Feature Request: Remove support for remote storage so that Photocloud only works off a local Android folder

[Com Func]

Yes, this is a request to remove something, but hear me out.  Of course, we should never break something that a user is already using, so I'm suggesting that a new version,  Photocloud2, is released, and the old version runs unsupported as long as it can.

Over half of the issues on this forum seem to be about accessing remote storage. This represents a massive burden on the developer's time. That time is limited so it makes it impossible for him to handle any other issues. If you add to that the fact that Android apps do not generate anything like a credible income, it's clear that supporting remote storage makes the whole situation unworkable.

As I see it, Photocloud should just work off a local copy, and the generation and maintenance of that local copy is the user's problem.  There's lots of solutions out there that can do this. I just run a sync overnight from Onedrive to my Android device. It's crazy that an app this simple should be having to deal with things like DLNA protocol - that is something outside it's realm, it should be the user's data replication problem.  As for the extra storage used - again the user's problem!  Storage is cheap enough now, and on Android we have the luxury of MicroSD cards, which iOS devices don't have.

I've used Foldersync Pro for years to sync data between Android and Cloud services. It is very solid, and has all the options you need for different types of sync. I've never found a single sync error from it, in all kinds of challenging circumstances (crashes etc)!  It logs it's actions very nicely. I just set it to run daily at midnight on the Android device, then just forget about it.

Supported cloud providers
- Amazon S3 Simple Storage Service
- Box
- CloudMe
- Dropbox
- Google Cloud Storage
- Google Drive
- HiDrive
- Kolab Now
- Koofr
- Livedrive Premium
- luckycloud
- MEGA
- MinIO
- MyDrive.ch
- NetDocuments
- NextCloud
- OneDrive
- OneDrive for Business
- OwnCloud
- pCloud
- Storegate
- SugarSync
- WEB.DE
- Yandex Disk

Supported protocols
- FTP
- FTPS (SSL/TLS implicit)
- FTPES (SSL/TLS explicit)
- SFTP (SSH File Transfer)
- SMB1/Samba/CIFS/Windows Share
- SMB2
- SMB3
- WebDAV (HTTPS)

If Photocloud is cut down to it's essentials, it also makes it easier for others to help with programming and user support. 

[martin...@gmail.com]

Hi,

  thank you, I really like this idea! I would be able to offload the remote syncing to Foldersync Pro which is clearly a very good solution, allowing me to focus on PhotoCloud itself. The best of all, you can already start using this solution: use Foldersync to sync to a folder, and then have PhotoCloud pick up photos from that folder.

Certain services do not seem to be supported (e.g. Google Photos and iCloud shared folders), so I can keep the support of that, but others could be removed in favor of FolderSync.

Since you have the most experience, could you write a quick start guide on what's the best way to use this combo? Basically feel free to sum up all of your experiences, and with your permission I could then add this documentation to https://www.android-photo-frame.eu .

Best,

Martin