Five things I managed on my Synology from an iPhone today
I’m one of the developers of SYNO Assistant, an unofficial third-party iOS client for Synology NAS. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Synology.
Today I paid attention to every time I needed to access my NAS from my phone.
8:20 AM — Checked the NAS health
CPU load was low, memory usage looked normal, and the disks were healthy. It was a quick check, but I didn’t want to open DSM in Safari just to see it.
10:45 AM — Checked a download
I opened Download Station, checked the current progress and speed, and paused one of the tasks.
1:30 PM — Looked at a Docker log
One of my containers wasn’t behaving as expected, so I checked its status and recent logs from my phone.
5:10 PM — Shared a file
I browsed the folders on my NAS, found the file I needed, and created a share link without first moving it to another cloud service.
9:00 PM — Played something from the NAS
I browsed the media stored on my NAS and played it directly using the built-in player.
None of these tasks is particularly advanced. Most of them can already be done through DSM or separate Synology apps.
The frustration for me was having to switch between different interfaces for a few relatively simple actions.
That’s why we built SYNO Assistant: to bring common mobile NAS tasks into one place, including:
· File and photo browsing
· Download Station
· Package Center
· Docker containers and logs
· CPU, memory, storage and disk monitoring
· System logs and notifications
· Media playback
· Local network and QuickConnect connections
We don’t see it as a complete replacement for DSM. Deeper configuration and troubleshooting are still better handled through DSM. The goal is to make everyday NAS tasks more convenient from an iPhone.
Technical note
SYNO Assistant is built using Synology’s published Web APIs, including APIs documented for DSM Login and File Station. Synology’s developer resources are available here:
https://www.synology.com/en-us/support/developer#tool
Using Synology’s published API documentation does not mean the app has been reviewed or endorsed by Synology. It remains an independent third-party client.
Security and privacy
We know that security is especially important for an app that can access files and manage services on a NAS, so we want to be transparent about how SYNO Assistant works.
Synology APIs
SYNO Assistant is built using Synology’s published Web APIs, including APIs documented for DSM Login and File Station. The relevant developer documentation is available here:
https://www.synology.com/en-us/support/developer#tool
Using these APIs does not mean the app is developed, reviewed or endorsed by Synology. SYNO Assistant remains an independent third-party client.
NAS connection
Connections between the app and the NAS are made directly using the address configured by the user. When QuickConnect is selected, Synology’s QuickConnect infrastructure may be involved.
NAS traffic is not routed through our own servers, Sentry, advertising networks or any other third-party proxy operated by us.
HTTPS and two-factor authentication
The app supports HTTPS connections when HTTPS is configured on the NAS, and it also supports Synology two-factor authentication.
Crash diagnostics
We use the Sentry SDK solely to help identify and diagnose application crashes. Sentry is not involved in the connection between the app and the NAS.
Crash reports may include limited technical diagnostic information needed to investigate a problem, such as the app version, iOS version, device model, crash timestamp and stack trace.
We have configured crash reporting not to include NAS usernames or passwords, authentication tokens, QuickConnect IDs, NAS addresses, file names, file contents, photos, media or other data stored on the user’s NAS.
Sentry data is used only for diagnosing crashes and improving app stability. It is not used for advertising or user profiling.