Knowledge Center

DS file (iOS)

Version 5.17

DS file is ideal for managing files stored on your Synology NAS, such as uploading and downloading files between your NAS and iDevice or perform basic editing tasks, through secure HTTPS connection. Additionally, DS file is useful for browsing pictures, watching videos, or checking work documents when you are on the go.

Before You Start

Before using DS file, please make sure your Synology NAS device is running DSM 5.0 or later. Otherwise, certain features will not be available. Basic configurations must be managed from a computer with access to File Station.

Login and Logout

DS file allows you to log in to File Station securely and effortlessly. You can protect your connection via SSL/TLS connections and verify the server certificate installed on your Synology server.

To log in to File Station with DS file:

  1. Do either of the following:
    • Enter the following information on the login page:
      • Address or QuickConnect ID of the Synology server: This can be either the internal or external IP address, DDNS hostname, or Synology QuickConnect ID. To use QuickConnect ID to log in, make sure you have enabled it at Control Panel > External Access > QuickConnect (for DSM 7.0 and above) or Control Panel > QuickConnect (for DSM 6.2 and earlier) in DSM.
      • Your user account and password.
    • Tap the arrow button next to the Address or QuickConnect ID field to select previous login credentials from the list of your login history or find Synology servers in your local network. A set of credentials can be removed by swiping them leftwards.
  2. If you want to secure your connection, do either of the following:
    • Toggle on HTTPS to use SSL/TLS-encryption.
    • Enable Verify certificate (for WebDAV) by going to to validate the SSL certificate installed on your Synology NAS. This verification works if the installed certificate is trusted (you will need to purchase from a third party issuer).

Troubleshooting:

  • If you are unable to log in, do the following:
    • Log in to DSM with an account belonging to the administrators group, and go to Control Panel > Application Privileges (for DSM 7.0 and above) or Privileges (for DSM 6.2 and earlier) > File Station > User to check whether the user account has permissions to use File Station.
    • Check if File Station is using a customized port. For example, if the port is 9920, you may need to add the port to the IP address/DDNS hostname as in "fun.syno.com:9920".

To use multi-factor authentication:

When multi-factor authentication is enabled or enforced by the admin, sign in to this app with Synology Secure SignIn or other third-party authenticator apps.

Note:

  • When multi-factor authentication is enabled on DSM (6.0 and above), your mobile device can be remembered for convenient and safe login:
    • To have your device remembered, select Trust this device on the login page. Your device will be remembered for 30 days; if you log in again within its validity period, your device will be remembered for another 30 days.
    • To stop trusting the device, go to DSM > Personal > Security, click 2-Factor Authentication, enter your password, click Manage, and click Revoke Other Devices.

To simplify logging in:

IP addresses (or QuickConnect ID/hostnames) and user accounts are shared between the login histories of the different Synology mobile apps. To avoid entering user credentials multiple times, go to to enable Remember IP address and account. Disable the option if you do not want to share credentials among apps.

You can enable Remember me on the login page to remember the password of your user account. You will always be automatically logged in until you log out of the app. Note that enabling this option will only save the password for DS file but will not share it with other Synology apps.

Note:

  • To launch the Remember me option, please enable Remember IP address and account first.

To log out of DS file:

Simply tap and then tap Log out.

Navigating

DS file includes the following main sections.

  1. Settings: Check your login information, view documents, configure settings, and log out of DS file.
  2. Offline Files: Displays folders and files on your iOS device. Another way to browse local files is by tapping Offline mode on the login screen.
  3. Synology NAS: Lists folders and files on your Synology NAS device, including:
    • Shared Folders: Allows you to navigate and manage the folders and files on your Synology NAS device.
    • My Favorites: Folders that you access often can be added to the My Favorites list.
    • Remote Folders: Displays ISO files and CIFS shares you have mounted on your Synology NAS device.
  4. Tasks: Displays a list of upload and download tasks, as well as the status of each task.
  5. Photo Backup: Saves photos and videos on your mobile device to Synology NAS when Enable Photo Backup is enabled.

