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Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

sharedrop.io

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Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#32

Post by firtoz »

dewey wrote: post #25
firtoz wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm trying to learn how to use Tiktok (yes, I know, I'm sorry) and other social media and cross-posting isn't really great and some platforms pretty much force you to post from mobile devices or vice versa (Tiktok, Instagram for mobile, LinkedIn for desktop web), and I need to pass source videos from mobile to editors on PC and back and forth for posting on the different media.. It's a big of a mess, I'm kinda sure t…

Sounds much more painful than dropping them in iCloud / Google Drive / Dropbox, as you have to send, accept, save, switch to app, upload instead of just going to the app, select file from cloud storage, upload. Especially when you might want to upload from multiple devices.

I haven't figured out the full workflow yet so will consider your way too, thanks for mentioning it!

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#33

Post by linkdd »

jrockway wrote: post #30
linkdd wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, free software is different than "does not cost money". You can pay for free software. For example the OS of my TV (not a smart TV but still) is free and opensource, yet I paid for it when I bought my TV.

Why did you buy a non-smart TV with an OS?

I bought it 10 years ago, it cost me less than 50€. And every interactive device has an operating system, no matter how simple it is. Just to accept inputs from my remote and displaying menus to configure lightning/colors/volumes/etc., it needs an OS.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#34

Post by tomasff »

fidotron wrote: post #28
vifon wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So Wi-Fi Direct?

ISTR around something like the Galaxy Nexus Google doing demos of beaming files between devices via WiFi Direct after having exchanged info with an NFC tap. But that was just before they decided everything had to go via their cloud. Curiously if you used a London bus in around 2005 with bluetooth on you would experience a lot of files being sent to you via ad hoc networks.

I think the modern alternative is Nearby Share which works via BLE or WiFi with Android / Windows / ChromeOS

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#36

Post by neilalexander »

j1elo wrote: post #17
cmiller1 wrote: post #9

All of these "alternatives to airdop" don't seem to actually do what airdrop does, which is create an ad-hoc wireless connection. Airdrop isn't just a nice UI for sending files between people, it allows a wi-fi speed transfer between two devices that aren't connected to an existing network of that speed.

Apple usually does excellent integrations between their devices. But I haven't used AirDrop so I'm not familiar with how it works: in order to create an ad-hoc wireless connection, if the devices were already connected to some wifi access point, are they temporarily disconnected for the duration of the ad-hoc connection? If not, I'd guess that Apple devices maybe come with 2 WiFi adapters inside?

Neither — frequency hopping is used so that the device can establish AWDL connectivity directly with nearby devices while maintaining a connection to an access point, while still only having a single Wi-Fi adapter.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#37

Post by Obscurity4340 »

rollcat wrote: post #24
cmiller1 wrote: post #9

All of these "alternatives to airdop" don't seem to actually do what airdrop does, which is create an ad-hoc wireless connection. Airdrop isn't just a nice UI for sending files between people, it allows a wi-fi speed transfer between two devices that aren't connected to an existing network of that speed.

This. Airdrop is actually viable for transferring huge files, like RAW photos or ProRes footage. I've had video engineering professionals ask me if it's viable to implement Airdrop support in something like a camera or a recorder, not because it's pretty or doesn't need cables, but because it would save them time in a media workflow (they are busy people).

Resilio Sync's pretty fast and less fussy than AirDrop, I also don't like keeping AirDrop running chronically

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#39

Post by dotancohen »

cmiller1 wrote: post #9

All of these "alternatives to airdop" don't seem to actually do what airdrop does, which is create an ad-hoc wireless connection. Airdrop isn't just a nice UI for sending files between people, it allows a wi-fi speed transfer between two devices that aren't connected to an existing network of that speed.

  > create an ad-hoc wireless connection.
Every Android device I've used has had "Send via Bluetooth" functionality built in. Is the WiFi connection just significantly faster or does it provide other additional benefits?

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#40

Post by Cupprum »

I am still missing why people are so crazy about airdrop. Sure, it seems nice, and is nice to interact with, but all my stuff is already in the cloud and i don't seem to need to share it very often with people around me. What are some of the use-cases you personally use airdrop for?
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