2018-03-20 18:08:27 (edited by defender 2018-11-27 20:52:39)

Hi all...
So I was trying to find another service that also has an accessible desktop app, and easy shared links, like DB, but with more storage and fewer traffic restrictions.
Thanks to forum user NicklasMCHD, I found it in a service literally just called (sync.com) (note: not the same as Resillio sync) LOL.
I'm going to lay out the pros and cons that I've noticed after using it for a couple weeks real quick, then give you Niclas's referral link at the bottom of the post, so you can sign up if you want, which will get both you and him an extra gig of space for free.


Pros:
The Windows and IPhone apps, as well as the web interface are almost fully accessible, and way better than any service I've seen so far, including Dropbox.
You start with 5GB of space, as compared to dropbox's 2GB, and you can get another gig by completing some basic actions, such as verifying your email and installing the desktop app (much better than having to follow the service on facebook or twitter which some people don't even have) something that many other services ask...
Their are no traffic limits, annoying ads, or additional wait times for downloaders to deal with.
You can share both files and folders with people not using sync.
Their is no size limit for uploading files.
You can earn an unlimited amount of extra space via referrals, and the rewards happen instantly; plus, the other person gets something too, which isn't always the case with other services.
Security is very high, with no need to provide your name in sign up, optional two factor authentication, unique device tokens, the ability to password protect shared links, a 0 knowledge framework, back and forth encryption for syncing, servers located in a country with good privacy laws, and allot of recommendations from third party security experts.
The lowest tier personal paid plan is priced very well compared to many other services that offer fewer features, at 50 bucks per year, or 4 bucks a month for 500GB, which is as much as a cheap external hard drive but allot safer...
You are able to upload files to a folder that you've been given a link to, even if you don't have a Sync account, but only if that person has a paid plan.
If you want to, you can set up a monthly data usage quota if you have a data plan that you don't want to go over, like on your phone.


Cons:
The web interface on Safari for Mac has some major accessibility problems, and while you can upload files or folders and create basic links, it's necessary for several other functions.
Do to the high security, when you edit a file, it has to reupload the entire file again rather than just updating it (though I can't really see this negatively effecting you unless your under a highly restrictive dataplan, or your editing really big individual files, like long videos or audio productions.
Their are no options for integrating with third party applications such as Google docs or Microsoft word, nor as many extra workflow features the way their are with services like google drive and 1drive.
Annoyingly, you can't password protect a link from the context menu, you have to use the web interface instead.
You are limited to a maximum sync speed of 5 megabytes per second (no not megabits tongue) in the free version (not sure if this effects public links though).


A couple little extra things.
When signing up, the submit button is kinda weird and your better off just hitting alt shift S.
When using NVDA, you need to select any tab with the object navigator (NVDA shift arrows and NVDA enter on laptop) when using the sync control panel via the system tray icon before you can start using control tab and control shift tab like normal.
In firefox, you sometimes need to tab out of a dialog in the account settings rather than hitting the close button.
Similarly, if you are editing a link's properties via the (manage link) option in the context menu, than you will not get any confirmation when hitting the save button, and must hit the unlabeled button at the top of the page to exit the dialog.
Also, when viewing a folder on the web, you will see some unlabeled clickables above each file, but they do the same thing as hitting enter on the link or using the actions menu as far as I've seen, so don't worry about it.
You can't use sync like a secure backup service, E.G. uploading straight to the cloud and keeping the files their rather than  on your computer as well, unless you have a paid account, so if that matters to you, just keep that in mind.
The application isn't stored in program files like usual, it's in users\YourUsername\appdata\local\programs\sync and also has two other folders in the local appdata root, sync config and sync logs.
The enhanced link option will run decryption on the downloader's local machine rather than through sync's server like usual, but the data is encrypted both ways with private keys anyway, and it's debatable weather that's even safer anyway, since your local machine is generally much easier to compromise than a dedicated server. Plus, it only works with files up to 25GB in size on Chrome, 500MB in size on other browsers, and doesn't work at all if your using Safari or most mobile browsers.
I haven't tested with Jaws or narrator, or browsers other than firefox, Chrome, and IE11, and I don't have a phone to test the Android app with.



Anyway, here's his link... :-)
https://www.sync.com/?_sync_refer=14b2dd9b0

2018-03-20 20:46:13

So did I, it's called send space and as far as I can tell, there are no storage limits where you might need to buy more space. Both it's web site and desktop app are fully accessible, they have no sharing restrictions, and their bandwidth limits are so high that it's unlikely most people will ever go over them. The only drawback is that download speeds are seriously metered if you don't have a Pro (paid) account.