Note:

  • WriteOnce shared folders will have a WriteOnce label under their folder names in the shared folders list.

Navigating Folders and Files

  • Tap folders and files to open or navigate through them.
  • Tap Back on your device to return to a previous level.
  • To adjust display settings, tap  and select Sort by. This option allows you to change the order in which files and folders are displayed, according to file name, size, modified date, creation date, and others.
  • To search for files or folders, tap > Advanced Search and use the criteria to refine the search. There are options to search all folders or only specified ones, or search according to file type.

Managing Folders and Files

Major management actions can be performed by selecting the folder or file you want to manage and opening the action menu by tapping .

  • To rename, delete, move, copy, or share a folder or file, simply tap and select the action you want. If you want to select multiple items, simply tap > Select. Then tick the desired items and select the action you want.
  • To create a subfolder, simply enter a folder, tap  and select Create Folder.
  • To add a folder to My Favorites, simply tap next to a folder and select Add to My Favorites. To remove it, go to My Favorites, tap , and select Remove from My Favorites.
  • To find the properties of a folder or file, tap the folder or file, tap , and select .
  • To open files via specific applications or services, tap and Share. Note that this option is only available for files downloaded to your iOS device (at Local Files).
  • To manage WriteOnce shared folders:
    • Unlocked files can be renamed, modified, moved, or deleted.
    • Locked files:
      • Files locked in "Immutable" state cannot be renamed, modified, moved, or deleted.
      • Files locked in "Append-only" state cannot be renamed, moved, or deleted, but can have content appended to the end of the file.
    • Expired files:
      • Files expired from "Immutable" state cannot be renamed, modified, or moved, but can be deleted.
      • Files expired from "Append-only" state cannot be renamed, modified or moved, but can be deleted or have content appended to the end of the file.
    • To find the WriteOnce status and retention period of a file, tap the file, tap , and select .

Supported File Formats:

  • The file format types that can be opened when using DS file are ultimately dependant on your iOS device. However, in general, you should be able to open the below file formats with DS file:
    • Documents: doc, docx, pdf, ppt, pptx, txt, xls, xlsx, htm, html
    • iWork files: key, key.zip, numbers, numbers.zip, pages, pages.zip
    • Images: jpg, jpeg, png, gif, bmp, tiff
    • Videos: 3GP, 3G2, ASF, AVI, DAT, DivX, DVR-MS, FLV, M2T, M2TS, M4V, MKV, MP4, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, MTS, MOV, QT, TP, TRP, TS, VOB, WMV, XviD, RMVB (These formats are supported by the built-in player. Playback for other formats will depend on your iOS device.)
    • Audio: mp3, m4a, aa, aiff, aifc, aif, wav, m4b, m4p, m4r, 3gp

Note:

  • Before streaming videos over HTTPS connection using DS file, you need to log in to DSM and go to Control Panel > Security to import a certificate first. If you have not acquired any certificates yet, you can tap in DS file to enable the Play Video over HTTP option and specify an HTTP Port of File Station (if necessary).
  • To eject a USB drive, find the target USB folder (e.g., usbshare1) in the shared folder list, and tap and Eject.

Uploading and Downloading

With DS file, you can easily upload photos or videos to Synology NAS device, as well as download files from it.

To upload photos or videos from your iOS device to Synology NAS:

  1. Go to the Synology NAS tab and browse to the destination shared folder. Tap and select Upload.
  2. Select photos or videos from your iOS albums, or take a new photo.
  3. If you want to check the upload status, tap the Tasks tab.

To upload files from your iOS device to Synology NAS:

  1. Go to the Offline Files tab and browse to the files you want to upload. Do either of the following:
    • To upload multiple files: Tap > Select. Then select items and tap .
    • To upload a single file: Tap > Upload.
  2. If you want to check the upload status, tap the Tasks tab.

