and edited photos there manually. It works, but it feels like scratching your right ear with your left foot.

[John155]

hi, What exactly does that mean on the road-map? In which year can we expect this feature? I am asking because the feature "on demand sync" has also been on the road-map for years. These two feature are very important for me.