2018-03-20 21:46:14

Hi.
I just chreated my ackount, I will give my referal later.

I am myself and noone is ever gonna change me, I am the trolling master!

2018-03-20 21:52:49 (edited by defender 2018-03-20 22:40:17)

@orko
I'm pleasantly surprised to hear that the desktop application is accessible, though I wonder how the web interface stacks up, but in terms of actual usability it's not even close to being comparable if your using a free account.
If your just using it for documents, code,, pictures, ETC, with a small group, though, than it's pretty alright, accept for the adds and limited download slots, which are annoying but can be gotten used to for such a simple application
For documents you'd be much better served by using google drive or 1drive anyway though, better integration with various business apps and more free space
Not only do you often have to wait a few minutes to start downloading, but as you mentioned your speed is seriously limited and simultaneous downloads aren't aloud for free users. You also can't download if your on a network with shared IP or using a proxy, such as a business or school network, again, unless you pay.
Sendspace light allows 1GB of downloads per person per day, which is complete shit if your using it for big files, and still has monthly collective limits for paid accounts. additionally, their is an upload file size limit of 300MB, even more shit, with 10GB max even with a top tier paid account, so have fun with waiting for every one of your 3 sections per day for big archives on free accounts, though at least the paid accounts will let you split it into bigger sections, which are only an annoyance if it's huge.
Uploading uncompressed folders is unsupported on the platform regardless of account type (you can only do files) and you aren't able to download anything (only upload) with the wizard if your using a non premium account, and your stuff is deleted if it's not downloaded in 30 days, which is a problem if your trying to provide long term access to something less popular (common in the audio games community), but is also how they allow unlimited storage space even with free accounts, so hard to complain their...


On the other hand...
Remote upload and the send space drop box are pretty interesting features, particularly the second one if your running a website.
The unlimited upload speed is pretty cool, though obviously only useful for a small amount of people
The options for link expiry are also more robust than many services, though sync can do the same with a paid account.
Security is pretty good with sendspace from what I've heard, but not as good as sync, which has encrypted links and two factor auth options.
Sendspace won't hesitate to turn your info over to the feds either (which isn't a real issue for normal people anyway but hey) while sync physically can not, do to their 0 knowledge nature.


Too bad the cheapest plan is 8.99 per month, with a small discount for buying multiple months at a time, because you still have a 5GB single file size limit, and a 100GB per month collective download limit.
Even with unlocked speeds (and I'm still not sure how fast downloads would be) and unlimited storage (which is impressive) your still essentially paying the cost of a 3TB desktop drive, every year, and those can easily last you 5 years.
Obviously they aren't nearly as safe, but if your going to be taking advantage of as much storage as sendspace allows you to, than you may as well just buy your own server slot in a farm, probably cheaper...
Other than that though, the pricing is actually pretty competitive with other services, minus the big download limit caveats.

2018-03-20 22:33:01

@Defender

Your information is seriously out of date.

I have not encountered any of the problems you mentioned. I've uploaded files much bigger than 300 Mb with no problem, I have files that have been there for over a year that haven't been downloaded in almost as long and they are still there and still downloadable, the desktop app is fully accessible where it matters, the only place I found a problem is with the buttons that allow you to change the user interface colors and blind people don't need those, the only advertising I find on their web site is for their own services, their web site is fully accessible, file downloads can be password protected if desired and you can set download limits on a per file basis too if you want, you can give each file a text description so that downloaders will know what they are downloading, you can share folders as well as individual files and access to those folders can be password protected as well.

In short there isn't anything this Sync service offers that Sendspace doesn't have in some form or another.

I see nothing here that convinces me to change services.

Meh, ho hum, yawn!

2018-03-20 22:39:19 (edited by defender 2018-03-20 22:48:40)

Really? I got this all from the sendspace FAQ. just today..
It could be super out of date I suppose, which would be pretty stupid, but even the pricing plans page, where you actually pay for the service, is still listing these values.
https://www.sendspace.com/premium_upgrade.html
Maybe your using a legacy plan that their still honoring?
If so, that's pretty cool, for you... and props to sendspace, but it doesn't help new users any.


Your right about the ads, last time I checked it was only for their stuff, way safer that way and also less annoying, but it was still all over the place
I didn't know you could make text descriptions either, that's pretty nice...
Allot of these things I can't really blame them for, coming from a logistics and business point of view, but other services have made it work in their own ways and I can't ignore facts.

