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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

#111

Post by BossingAround »

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!

Honestly, I've been having excellent experience with BT (and headphones) with modern devices.

For example, my Lenovo T14s (2023 AMD version running the latest kernel) connects to my (5.2 version of BT) headphones really well. Similarly, my android phone connects to the same headphones and whatever device sends data, that's what I hear.

Similarly, my Steam Deck connects to two of the headphones I'm using (Sennheiser and Apple Airpods) seamlessly.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#112

Post by xyst »

Kind of cool. UX not as smooth as p2p file sharing with airdrop on Apple devices, but it works well enough.

I couldn’t get the “local network” feature to work though despite devices on both networks. Probably missing something. Had to send the link to myself.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#113

Post by araes »

spieglt wrote: post #82
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.

Mine does! https://github.com/spieglt/flyingcarpet

Thanks for the link. Looking through the Github, this appears to be close to what I'm looking for on my own project. Namely, being able to share files automatically with nearby devices when they move within range.

I thought Bluetooth might be viable, as beacons and GattServers seem to be designed for this purpose. Android's implementation was painful, yet doable. However, after wading into Microsoft's codebase, I suspect it will be slog.

Question: With an agreed upon network name or configuration, and agreed upon access parameters, how much change do you think it would take for FlyingCarpet to instead by used as a semi-anonymous, dynamic membership mesh network?

Ex: A laptop and a phone get near each other, they recognize their proximity, and that they are both offering the known network, they then check for the presence of known filetypes in a known folder location, and exchange small updates with each other. The same with any number of desktops, laptops, or phones that get near each other. If I was in a mall with 11 other similarly configured phones nearby, and 5 people working on laptops, then my phone would call the 16 other devices, and they would each get a file from my phone, and I would get a file from their phones.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#114

Post by hulium »

Brian_K_White wrote: post #79
tsujamin wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Thank you, I think I didn't get the idea across properly.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#115

Post by bananapub »

mckn1ght wrote: post #89
voisin wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I also don't like keeping AirDrop running chronically Why?

It’s better now that you can choose only to expose it to contacts, and only enable it for “everyone” for a limited time. I seem to remember in the past you could leave “everyone” enabled indefinitely, evident anytime you stood in a crowd.

> I seem to remember in the past you could leave “everyone” enabled indefinitely, evident anytime you stood in a crowd.

er yes, Apple seemingly eliminated the "everyone/forever" option because it was being used to slightly-anonymously[0] spread stuff the chinese government didn't like [1]

0: https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/01/hackers-can-id-uniq... 1: https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/09/apple-limits-airdrop-every...

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#116

Post by epcoa »

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…

> here is how I can share a file from my phone to any other phone in the same Wifi.

This will not work on many public and corporate networks. A common place where you’d want to share.

> surely there is an opportunity create a simpler UI!

It’ll still suck compared to Airdrop. Apple has gone to a lot of trouble to make that work as well as it does. Trying to setup something relying on temporary hotspots will be sub par UX. (And a nonstarter for Apple devices - user apps can’t touch the WiFi settings).

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#117

Post by d1sxeyes »

nsagent wrote: post #96
d1sxeyes wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the sake of being picky, Bonjour is not a radio protocol (Layer 1), it’s a set of tools which enable zero config networking (Layer 2/3)

I agree, it's not a radio protocol and I wasn't trying to imply that it was. The person I was responding to posited it might be one and I pointed them to the protocol that's used without explicitly correcting them on that point.

Makes sense.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#118

Post by asadalt »

menacingly wrote: post #47
asadalt wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this also gives you wifi speed actually. thanks for webrtc.

Many things give you wifi speed, if you're connected to wifi. With Airdrop, if you are on the moon and meet a stranger there who also has an iphone, you can perform the high-speed transfer of large files.

wouldn't it use bluetooth in that case? Or does it create adhoc wifi connections somehow?

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#119

Post by NoZebra120vClip »

hulium wrote: post #107
NoZebra120vClip wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the remote user's authentication is handled, how? And the routing, NAT, and discovery of your server's private IP address is handled?

None of that is necessary because you are not exposing anything to the internet. We are still talking about local sharing. Android does not have a firewall so there really is nothing to configure. But if you think it cannot be possible, try it for yourself.

You seem confidently oblivious of security concerns, almost as if you're just here to shill for a janky app.
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