Blog / Cryptomator Roadmap Mid 2019

2019-07-21

We would like to take a more regular look at our roadmap to publicly document the past, present, and future developments of Cryptomator. Unlike before, we’re also going to have a look at the roadmaps of our mobile apps.

Desktop

In the desktop area, we are currently pursuing two different branches: On the one hand we are striving for feature completion of 1.4.x, with 1.4.12 already available as a release candidate. It will finally allow Linux users to store their password in the system and include the much desired “Custom Mount Flags” feature.

  • Save password in system (Linux): For a long time, you could only store your vault’s password in the system under macOS and Windows. Through a community contribution, this is now finally also possible under (some) Linux systems. 😄 The existence of GNOME Keyring or another keychain via Secret Service API is required. Many thanks to Ralph Plawetzki (purejava on GitHub) and Sebastian Wiesendahl (swiesend on GitHub) for the implementation!
  • Custom Mount Flags: Cryptomator uses default options to mount a drive (both for Dokany and FUSE) that we chose for security or performance reasons. However, this leads to limited functionality in some cases and users who want to set their own options can now change them. Be aware: Use at your own risk!

On the other hand the implementation of 1.5.0 has already started. For 1.5.0, as announced, we want to fully concentrate on the redesign of the user interface and improve the internal processing of Cryptomator, because like many open-source projects it has grown organically over time and therefore needs a good refactoring. 😉

iOS

After the release of Cryptomator 1.4.0 for iOS with built-in cache functionality, which on the one hand avoids repeated downloading of files and on the other hand allows (limited) offline access, the work on Cryptomator 1.5.0 for iOS has started.

The main focus will be the integration into the Files app of iOS. The first step will be the expansion of our Document Provider which is going to be extended by the methods “Open” and “Move”. This will make a direct access to files within a Cryptomator vault from other apps possible without having to copy them back and forth.

Android

Cryptomator 1.4.0 for Android is currently being finalized with the following features, which can already be tested in a beta version:

  • Automatic photo upload: After activation, all images created on the smartphone will be uploaded the next time the selected vault is unlocked.
  • Make files writable by third-party apps: Files that are opened can be edited in third-party apps. When you finish the editing process by saving and returning to the Cryptomator app, the changes are transferred to the cloud.

We are considering these features for future versions:

  • LRU Cache: To save network traffic, certain server responses are cached to avoid repeated downloading, for example of unmodified images from the cloud.
  • Support for Google Team Drives: Access to vaults located in Google Team Drive should be made possible.
  • Distribution of the app outside of Google Play: Cryptomator for Android should also be available from alternative sources. We are thinking about setting up a licensing system, through which a license could be purchased directly.
  • Unlocking with system password: You should be able to use the system password of the smartphone to open vaults. (Similar to unlocking with a fingerprint.)
  • Access to files via DocumentProvider: Access to a Cryptomator vault inside other apps should be made possible via a DocumentProvider. For example, a file explorer would then be able to access the vault in this way.
  • Upload of directories (recursive): The download of whole folders already works, the upload including all subfolders is not possible yet.