Documentation

Installation

1. Download Driio from the App Store (Mac or iPhone/iPad)
2. Open Driio and grant the required permissions when prompted
3. Your connections will appear in Finder (Mac) or the Files app (iPhone/iPad)

Adding Your First Connection

1. Click the + button in the main window
2. Select your protocol (SMB, NFS, SSH, WebDAV, FTP, S3, OneDrive, or Dropbox). Or open the … menu beside + and choose Scan My Network to pick a server that announces itself on your network; that opens the form with the protocol and address filled in
3. Enter your server details and credentials (or sign in for cloud services). Find Shared Folders lists the server's SMB shares or NFS exports so you can pick one, and Browse walks the folders of an SSH, FTP or WebDAV server
4. Click Save Connection: Driio will test the connection automatically

You'll be prompted for your Mac password to securely store the connection credentials in Keychain.

SMB (Server Message Block) is the standard protocol for Windows file sharing. Use it to connect to:

• Windows shared folders
• NAS devices (Synology, QNAP, TrueNAS)
• Linux Samba servers
• macOS File Sharing

Driio supports SMB2 and SMB3. SMB1 is not supported — it's been deprecated for years and is disabled by default in modern Windows, macOS, and Samba. If you're connecting to a very old NAS or server that only speaks SMB1, you'll need to enable SMB2 on the server side.

Configuration Options

Field	Description
Host	Server hostname or IP address
Share	Name of the shared folder
Subfolder	Optional path within the share
Domain	Windows domain (if applicable)
Guest Access	Connect without credentials

Credentials are stored securely in iCloud Keychain.

SSH (Secure Shell) provides encrypted file transfer via SFTP. It's the most secure option for remote file access.

Authentication Methods

• Password: Standard username and password
• SSH Key: Ed25519 keys generated within Driio
• Device key (This Mac’s Key, This iPhone’s Key, This iPad’s Key): a key made in each device’s Secure Enclave. See SSH Key Management.

Passwords and Ed25519 keys are stored in iCloud Keychain. Device keys stay on the device that made them.

Driio automatically uses multiple parallel connections to maximize transfer speeds.

NFS (Network File System) is the standard distributed-filesystem protocol on Unix and Linux. Driio supports NFSv3 and NFSv4. A new connection picks the version automatically when it is saved (NFSv4 first, then NFSv3); you can also choose one in the connection settings.

Configuration Options

Field	Description
Host	Server hostname or IP address
Export	NFS export path on the server (e.g., /exports/shared)
Version	Auto (default), NFSv3 or NFSv4. Auto tries NFSv4 first and falls back to NFSv3 when the connection is saved, then keeps the version that worked; a saved connection never switches on its own, because a version change rebuilds its file list. NFSv3 works with the widest range of servers; NFSv4 needs only port 2049, so it passes firewalls and NAT without the portmapper
Subfolder	Optional path within the export to mount
NFS Port	Optional, under Advanced. Blank asks the server's portmapper (port 111) on NFSv3 and uses 2049 on NFSv4
Mount Port	Optional, under Advanced, NFSv3 only. Set both ports to reach a server whose portmapper is blocked, for example through a firewall
UID	User ID sent to the server (optional). Leave blank to send your own: the Mac account's UID, or 501 on iPhone and iPad. Enter the owner's UID from the server (ls -n shows it) if your files belong to another user.
GID	Group ID sent to the server (optional). Leave blank to send your own group, or enter the owner's GID from the server.

Server Requirements

Your NFS server may need the insecure export option enabled for macOS and iOS clients. Sandboxed apps on Apple platforms cannot bind to privileged ports, so the server must accept connections from unprivileged ports.

Add insecure to your export in /etc/exports on the server:

/exports/shared *(rw,sync,no_subtree_check,insecure)

Authentication

NFS uses AUTH_SYS (Unix-style) authentication. There are no passwords. Access is controlled by the UID/GID presented to the server and the server's export rules. Use the optional UID and GID fields to match a specific user on the server.

WebDAV extends HTTP for file management. It's ideal for cloud storage and works through most firewalls.

Compatible Services

• Nextcloud
• ownCloud
• Apache mod_dav
• IIS WebDAV

URL Format

Enter the full WebDAV URL including the protocol:

https://cloud.example.com/remote.php/dav/files/username/

Credentials are stored securely in iCloud Keychain.

Connect to your Dropbox account and access your files directly in Finder.

