in search of an android scp client - Total Commander

my downloading use case

I save up media downloads until I am around public wifi, then d/l all at once.

the problems on android

That would work fine except

• and there are generally a lot of small files to d/l
• android apps seem to have a hard time recovering from broken sockets
• android scp apps have either no resume function, a brain-dead one, or lump it together with replace

Altogether this means frustration and wasted bandwidth.

Turbo FTP (paid) did OK until they stopped updating and no longer available on newer android versions.

FTP Cafe (paid) did OK until ssh servers started defaulting to more robust ciphers in ~2024. The authors of FTP Cafe have not, as of this writing, answered my questions about whether or not they will update the ciphers.

a wild app appears

I happened across a reference to Total Commander, a bizarre app with a distinctive 90s shareware feel. It’s got that “designed by one guy for his own needs” weirdo UI.

But somehow early testing suggests it will do what I want it to do: resume properly. Even better, it has a feature hard to find even on desktop clients: delete after transfer. Filezilla’s devs refuse to add this feature citing possible data loss. How about a waning before letting users do it?

TC deletes each file after completing and before moving to the next file. This is perfect for my use case. It means that the opportunities for a resume have been attenuated at first base.

I looked for a way to pay/donate for the android app and can’t find any.

I’ll keep you posted.