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OpenDrop: An open Apple AirDrop implementation written in Python

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Re: OpenDrop: An open Apple AirDrop implementation written in Python

#91

Post by Retr0id »

vinnymac wrote: post #22

I would be interested in an overview and comparison of all the available options to solve this kind of problem. Here is a list of some services I’ve used successfully in the past. SnapDrop - Site: https://snapdrop.net/ - Source: https://github.com/RobinLinus/snapdrop ShareDrop - Site: https://www.sharedrop.io/ - Source: https://github.com/szimek/sharedrop FilePizza - Site: https://file.pizza/ - Source: https://github…

The original WebWormhole, from before its name got stolen and productized, is still available and open source:

https://webwormhole.io/

https://github.com/saljam/webwormhole

Re: OpenDrop: An open Apple AirDrop implementation written in Python

#92

Post by tomcam »

emsy wrote: post #29
mrtksn wrote: post #3

AirDrop is brilliant but it fails silently, no error messages - nothing. At best, it says that it was cancelled. Does anyone knows how to debug it? I also wonder, why this type of file transfer isn't the industry standart. It's so straightforward(when it works), why would anyone transfer files in any other way? Okay, maybe a transfer history can also be useful.

This is true for most Apple protocols in my experience. I’m supposed to be able to control my Homepod from my watch with a tap but it never works. Sometimes I can’t use the Homepod for minutes until it shows up. iMessage regularly fails to show the blue name for contacts, FaceTime is randomly unavailable for certain contacts, Airpods randomly disconnect, Airdrop rarely works. Tethering is also kind of spotty. The wat…

I bought 4 HomePods and they are easily the buggiest product I’ve bought non 30 years of buying almost everything Apple makes. Disgusting.

Re: OpenDrop: An open Apple AirDrop implementation written in Python

#93

Post by bredren »

It would be great to be able to drop .epub files to my main machine.

Then have those automatically converted into .mobi format by calibre, and finally sent on to my kindle.

I suppose I could set up something to just watch for new epubs in downloads though.

Re: OpenDrop: An open Apple AirDrop implementation written in Python

#94

Post by bee_rider »

infamia wrote: post #65
vmception wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love to see this caricature of ios users, what dongle do you imagine we carry and what purpose does said dongle serve?

I was mostly thinking about Macs at the time I made the joke, because very often an iOS user is also a Mac user. Where I work, Mac users always have to carry around dongles.

I think it is the other way around -- almost always a Mac user will be an iOS user, but there are plenty of iPhone users without Macs. At least in the US. iPhones seem to be around 50%-ish of sales in recent years, while Macs are not as popular, somewhere around 15%.

https://9to5mac.com/2021/07/13/mac-market-share-q2-2021/

https://www.phonearena.com/news/apple-iphone-record-sales-us...

Of course, there are lots of competing estimates for this sort of thing, but the numbers are so far apart that I don't think it matters too much.

Personally, I have an iPhone because I'm completely uninterested in cellphones and just want something that I don't have to think about too much/will be supported for a while. My computers all run Linux, because computers are cool, and fun to tinker with. Maybe someone who grew up in the era where cellphones weren't so useless will have a different perspective, though.

WRT dongles -- I dunno. Some of the popular Macbook models don't have HDMI ports, right? That seems pretty annoying. But my ZenBook lacks a headphone jack! The moral of the story is I guess that OEMs just want to fill our pockets with dongles. Or maybe selling replacement dongles is the solution to the post Moore's law era, since we don't have to replace our PCs anymore.

Re: OpenDrop: An open Apple AirDrop implementation written in Python

#95

Post by lxgr »

fosefx wrote: post #88
tinus_hn wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The default is to only accept transfers from people that are in your address book.

If I understood their paper[1] correctly you can just use a popular phone number that a person walking by is likely to have in their contacts, like an emergency line number. My mobile telco's SIM comes with a couple of contacts on it like their customer support line. I don't know anything about AirDrop, but I assume this will work. [1]: https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity21/presentat...

As far as I understand the protocol, you'd need a certificate signed by Apple in order to be able to masquerade as that contact in somebody's contact list, and Apple only signs these after phone number or email confirmation.

Re: OpenDrop: An open Apple AirDrop implementation written in Python

#96

Post by jkepler »

vmception wrote: post #41
unixhero wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just use a cable and copy the files? Oh wait you can't do that on an iPhone. You don't have the freedom to.

Android users are carrying around data transfer cables? Hey guys, get a load of this!

Uh, I'm on Android ans I use Syncthing, not a câble.

Re: OpenDrop: An open Apple AirDrop implementation written in Python

#99

Post by xorcist »

supreme_berry wrote: post #17
jbverschoor wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also my experience.. Super unreliable. It works, as long as you don't touch your phone/laptop, and don't have any network hickups. Still, it's the only thing that works

When I was traveling from Sharm El Sheikh through Sinai to Israel in the bus I’ve transferred 40GB of photos and videos to my friends on iPhone 6S. Imagine this on Android 5 years ago - they (Google) only managed to copy AirDrop with same functionality (wifi + bluetooh) only in 2020 with Nearby Share.

Not sure if that's a real question, how you would have copied files 5+ years ago between phones? Support for USB host mode was introduced with Android 4, released in 2011, but would have required the use of an OTG cable so that would likely not have been an option.

Popular Android file managers at the time had file transfer capabilities so that was probably the quickest. The advantage is that they used normal file transfer protocols which were available everywhere so the other party didn't require any special support.

However a decade ago all phones had SD cards, because their internal memory storage was so small so you needed them should you wish to use the camera beyond any trivial amount. So just copying that way would probably have been what most people did.

Re: OpenDrop: An open Apple AirDrop implementation written in Python

#100

Post by nojito »

jamesgeck0 wrote: post #71
supreme_berry wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AirDrop never was hacked. It uses bluetooth and wifi to auth/search/transfer. It doesn’t require any existing network so it works in the desert or in the middle of the ocean.

AirDrop has had several vulnerabilities. Some of them were reported by the same group of security researchers who developed OpenDrop. ADWL, the underlying protocol, had a zero-day that allowed pwning every iOS device in radio range with no user interaction. https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2020/12/an-ios-zero-c...

Were any of them actively exploited?
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