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How to copy a file between devices? (2022)

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Re: How to copy a file between devices? (2022)

#41

Post by geor9e »

SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #5

Isn’t https://wormhole.app/ the solution here? Note I haven’t used it, it’s just often brought up here as a good solution for this class of problem. Is it surprising that the author mentions a ton of solutions but not this one? I would think a deep dive of file sending applications would include this, it’s old enough and well known enough in circles that its exclusion in a comparison of file sending approaches does f…

The downside of websites like that is that it travels over the internet, so you're throttled by every bottleneck along the way, which can be very painful if you're out and about and your hotspot is suffering 3G speeds. Meanwhile, Airdrop spawns an ad-hoc network giving you gigabit transfers in the middle of nowhere. Personally, if Airdrop isn't an option, I use TotalCommander to transfer over my hotspot network (no internet connection needed)

Re: How to copy a file between devices? (2022)

#42

Post by CharlesW »

> For some of these services like WhatsApp or Apple’s Airdrop I’m not sure if there’s a storage provider in the middle.

Not for AirDrop, at least. You must be within RF range (~9 meters). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirDrop#:~:text=AirDrop%20uses....

> So, considering the solution needs to be cross-platform the easiest way to get something up and running would be through a web browser.

Yes, and Snapdrop seems to meet his 4 requirements: https://snapdrop.net/

Re: How to copy a file between devices? (2022)

#43

Post by jeroenhd »

superkuh wrote: post #8

Most people should run a static HTTP/1.1 webserver (after port forwarding 80) on their home PC so they can dump files into a directory to share them by sending the http://your.ip.address.here/directory/ link via email or whatever. When you use directories and files your OS itself is the natural interface and everything just works.

Most people with computers can right click and folder and hit share. SMB clients are built into any modern computer OS and various mobile devices (and apps are available for those devices that don't have it enabled by default).

HTTP is clunky, unintuitive, and requires typing in IP addresses. It's not a natural interface to file sharing at all.

Re: How to copy a file between devices? (2022)

#45

Post by throw0101b »

CharlesW wrote: post #42

> For some of these services like WhatsApp or Apple’s Airdrop I’m not sure if there’s a storage provider in the middle. Not for AirDrop, at least. You must be within RF range (~9 meters). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirDrop#:~:text=AirDrop%20uses... . > So, considering the solution needs to be cross-platform the easiest way to get something up and running would be through a web browser. Yes, and Snapdrop seems to m…

> Not for AirDrop, at least. You must be within RF range (~9 meters).

iOS 17.1 allows you to begin a transfer when close by, but keep it going over cellular data so you don't have to wait around the person to finish it:

* https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/ios-use-airdrop-without-wi-...

Re: How to copy a file between devices? (2022)

#46

Post by ytch »

robviren wrote: post #36

I have gotten a lot of use out of croc. https://github.com/schollz/croc F-droid has an android app and the cli runs on Linux, Mac, and Windows. Super pain free. It's not a synchronization solution, but sends stuff pretty easily.

I like it too. Croc is easy to install/use in almost all network environments.

Re: How to copy a file between devices? (2022)

#47

Post by jeroenhd »

Writing code is fun, but I can't find much of a downside with Bluetooth here. "You can accidentally turn it on" (fair, I guess?) "and it drains battery like crazy" (it shouldn't unless you have a very buggy device) don't seem like that bad compared to Yet Another File Sharing App.

I remember way back in the Android 4 era, my phone and my tablet both supported some "standard" form of WiFi Direct. It worked intuitively (just share a file), was blazingly fast (as fast as P2P WiFi can be), was low latency, and just worked. I used it to transfer media files and backups and it easily beat having to hook up a USB cable to two devices. I was sad to find out this was probably some kind of proprietary interface, because the feature seems to have vanished. It was the best local file sharing mechanism I'd ever used and it disappeared into thin air. Android Beam was nice, but computers and tablets don't have the required NFC hardware to make it work.

I don't expect Apple to play nice with anyone else, but it's time Microsoft, Google, and the various Android manufacturers got their shit together and developed some kind of open sharing system. Google and Samsung already joined forces, but Microsoft seems to have gone off to do their own thing again. We have P2P WiFi for display sharing and the like, why can't we decide on some kind of file sharing protocol here? I don't care if it's SMB or FTP or HTTP, it's really not that difficult a problem to solve. The only issue is that there are hundreds of apps, each with their own protocols and implementations, none of which come packaged with the OS.

Re: How to copy a file between devices? (2022)

#48

Post by CharlesW »

throw0101b wrote: post #45
CharlesW wrote: post #42

> For some of these services like WhatsApp or Apple’s Airdrop I’m not sure if there’s a storage provider in the middle. Not for AirDrop, at least. You must be within RF range (~9 meters). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirDrop#:~:text=AirDrop%20uses... . > So, considering the solution needs to be cross-platform the easiest way to get something up and running would be through a web browser. Yes, and Snapdrop seems to m…

> Not for AirDrop, at least. You must be within RF range (~9 meters). iOS 17.1 allows you to begin a transfer when close by, but keep it going over cellular data so you don't have to wait around the person to finish it: * https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/ios-use-airdrop-without-wi-...

Interesting, thanks! https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/use-airdrop-to-send-i....

Re: How to copy a file between devices? (2022)

#50

Post by TheAceOfHearts »

jeroenhd wrote: post #47

Writing code is fun, but I can't find much of a downside with Bluetooth here. "You can accidentally turn it on" (fair, I guess?) "and it drains battery like crazy" (it shouldn't unless you have a very buggy device) don't seem like that bad compared to Yet Another File Sharing App. I remember way back in the Android 4 era, my phone and my tablet both supported some "standard" form of WiFi Direct. It worked intuitively…

I wrote a similar comment but so far have only received downvotes without any feedback as to why people seem to disagree with me. Admittedly, maybe my position is a bit more extreme, in that I think it would be pretty reasonable to consider applying political pressure or even legislating to improve file sharing and interoperabiliy between devices. I'd prefer it if big tech companies would just come together and implement support for full cross platform file transfers, but I don't see that happening.

My biggest frustration is that there doesn't seem to be anyone with a large platform willing to ask people in leadership at the big tech companies about such features.

In my ideal world: big tech would come together to write some spec, then devices and operating systems would slowly implement and roll it out. And on older devices you could just build a third-party app that implements the same functionality. The goal would be that ultimately you'd have seamless basic interoperability between devices without having to install third-party apps.

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