DS file Reviews

by Bfc113

Still does not natively integrate with files for drag and drop, does not support splitview nor slide over. These are core features for any file management app that Apple introduced over 4 years ago.

Because of the lack of support for the basics, I’ve actually begun using OneDrive and iCloud Drive for storage because their apps always take advantage of the latest features within a reasonable timeframe.

Final update 2020: DSfile (and most of their apps) seems to be neglected. As such, I sold my NAS and migrated to iCloud Drive. The whole “private cloud” idea is great, love the hardware and OS, but it’s just not usable in 2020 with abandoned mobile apps.

by Caden342

I’d think after a few months. It’s time for an update. 300 videos are none of which are big file videos by any means. Over a whole day for the first time to download them back to my phone for a bit and only 60% of the video library downloaded onto the phone. Here I am 4 attempts later and it’s still taking hours to do just a little over 40 now.

by Stop Begging For Ratings

Don’t bother. You can browse directories and files but you CAN NOT OPEN FILES for viewing. Tech support will first tell you it’s a problem with iOS and then they’ll try to tell you it’s a problem with the files and finally they’ll tell you the only way to view a file is to download it and then open it. Complete crock of bs.

If you recently bought your NAS - return it while you have time. It does not get better. Synology's tech support department is a complete joke.

by Jsmithman

I use DSfile quite a bit but it has a lot of shortcomings. My biggest complaint it that it offers “favorites” but you can only use them from the start page. If you want to copy and past from one “favorite” to the other, you need to manually go to that location, which in my setup can be 10 folders deep. Not very fun with multiple files or extractions.

by Stevej01a

...needs improvement.

1. Will not provide thumbnail view of .HEIC files
2. Does not allow you to save a picture or file to the phone. Can only save “offline”, which only allows access to it through DSfile .
3. Takes way too long to login and load up

by Sohrobby

I generally find DSfile useful but it still has a few issues which make it a pain to use from time to time. If my router assigns a new internal network address to my NAS it will still try to use the old address even when I select the new address from the menu. And if I sign out of DSfile or have to reinstall it, it doesn’t remember which photo or video I left off at when uploading things to my NAS so my only other option is to upload every single photo and video which may already be backed up. It also takes a very long time to back up files to my NAS even when using WiFi 6.

by KARMAtiK...

Ease of use(5/5): search for your NAS. Offers saved Log in for easy access. You can go through your files pretty easily.

Upload: (2/5) this is where the problem is. I am uploading almost 1000 photos and videos. It keeps getting stopped or some stuff won’t upload. Finally on the 5th attempt, I kept the phone plugged and app open. this seems to be the only way for it to upload without any problems.

Why are there like 10 different Synology apps that can do roughly the same thing? They should pool it all in one app and focus updates on one app instead of specifics. But so far, I like the NAS servers.

by Yellostng

I use macOS and iOS. Downloaded DSfile thinking it would allow me to view my files on the NAS. It can view most that I have, but found that it certainly doesn’t work with MOV. It would be nice to have 1 app to review all files on my NAS without converting, or changing from my native format on Mac. If this changes, I would rate this higher. I will keep checking to see if there are any other issues.

Thank you

by Notbad0876

I’m trying to use DSfile with my DS1019+ and it works fine when I’m in DSfile , but it is suppose to also work in the background. I did not force close, and it doesn’t backup a single photo unless I have the application open on the screen.

Bummer. Apple backs up your photos to iCloud and charges for the storage. I got the synology so I could stop paying Apple.

by Prodigy3023

When remembering credentials I frequently need to sign in again (details are saved, but needs 3 extra taps), "open with..." functionality missing for DiskStation files (works for offline files), "image auto convert" only working in iOS 11 and photo backup feature needs user selection to "free up space" rather than everything.

by CincyTriGuy

DSfile works fine viewing files on your NAS, and saving images/videos to your camera roll.

The problem is when you save files offline within DSfile ; this almost always causes DSfile to crash on launch and there's no way to resolve it other than to uninstall and reinstall.

by Siwilson

So I use DSfile to review some files on my NAS and it works fine for that. I set it up on mine and my wife’s iPhone to backup iPhone photos to the NAS. One thing in the instructions says choose a rule. I don’t see that setting in this version and suspect it was removed. Also, is this supposed to work on its own to check for new photos and back them up? It seems to on my phone but my wife’s phone I have to click the login button and then it starts to work. It hadn’t backed up since Apr. I’d say check instructions and make sure their accurate and make sure the automatic backup works.

by Rgxyzzy

I use this to, duh..., access files on my NAS. For that it works well. This includes general app data as well as photos and videos. It does a good job streaming videos, though with few bells and whistles. I use Plex for that.

