Files
proton-stream/docs/ACCOUNT_AND_SYNC.md
T
nvrl 16c2b4c9d3 docs: user guide pages, published to the GitHub wiki
docs/ gains pages for people using the app rather than building it:
getting started, installation, the user guide, account and sync,
Android and iOS, the command line, privacy, an FAQ and troubleshooting.
docs/README.md is the wiki's home page.

scripts/publish-wiki.sh, ported from proton-drive-linux, checks every
link in docs/ and README.md, rewrites links between pages to wiki page
names and copies the images they show. The Wiki workflow runs the check
on pull requests and publishes on every push to main.

images/ holds library, title and episode screenshots from the desktop
and Android apps, and the logo.
2026-10-17 20:46:09 +02:00

3.1 KiB

Account and sync

Signing in to Proton is optional. Without it, the app plays public share links and keeps everything on one device. Signing in adds two things:

  • Folders of your own Drive as shares, with no link to copy.
  • Sync of your place in every episode, your shares and your settings, across every device you sign in on.

Signing in

The Proton account section is at the top of the Shares page.

  1. Enter your Proton address and password, then Sign in.
  2. If your account has two-factor authentication, enter the code from your authenticator app.
  3. If your account has a separate mailbox password, enter it and choose Unlock.

Proton sometimes asks to confirm you are human. The app then opens a small window with Proton's own CAPTCHA page. Solve it, and sign-in continues.

The app keeps a session, not your password. The session goes into the system keyring. Sign out ends it on Proton's side and deletes it here.

Not supported yet:

  • Security keys (FIDO2). An account whose only second factor is a security key cannot sign in. Add an authenticator app as a second method in your Proton settings.
  • Email or SMS verification instead of a CAPTCHA.

Adding a folder of your Drive

  1. Sign in.
  2. Under Add from your Drive, choose Browse your Drive.
  3. Open folders until you reach the one that holds your videos.
  4. Choose Add this folder.

The folder becomes a share like any link: it is crawled, shown in the library and streamed. It is read through your account, so there is no link or password to store. The same folder has the same identity on every device, so watch history follows it.

Sync

When you are signed in, each device keeps a small file in your Drive. You find them under Computers on the Proton Drive website, in a device called proton-stream, in the folder watch-history.

What syncs:

  • Where you stopped in each episode, and which episodes you watched
  • Your shares, including their links and passwords (end-to-end encrypted, like every file in your Drive)
  • Settings: playback, appearance and posters and descriptions, including a TMDB key
  • Matches you picked by hand, and your audio and subtitle choice for each show

What stays on each device: volume and mute, the streaming cache size, text size, Wi-Fi only, background audio, hardware decoding, window size, and the library's filter and sort order.

When it syncs: when the app starts, every 5 minutes while it is open, when you stop playing, and when it closes. Sync now runs it at once. Android also syncs in the background shortly after you leave the app.

How conflicts are settled: each device writes only its own file, and reads everyone else's. For each episode and each setting, the newest change wins. A device that signs in for the first time takes the others' state and does not overwrite it with its own defaults.

A device that has not synced for 90 days has its file moved to the Drive trash.

The status line under your address says how the last sync went, for example Synced 3 min ago · 2 positions from other devices. To stop syncing, sign out.