Setting Up Dropbox

1. Click the + button and select Dropbox
2. Give your connection a name (e.g., "My Dropbox")
3. Click Sign in with Dropbox
4. Sign in to your Dropbox account in the browser window
5. Grant Driio permission to access your files
6. Click Save Connection

Real-Time Change Detection

Driio uses Dropbox's longpoll API to detect changes in real time. When another user modifies a file, Driio is notified immediately instead of waiting for the next polling cycle. If longpoll is unavailable, Driio falls back to configurable interval-based polling.

Large File Uploads

Files larger than 150MB are automatically uploaded in chunks using Dropbox's upload session API, allowing reliable transfers even on unstable connections.

Connect to your Microsoft OneDrive account and access your files directly in Finder and the iOS Files app.

Setting Up OneDrive

1. Click the + button and select OneDrive
2. Give your connection a name (e.g., "My OneDrive")
3. Click Sign in with Microsoft
4. Sign in to your Microsoft account in the browser window
5. Grant Driio permission to access your OneDrive files
6. Click Save Connection

Microsoft Graph API

Driio uses the Microsoft Graph API for all OneDrive operations. That's the same API the official OneDrive clients use. Files, folders, change tracking, and large-file uploads all go directly through Microsoft, with no third-party relay.

Large File Uploads

Files larger than 4MB are automatically uploaded in chunks using Microsoft Graph upload sessions, allowing reliable transfers even on unstable connections.

Driio can generate and manage SSH keys for passwordless authentication.

Generating a New Key

1. Go to Settings → SSH Keys
2. Click Generate
3. Enter a name for your key
4. Click Generate to create an Ed25519 key
5. Copy the public key to your server's ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Device Keys (Secure Enclave)

A device key is made in the Secure Enclave of your Mac, iPhone or iPad and can never be copied off it. Each of your devices makes its own, so a connection set to use device keys signs in from every device with that device’s key.

1. Open the SSH connection and set the authentication method to This Mac’s Key (on iPhone or iPad, This iPhone’s Key or This iPad’s Key).
2. Choose Install with Password… and enter the account’s password. Driio adds the key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the server; the password is used once and not stored. Or choose Copy Public Key and add it yourself.
3. Do the same on each device that uses the connection.

To remove a device you no longer use, such as one that was lost or sold, go to Settings → SSH Keys → Device Keys and choose Remove…. Driio also takes its key off the servers of your device-key connections that this device can reach.

Device keys need a Secure Enclave: any iPhone or iPad that runs Driio, a Mac with Apple silicon, or an Intel Mac with a T2 chip. They are ECDSA P-256 keys, which standard OpenSSH servers accept. Update Driio on all your devices before switching a connection to device keys: older versions can’t sign in with one.

Using an Existing Key

Driio uses only keys it makes itself; it can’t import an existing private key.

Driio manages multiple parallel connections automatically. There's nothing to configure.

How It Works

• Connection Pooling: Maintains ready-to-use connections for instant file access
• Parallel Transfers: Uploads and downloads multiple files simultaneously
• Optimized Defaults: Tuned for common network scenarios

Each connection has advanced settings accessible by expanding the "Advanced" section when editing a connection.

Hide System Files

When enabled (the default), Driio automatically filters out macOS system files from uploads and downloads. These files are created by macOS for internal use and are typically not needed on remote servers.

Filtered files include:

• .DS_Store: Finder folder settings
• ._*: AppleDouble resource fork files
• .Spotlight-V100: Spotlight index data
• .Trashes: Trash folder
• .fseventsd: File system events
• .TemporaryItems: Temporary files

Polling Interval

Controls how often Driio checks the server for changes made by other users or applications. Shorter intervals detect changes faster but increase server load.

• SSH/SMB/NFS: 1-60 seconds (default: 5 seconds)
• WebDAV/FTP: 5-120 seconds (default: varies by protocol)
• S3: 10-300 seconds (default: 30 seconds, to reduce API costs)
• Dropbox: 30-300 seconds (fallback polling; real-time longpoll is used when available)
• OneDrive: 30-300 seconds (default: 30 seconds)

Driio can detect when Microsoft Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) are locked by another user and prevent conflicting edits. When a locked file is detected, the document is opened in read-only mode with a lock badge in Finder.

How It Works

When a user opens a Microsoft Office document, Office creates a temporary lock file (prefixed with ~$) alongside the original. Driio's polling watcher detects these lock files and checks who created them. If the lock file belongs to a different user, the document is marked as read-only to prevent editing conflicts.