It can save files from apps like Safari. It is also able to download files from the NAS to local storage on iOS. I really like this feature as I can copy videos I want to watch onto my iPad for offline viewing, then delete them when I’m done.

I can’t recall having DSfile crash.

by Soloymi

Thank you, all good now. Appreciation to developers who fixed issues right away. I have Synology server for the last few years and cannot express how happy I am. By the way Photo Backup almost never works.

by Desiandlegs

Love using DSfile, but the main thing that drives me crazy is that when I am uploading pictures from “files” (not “photos”) on my iPad, I cannot select more than one picture at a time. So as i’m trying to upload 150+ pictures from a photo shoot, I am doing this 1 by 1.

by Bobjtx

I have been using DSfile for years to download PDF files from the web to my NAS. SAFARI can save PDFs to DS File, which can then save the file locally or directly to my NAS.
- It is also very handy for downloading movies from the NAS to watch at a later date.
- It works well to download, organize, and view my sheet music for guitar & ukulele playing. Much easier to use than Goodreader, so I dont use that app as much anymore.
- Occasionally, I will also use this to remotely manage files on my NAS (rename, copy or move files, create new folders, delete files, etc.)
Due to its versatility, stability, and ease of use, this is my most used NAS app. Thank you Synology!

by Blackbeltbird

I’ve been using DSfile a few years now, and it does what I need it to. When I open then app on my home WiFi, all recent photos download to my NAS. It will only download photos when DSfile is open, but I will usually be working on other files as it downloads in the background. I can view all my stored data, and export files. I can save articles on my phone, and depending on DSfile , I can either save directly to the drive, or save it on Dropbox and then transfer the file to the drive. With Word, I love that I can copy & paste an article from the web, save it on Dropbox, then open Dropbox and export it to the NAS, all within minutes. It is a simple app, and doesn’t have all the features you would get on a pc, but it’s very effective for remote access.
My only gripe is that the photo upload will only work when I’m at home on my own WiFi network; it will not upload any photos on any other WiFi network. Why is that, and how can I configure my NAS to upload on any WiFi?

by Khrisztian

When I first downloaded DSfile I couldn’t make it work (it won’t login) because I was forwarding the external port (443) to the internal SSL port (5001), to make it more seamless when I logged in via web. I couldn’t figure out the error until I pointed external port 5001 ... to the same one at my NAS...

Anyway. For those with a similar setup !

by Blissend

I just needed a way to access, share files and save to iPhone. This offered that which is great. People complaining about video playback pick odd choices for a video player however it does offer to download video into VLC player which is a better player. Just click the vid and VLC choice will be offered if installed.

by Jaisen.mathai

DSfile does the single thing I need it to do and which other apps fail to. Transfer photos off my phone without messing with them.

* iOS Photos App - requires me to manually toggle to include all metadata when sharing a photo and converts from HEIC to JPG
* Dropbox - renames the photo before uploading it (who thought that’s was a feature?)
* Google Drive - works okay but I have had issues with syncing

by Fahmi5389

App looks very out dated. It is also very slow even when on local network. Occasionally an error message pops up saying connection error so you need to close from background and login again.

When moving or coping any file the path starts out from shared folder which shared folder which is very annoying.

by BenAiPhone

I like the setup of DSfile and everything. Unfortunately, I was not able to backup old photos from my iPhone. It only uploaded new photos. There is even a setting to backup old photos but it did not work.

by Sorapp2

I like using this to read saved PDF documents. It works well except there is a glaring missing feature, there is no way to search the document. If you added search to the PDF viewer it would be perfect for me.

by Jafarion

Synology really has a great suite of apps that make it easy to have ones own cloud without having to rely on 3rd party hosting. Only criticism of DSfile is the lack of Touch ID. I would like to see the same logging in process as DS Photo.

by Harryghumanz

It's hard to filter pics by year. It opens search bar but default names are not easy to filter because nobody knows them. There should a sort button or more options to find what you want.