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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

#71

Post by tsujamin »

hulium wrote: post #50
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.

You can create a hotspot and start a HTTP server. Scan a QR code to connect to the hotspot, then a QR code for the file URL. It's easy and works with any device with Wifi access. For the server, on Android I use "Share via HTTP". On desktop running a lightweight HTTP server is easy too. Edit: Apparently that sounded complicated, here is how I can share a file from my phone to any other phone in the same Wifi. - Click…

Let me just teach my mum how to run a HTTP server and generate QR codes to send me photos of our lunch /s

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#72

Post by jbverschoor »

hulium wrote: post #65
twosdai wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't agree more. Users don't want to run a server or figure any of that out. There is a person near them and they want to share a file quickly.

I am not sure you understand. You click share, then Share via HTTP, the other person scans the QR code, they have the file. Setting up the server is no effort at all. Only if you are outside without Wifi you have to do another step, setting up a Wifi hotspot, but that is not hard. And in most situations I have been in both devices were in the same network anyways.

But that's 80% of why AirDrop is so great. Exchanging files/photos/videos when you're not home and sometimes with strangers / acquaintances.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#73

Post by Cupprum »

Angostura wrote: post #43
Cupprum wrote: post #40

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?

Person A takes group Photo. Person B "could I have that"? Two people touch phones and hit accept.

But neither of these implementations are going to provide this functionality, because of lack of development kits, right? So in the end people would just send it over some messaging app, which scales nicer, or create a shared album, which also scales nicer. Because smashing phones in group of 10 people might get tedious.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#74

Post by nsagent »

codethief wrote: post #60
gpchelkin wrote: post #41

I've tried a lot of similar tools for sending files between devices in local area network and found that https://localsend.org works best. Yes, it requires an application installation, but the transfers are much more faster and reliable when browser is not involved. And its Android application works nicely on Google TV/Android TV, so I can send files there easily.

How does localsend work exactly? I've read both their website and Github README as well as part of their protocol docs but I still have no idea. How does the initial device discovery work? For file transfer does it use the local wifi, some external server, …?

It looks like they implement something similar to Bonjour [1] using multicast DNS [2]. Not sure if it's basically a reimplementation like Avahi [3] or if it's a slightly different protocol (only skimmed the code [4] briefly).

[1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonjour_(software)

[2]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multicast_DNS

[3]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avahi_(software)

[4]: https://github.com/localsend/localsend/tree/main/app/lib/pro...

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#75

Post by rainbowzootsuit »

firtoz wrote: post #18
1B05H1N wrote: post #13

Do you guys actually share this much locally? I have my local sync'd to my cloud storage and just pull it down if/when I need it. I'll just email/text people around me if they don't have airdrop compatibility.

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…

Do consider Syncthing particularly if you are using Android. If using apple iOS you'd need the möbius sync client.

https://syncthing.net/

https://www.mobiussync.com/

One thing that it beats the cloud / centralized sync on is because the connection is direct between devices when the initial transfer is completed the file is completely there on the other device. With a cloud type of sync you do the transfer twice. I've seen stack up on large media or with the structure of cloud services pricing making it expensive depending on how your workflow is setup with inside and outside parties. For example, Dropbox deduction from all parties' storage limits not just the sharer.

You can also point Syncthing at a local sync of Dropbox or Google drive and then forward the files to other recipients from that for some purposes.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#76

Post by jckahn »

hulium wrote: post #65
twosdai wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't agree more. Users don't want to run a server or figure any of that out. There is a person near them and they want to share a file quickly.

I am not sure you understand. You click share, then Share via HTTP, the other person scans the QR code, they have the file. Setting up the server is no effort at all. Only if you are outside without Wifi you have to do another step, setting up a Wifi hotspot, but that is not hard. And in most situations I have been in both devices were in the same network anyways.

> Setting up the server is no effort at all.

This assumes that the user has a level of technical knowledge that most people don’t have.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#77

Post by hulium »

jckahn wrote: post #76
hulium wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not sure you understand. You click share, then Share via HTTP, the other person scans the QR code, they have the file. Setting up the server is no effort at all. Only if you are outside without Wifi you have to do another step, setting up a Wifi hotspot, but that is not hard. And in most situations I have been in both devices were in the same network anyways.

> Setting up the server is no effort at all. This assumes that the user has a level of technical knowledge that most people don’t have.

Which of the steps that I described required advanced technical knowledge?

Edit: Ah maybe you thought setting up the server is an additional step. It is not. Share via HTTP is the server. It runs directly on your phone. The URL points directly to your device.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#78

Post by withinboredom »

neilalexander wrote: post #64
j1elo wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> frequency hopping That this is possible, and allows to maintain a dual connection to an AP and an ad-hoc connection to another device for AirDrop, sounds amazing. Now I want to learn more about that technique and where/how it can be applied to non-Apple devices!

Bluetooth does it too!

At first, I thought you were alluding to Bluetooth file sharing, which Apple doesn’t support.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#79

Post by Brian_K_White »

tsujamin wrote: post #71
hulium wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can create a hotspot and start a HTTP server. Scan a QR code to connect to the hotspot, then a QR code for the file URL. It's easy and works with any device with Wifi access. For the server, on Android I use "Share via HTTP". On desktop running a lightweight HTTP server is easy too. Edit: Apparently that sounded complicated, here is how I can share a file from my phone to any other phone in the same Wifi. - Click…

Let me just teach my mum how to run a HTTP server and generate QR codes to send me photos of our lunch /s

It's the same difficulty. They used techy terms because we know that's what's happening, but your mom doesn't need to know those terms or anything like that.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#80

Post by fnordpiglet »

solardev wrote: post #67
neilalexander wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bluetooth does it too!

It's hard enough to get Bluetooth to connect to one device!

To be fair it’s great at connecting to every device within 100 meters other than the one in your hand.
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