2018-03-20 22:45:49

Is there really a need to write that you wont change your service? If you don't want to do it I am sure Defender didn't write this topic to force all of us to register there, rather to give info on a cloud storage service he found and which could be useful. Sendspace is horrible, more for users downloading your file than for uploaders themselves, and there definitely are ads when you download a file from it. Plus, you have yourself mentioned the speed limitations when downloading and that is already enough for me to say nope don't need such a thing with so many options that just don't do it. About sinc itself, I have just one question for people who have registered since it is being compared to Dropbox here. I use multiple cloud storage services including One drive, Google drive and mega sinc, but still want to keep my Dropbox for just one reason. When you share a dropbox link, you can make it be a direct download link by changing dl from 0 to 1. This allows for several benefits, including streaming songs on platforms such as Playroom, or even allowing easier downloads for people who are not so good with computers. Up to now, I have not found a service which allows this so am curious if Sinc will be able to do that. If yes, that is one reason for me to give it a try and use it more extensively, as Dropbox especially it's website is becoming a nightmare, not to even talk about them banning your shared links when they feel like you have a virus in them, even if it is just a false positive on their side.

2018-03-20 22:58:50 (edited by defender 2018-03-20 23:12:16)

Good question, the answer is no, it unfortunately can not.
it seems like direct links are an easy and commonly used way to inject viruses, so allot of services are dropping them.
With sync being as security oriented as it is, I'm not surprised it doesn't allow them, though it does offer an open button along side the download link, and the page is quite minimalistic.
I'll add that to the cons list.


I did find this tool that might help you though, if only to see how you can do the same with google and 1drive manually
http://syncwithtech.blogspot.ca/p/direc … rator.html
(box) another cloud service still offers them as well if your interested.

Also I just learned that minimalistic isn't actually a word... Kinda like gamers, replayability, and reupload. :-(

2018-03-20 23:58:20

Oh wow thanks a lot for that link, this is super useful.

2018-03-21 18:47:14 (edited by defender 2018-03-21 18:51:22)

So it seems that sync.com isn't, actually slower than Dropbox after all.
After using a few well rated third party speed testing sites, it turns out that it's just my connection (I'm mooching off of a seldom used office network so I don't know their dataplan) and that DB's speed counter is just wildly inaccurate sometimes.
If it can be trusted at all, than it seems as though DB is actually about 20% slower, though they are rated about the same for speed on a few cloud service review sites, so take that with a grain of salt.
I'll update the first post.

2018-03-21 20:34:54

Can you give someone a link to a folder using this service that someone can easily browse? It seems that might be the case, since you said the website is as accessible as it is, and if it would just be a matter of giving someone a link to a large folder which they can save to their favorites, I might be willing to ditch Dropbox. Of course, it would require me to reupload about 400GB of content, but that's a small price to pay if it means I don't need to constantly generate direct links anymore.

The glass is neither half empty nor half full. It's just holding half the amount it can potentially hold.

2018-03-21 23:17:21

Just on another note:
The iOS app is fully accessible.
And thanks for the credit @defender smile
- NicklasMCHD

If you like what I do, Feel free to check me out on GitHub, or follow me on Twitter

2018-03-22 03:26:54 (edited by defender 2018-03-22 03:35:10)

Awesome to hear about the app!
And turtlepower, folders work perfectly!
Just tested it, multiple nested subfolders are supported and at the top of each is a download all contained link, with individual files having their own download links as well.
Completely accessible, though oddly the open button doesn't seem to do anything for me, you should use the link labeled with the name of the subfolder you want instead.
You also can't access the root folder from a subfolder if that's the only link you got, but that makes sense for security anyway.
As long as you don't need direct links, don't care about third party integration with other applications, and don't mind having to reupload the entire file when you edit it, I think you'll really like sync for storing giant open folders like the ones you have, and you'll probably save a fare bit of money by switching too!

2018-03-22 03:43:20

Great, I'm glad to hear that. This service is looking sweeter by the moment. $96 is a hefty chunk of change to throw down on what seems to be a relatively new service, but on the other hand, it seems like it will meet my needs better than both Dropbox and Sendspace have. Although I will still keep my free Dropbox around for some things, because one thing it does best is provide seamless collaboration for less tech savvy users who are used to just copying and pasting.

The glass is neither half empty nor half full. It's just holding half the amount it can potentially hold.

