iOS app issues with ownCloud Files integration

Ian

November 03, 2025 16:05

More a bug than feature request.

I sync my password vault using a self-hosted ownCloud server (basically a FOSS Dropbox alternative). I like having control over my own data and not being tied to one platform, and I've been pretty happy with it. Their iOS app has integration with the native Files app, so I can mostly use it like any other set of folders on my device.

However pwSafe has always had trouble with it. I open my vault as if it were a file on my device (as opposed to using the iCloud or Dropbox integrations), but there are several problems:

• It regularly forgets my vault file instead of just reopening the last one, so I have to manually find it and reopen it.
• The list of recent files popup sheet may include it but it also sometimes lists backup and conflicted copies. All of these show up with the same unhelpful “pwsafe” name so it's hard to differentiate them in the popup sheet. There is no obvious way to clear this list, so it's just a guessing game.
• If it's been a long time (and my vault has likely been changed on other devices), if I go straight into pwSafe first, it almost always has difficultly opening the vault. If I then go into ownCloud to try to see what's going on with the sync it is often stuck in a very tenacious way. It only works if I go into ownCloud first, ensure the sync completes successfully, then open pwSafe.
• Using the native password integration in Safari, it can successfully identify that a password is available in pwSafe, but if I try to use it there are no safes listed and no options to open an external one, making the native integration useless to me. I have to go through the manual sync then open pwSafe process and copy it from the app.

I almost never make vault changes on the iOS app, only open it to access an existing password, so this all seems like more trouble than it needs to be.

Naturally there are two apps involved here, and it could definitely be all on the ownCloud side. Or there could be quirks in both apps that are mostly fine on their own but don't play well together. It could also be quirks with the native Files app and how it integrates with third-party storage providers. Maybe file locks with cloud files work differently. Not sure.

Anyway, not really expecting a fix necessarily. I realize I'm using things in an unusual way. But maybe it's a useful data point. Maybe other third-party storage options run into similar issues. Love the app on desktop and use it almost daily. Unfortunately the iOS experience for me is kind of a hassle, and sometimes if I'm near my computer I'll just read the password off the screen there instead of dealing with the sync issues.

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  Richard H.

  November 03, 2025 20:45

  Hi Ian, thanks for posting your feedback.

  This touches an area of pwSafe on iOS that can definitely be improved.

  Is your desktop Windows or Mac? If Windows, then it will help to disable the option to make backup files (.bak) inside Password Safe. Those backup files are created by moving the existing safe file, which eventually invalidates the reference that pwSafe on iOS holds to your safe file. That usually explains why old references don't work anymore after making changes on Windows desktop.

  When you open the ownCloud app on iOS, what happens when you just tap on the .psafe3 file inside that app? It should open in the pwSafe app from there.

  While these two suggestions should help, I do realize that pwSafe could do better for external safes, so I'm glad you reminded me of this. More on the general idea is here, the info there is still valid. In the end, an external safe should work equally well as internal ones.

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  Ian

  November 04, 2025 15:35

  Thanks for the prompt response.

  My desktops are Macs. I would say for the past couple years at least I am exclusively writing new changes on Mac desktop and using the vault in read only mode on mobile to log into something. So desktop-mobile conflicts aren't from saving new entries on both. Making changes on my Macs don't tend to lead to conflicts very often (rarely happens when a device has been offline a while and might have legitimate changes that didn't get uploaded). Looking in my directory now, there are mostly a lot of numbered .bak files in there rather than conflicts. I just cleared out both. Though even after a sync, pwSafe on iOS still shows me three recent files all named pwsafe. They all seem to open the same file, near as I can tell.

  Never tried opening the vault directly from ownCloud, but using its “Open In…” thing does indeed open it successfully in pwSafe. Maybe that'll save me a step if I'm in there manually syncing anyway.

  ownCloud, like Dropbox, stores files locally and down/uploads changes, so the offline mode discussed in that thread should work fine. Agreed that more agnostic external vault support would likely be better for the user and for the maintainability of the pwSafe codebase. I'm also a big fan of giving folks options. I hope those improvements get prioritized.

  Cheers

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