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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

#121

Post by hulium »

epcoa wrote: post #116
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…

> 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…

I did this in public networks and it did work, but I am not an expert in how they are set up. When do you think it would not work?

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#122

Post by ascagnel_ »

checkyoursudo wrote: post #91
menacingly wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Will an iPhone work in a vacuum?

You’re kidding, but a working phone was found on the ground after the panel blew out of the Boeing a few weeks ago.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/8/24029806/boeing-737-max-9-...

I don’t think there’s anything in a phone that’d stop its core functions in a vacuum. The human trying to use it, not so much.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#123

Post by geor9e »

albert180 wrote: post #95
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.

snapdrop.net does. It works locally in your network Peer2Peer

It doesn't do what airdrop does, although it is a step better than Sharedrop, in that it doesn't require the data be sent over the internet. But it still has a lot of extra hassle that airdrop doesn't have. If you're away from home, you first have to enable Mobile Hotspot to create a wifi network (and pay your carrier for the right, since it's usually locked down in Android), then manually connect your other device to that wifi. Airdrop skips all of that. If Airdrop is open, it's scanning via bluetooth for another device with Airdrop enabled (it doesnt even have to be open). Then they instantly agree on an ad-hoc network and connect, all invisibly to the user. So you don't do anything at all. I wish a Android developer could accomplish this.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#124

Post by geor9e »

amelius wrote: post #66
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.

So Apple.com has built a connection that doesn't adhere to TCP/IP standards. Great engineering, people!

It's a peer-to-peer wireless connection that doesn't go over the internet at all. Why does it matter (and how would you even know) if they use TCP/IP?

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#125

Post by geor9e »

diffeomorphism wrote: post #11
TechSquidTV wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imo this is a direct response given the other post costs money.

Who cares about money? Being free seems much more important.

Is this some sort of HN meme where we purposely use the wrong word sense of "free" in order to stir a semantic argument?

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#126

Post by hammyhavoc »

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

Excellent work.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#127

Post by firtoz »

rainbowzootsuit wrote: post #75
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…

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…

Looks quite powerful, will give this a try!

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#128

Post by davidbanham »

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.

I routinely use airdrop to transfer mapping data when fighting bushfires in remote areas. There’s no network of any kind on most of these, but with a geocoded PDF map and Avenza we can still plot going edges, mark hotspots and dangerous trees, etc.

Being able to quickly squirt all of that, including photos, to another crew is a literal lifesaver.

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#129

Post by spieglt »

luckyshot wrote: post #102
spieglt wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Great project! Thank you for building it. If the UI was simpler and more "Apple-like" (hate to say this) I could convince my non-tech coworkers/family/friends to use it. Also, could you auto detect the other peer's OS? You could skip an extra step and UI element. Do you need it to know which WiFi bandwidth to use?

Thank you! Yeah, obviously the UI is a weak part. I'd like to improve it eventually but as a one-person project I don't want it to have as minimal of an interface as AirDrop. With all the ways transfers can go wrong, I want that information to be in the user's face so they can submit issues and I can help debug easily.

And no, it can't detect anything about the other device until they're on a WiFi network together, and that can't happen until it knows the peer's OS because it has to know whether it or the peer should be hosting the hotspot. Windows has precedence, then Linux, then Android. (The iOS version doesn't need to know the peer's OS because iOS and macOS can't stand up a hotspot programmatically anymore, so it always has to join.)

Re: Free and Open Source Alternative to Airdrop

#130

Post by spieglt »

araes wrote: post #113
spieglt wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 sus…

It's a very cool idea, but the first barrier that comes to mind would be that when the clients join the hotspots, they don't have internet access, so joining the network would mean losing internet, for laptops and phones without cellular data. I know the LocalOnlyHotspot API I use on Android doesn't offer internet tethering. I'm not sure how possible it is to ensure that on Windows and Linux devices that host hotspots. Also, the device that offers the hotspot in Flying Carpet is pretty much acting like a normal WiFi access point in infrastructure mode, so a real mesh network would probably look a lot different.
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