Supported Protocols

Protocol	Supported	How Ownership Is Detected
SMB	Yes	The name Office writes inside the ~$ lock file, the same one Office itself reads
SSH/SFTP	Yes	The name Office writes inside the ~$ lock file, the same one Office itself reads
NFS	No	Not supported on NFS connections
WebDAV	Yes	The name Office writes inside the ~$ lock file, the same one Office itself reads
FTP	No	Not supported on FTP connections
Dropbox	No	Not supported for this provider
OneDrive	No	Not supported for this provider

Lock file detection is available on SMB, SSH/SFTP and WebDAV connections. It identifies a person, not a device: the name inside the lock file is what Office wrote, so the same Office user name on two machines reads as the same person. It is on by default for connections created in Driio 2.7 or later, and can be switched on for older ones in the connection's Advanced settings.

Supported File Types

• .docx, .doc, .docm: Microsoft Word
• .xlsx, .xls, .xlsm: Microsoft Excel
• .pptx, .ppt, .pptm: Microsoft PowerPoint

Enabling File Locking

File lock detection is opt-in and must be enabled per connection:

1. Edit your connection
2. Expand the Advanced section
3. Enable Detect MS Office Lock Files
4. Save the connection

What Happens When a File Is Locked

• A lock badge appears on the file in Finder
• The file opens in read-only mode in the application
• Attempts to save changes are blocked until the lock is released
• When the other user closes the document, the lock clears automatically on the next polling cycle

Connection won't mount

• Verify the host is reachable (try ping)
• Check firewall settings on both ends
• Ensure credentials are correct
• Check the error message shown when saving. Driio tests connections automatically.

Finder says “Can’t Connect” to a server on your own network, but the Driio app connects fine (macOS 27)

On macOS 27, macOS can block Driio’s Finder extension from your local network even though Driio is switched on under System Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network. The Driio app reaches the server, iOS works, but Finder shows “Can’t Connect” or “No route to host”, and no permission alert ever appears for the extension. Toggling the switch, restarting, reinstalling and Reset Connection don’t clear it. It affects other Finder extensions too; we have reported it to Apple.

Driio 2.7.4 and later detect this: select the connection in Driio, and the Recent Errors list shows Blocked by macOS Local Network with a Resolve… button that walks you through the fix. The steps, if you’d rather do them by hand (an administrator password is needed):

1. If a macOS alert is asking to allow “Driio” or “DriioFileProvid” to find devices on local networks, click Allow. That’s all.
2. Otherwise, open Terminal and run these two commands:

sudo rm /Library/Preferences/com.apple.networkextension.uuidcache.plist
sudo killall -9 nehelper

3. Open the connection in Finder again (or click Try Again in Driio’s Resolve sheet). macOS now asks whether to allow “DriioFileProvid” to find devices on local networks. Click Allow.

The commands remove a cache macOS rebuilds on its own; macOS then asks for the extension’s permission separately. Your files and other connections are not affected. Apple also documents an alternative: exempting your server’s address for every app (AllowedEthernetLocalNetworkAddresses / AllowedWiFiLocalNetworkAddresses in com.apple.network.local-network, restart required).

FTPS connection fails when you save it

• Choose the TLS mode your server uses under TLS Mode. Explicit TLS usually runs on port 21 and Implicit TLS on port 990. If Driio says the server didn’t start TLS, choose Explicit; if Explicit times out, try Implicit.
• If the server uses a self-signed certificate, turn on Allow Untrusted Certificates under Advanced.
• If Driio says the server requires TLS session reuse, turn that requirement off on the server and restart it: require_ssl_reuse=NO in vsftpd.conf, or TLSOptions NoSessionReuseRequired in ProFTPD’s mod_tls settings. Driio can’t reuse TLS sessions on the connections that carry listings and files.

Slow transfers

• Check your network connection speed
• Verify the server isn't overloaded
• Try a wired connection instead of Wi-Fi
• Large files transfer faster than many small files

Connection disappears from Finder

• Click "Refresh" in the Driio dashboard
• Check that the connection is still valid
• Restart Finder (Option+Right-click Finder icon)

Driio uses the following open source libraries:

libnfs

NFS support is powered by libnfs, a client library for accessing NFS shares. libnfs is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) version 2.1.

Driio links dynamically to libnfs. You may obtain the source code at:

https://github.com/sahlberg/libnfs

Under the LGPL v2.1, you are free to use, modify, and redistribute the libnfs library in accordance with the license terms. Driio's use of libnfs does not affect the licensing of Driio itself.