A redesigned UI for the SeaDrive desktop client: is there interest upstream?

Seafile Client
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Hi everyone,

I use SeaDrive every day on Windows with my own Seafile server. The engine works great. I wanted the interface to feel more current, so I rebuilt the main screens in a flat, minimal style, close to what OneDrive users know.

Fork, branch redesign-ui, with before/after screenshots in the README:

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What it changes (GUI only, the daemon is untouched):

  • Tray panel: sync status, recent files marked Sent / Received, Open folder, Transfer status, Open online, Settings.
  • Pause sync for 30 min, 2 h, 8 h or until resumed. It uses the existing enable/disable_auto_sync RPC and re-applies the pause when the daemon restarts.
  • Account selector in the panel when you have more than one account.
  • Transfer status window: transfers and errors in one place, with filters, search and readable messages.
  • Settings window: sidebar, toggle switches, light/dark/system theme, and a Cache page (space used, size limit, automatic cleanup).
  • Shared design tokens for colors and sizes, so every screen matches in light and dark mode.
  • Translatable: new strings are in English inside tr(). I reused existing upstream strings where the meaning was the same, so the current Transifex translations still apply.

Before / after:

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Left out on purpose: a “Sync now” button. The daemon has no RPC to force a check, so I didn’t add a button that does nothing.

Tested: Windows 11, Qt 6.10, daemon 3.0.26. Not tested on macOS or Linux.

My question to the maintainers: would any of this be useful upstream? If yes, I can:

  1. send small, separate PRs, one area at a time (for example the stylesheet and menus first, then one window at a time), adapted to your code style, with no .ts changes;
  2. or you can simply take the ideas you like and do them your way.

If it doesn’t fit your plans, no problem: I’ll keep it as a fork for whoever wants it. Feedback from other users is welcome too.

Thanks for Seafile and SeaDrive.

Francesco (FranzGra)

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Thank you for sharing your work and the detailed proposal for redesigning the SeaDrive desktop client UI. The effort you put into modernizing the tray panel, pause sync functionality, transfer status window, and settings layout—along with theme support and translatable strings—is genuinely appreciated.

However, the core design philosophy of SeaDrive is to operate primarily as an unobtrusive virtual drive integrated directly into the operating system’s native file manager (such as Windows Explorer). SeaDrive is intentionally designed with a minimal GUI footprint so that users interact with their files natively within their operating system rather than relying on an expansive standalone desktop interface. Maintaining a lean interface helps keep resource usage low, simplifies cross-platform consistency, and avoids duplicating workflows already provided by the OS.

Because of this architectural and design direction, expanding into a more elaborate GUI is not aligned with our upstream roadmap at this time. Nonetheless, thank you for your contribution, and community members looking for an alternative interface style can certainly check out your fork on GitHub.