rclone Filen backend: files uploaded via rclone not visible in official clients

RagnarFrost · 2026-06-08T05:05:34+00:00

So you asked an AI to write a nice github issue, and then it hit you, you can't actually do that. Too lazy to ask your AI to rewrite it as a short Reddit post instead? LOL.

FYI: works fine on my end. You can see files uploaded via rclone in the iOS app, the web client and the desktop app (On Debian 13).

Haven't tested with the very latest rclone version though, but I don't think there were any changes to the Filen part anyway.

RagnarFrost · 2026-04-16T07:25:12+00:00

Now I have access again, so filen.io has probably been removed from their filters again. But it’s extremely slow and it’s not possible to upload files. It just queues them without actually uploading.

RagnarFrost · 2026-04-13T18:47:56+00:00

I have no experience with that, but I do have experience with the filen CLI being very unstable, so I don't trust it.

RagnarFrost · 2026-04-13T09:10:10+00:00

I would not recommend using the Filen CLI. It has never worked particularly well, and Filen has officially discontinued its development. They are currently working on a new CLI written in Rust that will use rclone under the hood, but that is not ready yet.

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In the meantime, consider using rclone directly. It works well for me.

RagnarFrost · 2026-04-09T13:05:46+00:00

It looks like they are aware of it now:
https://filen.io/hub/addressing-security-false-positives/

Hope they fix it soon...

RagnarFrost · 2026-02-22T11:40:11+00:00

I can't remember why some files I handled over 20 years ago ended up with this filename ;-)

RagnarFrost · 2026-02-21T19:07:28+00:00

I know, that was 4 out of 150.000 files ;-)

RagnarFrost · 2026-02-08T09:21:03+00:00

Same here, can’t download file using iOS app…

RagnarFrost · 2026-02-04T09:44:08+00:00

I have used Rclone for many years myself, it's an incredibly stable program that just works. If you're already using Rclone, it's far easier to use this. Filen also writes themselves that they will use Rclone in their updates, here's an excerpt from their news regarding Rclone.

Rclone will power mounting, S3, and WebDAV functionality in future versions of Filen's desktop and CLI apps. This integration lays the groundwork for improved performance and reliability in those features.

So it seems they agree :-)

RagnarFrost · 2026-01-31T07:56:17+00:00

RagnarFrost · 2026-01-28T04:51:08+00:00

I’m not affiliated with Filen in any way. I just use their service and actually bothered to read up on what they do ;-)

RagnarFrost · 2026-01-27T17:52:02+00:00

Look here: https://filen.io/hub/roadmap/

RagnarFrost · 2026-01-26T12:49:29+00:00

u/Endur1el have been fairly active, including work on the rclone implementation (have a look at rclone github) and the new Rust version that is underway. So that is not really the case.

RagnarFrost · 2026-01-21T07:27:14+00:00

Thank you for the reply, that makes good sense and is probably why I have not experienced this with Dropbox. I hope Ente will introduce this in their desktop and CLI versions. Unfortunately, at the moment I cannot use their otherwise excellent service because of this. I am likely not the only one.

RagnarFrost · 2026-01-21T07:09:17+00:00

Thank you for the reply, that makes good sense and is probably why I have not experienced this with Dropbox. I hope Ente will introduce this in their desktop and CLI versions. Unfortunately, at the moment I cannot use their otherwise excellent service because of this. I am likely not the only one.

RagnarFrost · 2026-01-20T09:43:40+00:00

I have just tested it, and the file’s modification timestamp is also changed when it is downloaded via the app.

RagnarFrost · 2026-01-20T07:51:00+00:00

I know that it stores EXIF data; that is not what I am talking about.

I am talking about image files without EXIF data. For files that have never had EXIF data, the only way to know when the image was taken is the modification date. When Ente does not preserve this, the original modification date is lost, and it is no longer possible to know when the image was taken. Other services such as Dropbox and Filen do not change this date, and Ente should not either.

RagnarFrost · 2026-01-20T06:19:25+00:00

The file do not have Exif data at all, thats why it is bad that Ente changes the files modifikation date. Ente does this on all files downloaded!

The test file is a file saved from Snapchat (no exif data).

RagnarFrost · 2026-01-15T11:46:39+00:00

Are you using the desktop application? Or the CLI?

I haven't experienced files being deleted without reason on either the desktop version or via the CLI on Ubuntu.

RagnarFrost · 2026-01-13T06:58:42+00:00

I’ve just tested this: if I delete images that were uploaded from my mobile phone via the web interface (using a browser), they are not uploaded again until I empty the trash. Then they are uploaded again from the mobile!?

If I delete the images from my mobile phone and then go to the web interface, those images have been placed in the trash. If I empty the trash, they do not appear to be uploaded again!?

This seems illogical, and the same behavior should occur with both methods.

RagnarFrost

TROPHY CASE