Remote and devices

Open network shares, SFTP servers, phones, cameras, and USB drives in the same browser as your local files. Strata mounts them through GIO/GVfs on demand.

Open an SMB share

On Arch or Omarchy, install the SMB backend first:

sudo pacman -S --needed gvfs-smb

Press Ctrl+L, type smb://server/share, and press Enter. Strata mounts the share and opens it.

If the server wants credentials, Authentication required shows only the fields it asks for, such as Username, Domain, and Password. For a guest share, choose Anonymous under Connect as when offered. Password storage defaults to Don't remember; Until logout or Forever hands the password to your desktop keyring. Click Connect.

To browse instead, click Network in the sidebar, then a host, then a share. A mounted share appears under DEVICES; right-click it and choose Disconnect when done.

Connect over SFTP

Press Ctrl+L and enter one of these:

sftp://host/path
sftp://user@host/path
sftp://user@host:2222/path

These connect as your local user on port 22, as user, and as user on port 2222.

With your key in an SSH agent, or an unencrypted key, the folder opens with no prompt. Load an encrypted key into the agent first:

ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Otherwise Strata asks for a password, or shows Passphrase required when GVfs requests your key's passphrase.

Trust a host key

On a first connection, or when a server's key changes, Strata shows Verify server identity. It repeats the backend's question and offers the backend's own buttons. Strata never answers for you.

Verify the fingerprint with the server's administrator, outside Strata, before you continue. A changed key can mean interception. Decline with the rejecting button or Escape, and Strata returns to the previous folder.

Connect a phone or camera

Phone backends are optional. On Arch or Omarchy, install what you need:

# iPhone or iPad app documents (AFC):
sudo pacman -S --needed gvfs-afc usbmuxd
# Camera/PTP photo access, including compatible iPhones:
sudo pacman -S --needed gvfs-gphoto2
# Android (MTP):
sudo pacman -S --needed gvfs-mtp

Quit every Strata window and reopen it. Unlock the phone and connect a USB data cable. On an iPhone, accept Trust This Computer; on Android, choose file transfer in the phone's USB preferences. Click the phone under DEVICES.

A camera entry opens one flat Photos view of every JPEG, HEIC, MOV, MP4, and recognized RAW file. Android and iPhone app-document entries browse as normal folders.

Good to know:

• Photos lists files in discovery order. Choose Name or Modified in the sort menu to reorder.
• Copy, preview, and delete act on the originals on the phone.
• Thumbnails are the camera's own previews; without one, the file keeps its icon.
• Some iPhones show an empty photo store until your distribution ships a fixed libgphoto2.

Mount, unlock, and eject drives

Plugged-in drives appear under DEVICES. Click an unmounted one to mount and open it.

An encrypted drive shows a lock button. Click the row or the button, then enter the passphrase in Passphrase required. To lock it, click the open-lock button, or right-click and choose Lock. If its passphrase is saved, Strata asks Forget saved password?; Forget and lock removes it and locks.

To remove a drive, click its eject button, or right-click and choose Eject (Unmount on drives that cannot eject). Strata flushes pending writes first; the row shows a spinner until the release finishes. Unplug once the spinner stops with no error. A slow release opens a progress window; Hide dismisses it without stopping the release. If it is open when an eject finishes, it shows Safe to remove.

Full detail: SFTP locations, Installation and desktop integration