2018-03-22 03:52:16 (edited by defender 2018-03-26 20:54:26)

Yeah direct links are nice...
Also, you can get 500GB for 50 bucks a year or 4 bucks a month actually, if your getting more though, than I'm not sure how it compares with DB's pricing.

2018-03-22 04:13:23

Yeah, I know. I did look at their pricing. However, the 2TB tier seems more applicable to what I'll be using it for, thus why I quoted that figure in my previous post. In any case, I don't think I'll regret purchasing it, it's just a matter of migrating everything I've got in Dropbox over to Sync, plus convincing the person who the files are for to give this new service a chance. Although I don't think that will be hard, considering the unlimited bandwidth.

The glass is neither half empty nor half full. It's just holding half the amount it can potentially hold.

2018-03-24 18:24:29

Wow, I now have 13GB thanks to you guys!
That's more than double what you get for free...

2018-03-26 20:44:38

So a couple updates.


I've learned some new things after testing them my self and with someone else as well.
Firstly, it turns out that asking for a new link for the same file doesn't invalidate the old one after all. Someone said they got an error to that effect when trying to download my Sonniss 2015 archive, but apparently it worked fine a few minutes later, so not sure what happened their... Because I've never gotten anything like it.
Second, it turns out that you can in fact upload files to a link if you don't have a sync account, just like with send space drop box, but only in the payed version, and it's not well advertised for what ever reason. Unfortunately I don't have the cash to test it my self right now though, so if anyone has purchased a plan than I'd love to hear from them.
Third, Apparently you can add a label to a link through the manage link dialog? But it's never changed anything for me so maybe it's a visual thing, and I'm not even sure what they mean by label in the first place... At least password protection works fine.
fourth, their is this thing called an enhanced privacy link which you can ask for in place of the normal one, and after some research what it seems to do is essentially skip running decryption through sync's own server like normal, and instead does it on your local machine, but it's limited to 25GB files on chrome, 500MB files on other browsers, and isn't supported at all on Safari or most mobile browsers.
Apparently it's run through an encrypted  tunnel with private keys both ways anyway though? So I feel like this is just for the ultra paranoid people out their, and I'm guessing it would be allot easier to compromise your local machine than the Sync server anyway...
fifth, It may be helpful to note that, when changing link settings via the manage link option (at least on FF with NVDA) if you hit the save button it won't actually exit the dialog or give you any update, you should hit the unlabeled button at the top of the page to do that instead. One of the few accessibility annoyances I've found so far, and the lack of any save confirmation is much more annoying to me than the unlabeled button...

2018-03-27 21:14:16

Seems like a neat service so far, I may end up getting the cheap plan.

Prier practice and preparation prevents piss poor performance!

2018-03-28 09:24:16

I've created an account using Defender referral link. Here is my referral code which you can enter in the referral section which you don't need to signup if you already have an account. Now, Please Kindly help me by entering this code below and click redeem:

2513947e0

Note: After enter this code and click redeem, we're both will get 1GB free.

2018-03-29 08:06:08 (edited by defender 2018-03-29 08:12:38)

I'm pretty sure that doesn't work if your already signed up, but not sure if that's what you were saying...
Either way the link is probably easier for most people anyway.

2018-03-29 08:32:14

Because most people here already have an account I think.

2018-03-30 04:09:31

Hi.
i thought that since I was the one who original recomented the service to @defender I would share my referral link with you all.
So if you wan't an extra gb of free space when you sign up, you can use my link below:
https://www.sync.com/?_sync_refer=14b2dd9b0

I hope you all find the service usefull.
- NicklasMCHD

If you like what I do, Feel free to check me out on GitHub, or follow me on Twitter

2018-03-30 04:49:01 (edited by defender 2018-03-30 05:13:11)

So some pretty unfortunate news...
I've discovered that with Safari on the Mac (obviously a significant userbase and a major problem for multiple device sharing) the web interface is quite crap.
All buttons are labeled, but links are named with the filename of the graphic that represents them, rather than the text it's self, and most importantly, no clickables are labeled, but worse yet some of them don't even say clickable, their just blanks.
Thankfully the actual application is perfectly accessible and you can create links without the web interface, but for password protecting one, and much of the folder sharing you need it.
So that really sucks...


On a lighter note though, I have like 20GB free now which is awesome! So I put Niclas's referral link in the first post instead of mine, because he was the one that told me about Sync and he didn't give it before so I couldn't use it my self.


Oh and, if anyone has an Android or uses Jaws and doesn't mind sharing your experiences with Sync than that'd be great.

2018-03-30 11:47:36

Sure, I can try it on Android later in the evening.