To upload files from other cloud storage providers to Synology NAS:

DS file functions as a document provider, allowing files to be directly accessed and imported from other cloud storage providers (e.g., iCloud or another Synology NAS with DS file installed on your iOS device).

  1. Tap > Upload > Others.
  2. Tap a desired document provider, or tap Browse to find DS file or others available.
  3. Enter your user credentials on the login page.
  4. If you want to check the upload status, tap the Tasks tab.

To download files from Synology NAS to your mobile device:

  1. Go to the Synology NAS tab and browse to the files you want to download. Do either of the following:
    • To download multiple files: Tap > Select. Then select items and tap .
    • To download a single file: Tap > Download.
  2. If you want to check the download status, tap the Tasks tab.

Pinning Files

You can pin files from your Synology NAS to your local mobile device. This allows the local files to stay synced when changes are made on the source files.

To pin files:

  • Select the target files and tap or Pin.
  • To view pinned files: Tap > Offline Files > Pinned Files.

To sync pinned files:

From Offline Files > Pinned Files, you can sync pinned files and check file information.

  • To sync single files: Tap > Sync for instant sync.
  • To sync all files: Pull down the pinned file page for instant sync. All files will also be synced upon your next login to DS file.
  • To view file information: Tap > to find the sync status, last sync time, source, and file size.

Extracting Items

DS file allows you to extract multiple files.

To extract items:

  • Tap and select Extract.

Note:

  • DS file allows extracting the following formats: .zip, .tar, .gz, .tgz, .rar, .7z, .iso (ISO 9660 and Joliet)

Sharing Folders and Files

DS file allows you to share files and folders with other people or devices. To do so, simply tap and select Shared Links. This generates a link which can be used to share the selected item. You can customize the validity period of the link or add a password.

  • To share multiple items, simply tap > Select. Then select the items you want to share, tap > Shared Links.
  • To view previously generated sharing links, tap and select Shared links. Any previously generated links will be listed here.
  • To share files via email, tap > Share, and select the desired mail service to share the file.

Backing up Photos and Videos

DS file allows you to back up photos and videos on your mobile device to your Synology NAS.

To enable photo backup:

Tap Photo Backup on the left panel, tap Enable Photo Backup, and sign in to a destination Synology NAS.

To configure photo backup settings:

  • Choose Folder: Select a destination folder.
  • Choose a Backup Rule:
    • Resume Tasks: Resume backup tasks that are not completed.
    • Back up New Photos: Back up only newly added photos/videos. Previous ones will not be backed up.
    • Back up all photos: Back up newly added photos/videos and previous ones.
  • Configure additional settings:
    • Upload on Wi-Fi only: Back up photos/videos only when your mobile device runs on Wi-Fi.
    • Upload photos only: Back up only photos but not videos.
    • Keep Original File Name: Select to keep the original file names of photos/videos that are being backed up. Otherwise, their file names will be replaced with the created date.
    • Live Photo: Select Upload photo only to back up only the static version of Live Photos. Select Upload photo with video to back up both Live Photos and their static versions.
    • Image Auto Convert: Automatically convert HEIF photos to JPEGs while photos are being uploaded or backed up.
  • Click Done to finish the setup.

To release space on your mobile device:

Tap Free up Space to clear photos and videos that have been backed up, and to view the number of files to clear. Then tap Clear to delete files for more mobile space.

Note:

  • Cleared photos and videos will be moved to the Recently Deleted folder and stay there for 30 days by default. You can manually delete them to instantly obtain more usable space.
  • If the backup destination folder is a WriteOnce shared folder with Auto Lock enabled, the uploaded photos might become locked and cannot be renamed, moved, or deleted.

To stop photo backup:

Tap Stop Photo Backup to discontinue the backup.

Before You Start
Login and Logout
Navigating
Navigating Folders and Files
Managing Folders and Files
Uploading and Downloading
Pinning Files
Extracting Items
Sharing Folders and Files
Backing up Photos and Videos