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KDE Connect: Enabling communication between all your devices

community.kde.org

111–120 of 208 posts

Re: KDE Connect: Enabling communication between all your devices

#111
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slackware’s last release was 2.5 years ago. Look at Fedora (if you like RPM distros) if you’re after something pretty nicely put together that stays reasonably well up to date. Very well maintained. Influenced by Red Hat (or “led by” or even “owned by”), which works for some, not for others. CachyOS is trendy these days. EndeavourOS is basically Arch with an installer. There are a few distros targeted at Windows refu…

Arch has an installer these days. It works pretty well and you can have a system up and running in about 20 minutes if you have a fast internet connection. For people that want a Windows like UI, I would probably suggest Cinnamon. It works pretty much like Windows 7/10 without all the visual nonsense that KDE typically has.

Cinnamon? Really? In a KDE Connect thread?

KDE actually was built around the Windows paradigm; Gnome is a Mac clone. Cinnamon is a fork of Gnome maintained as a side project from a distro with a bad security and management track record. Really the only thing it adds is a launcher; KDE optionally provides the same style if the user wants it.

Go find a thread where your pet software is on topic. This thread is about KDE Connect. Does Cinnamon support that? Does Cinnamon offer anything like it?

Re: KDE Connect: Enabling communication between all your devices

#112
post #12

when it works it's amazing. but very often both my phone and laptop are connected to the same WiFi, yet kde connect can't see them. I can't figure out how to diagnose and solve that when it happens

I used to recommend KDE-Connect left and right but stopped doing so because it went from rock solid and dependable to a complete disaster in a couple of years. Linux, Android, iOS, macOS all worked in harmony. Now not even two Android phones using the same software version can see each other, file transfers keep failing after a brief while. And all with the same devices that worked before, across various networks. No…

Some wifi APs block client to client traffic by default these days.

Re: KDE Connect: Enabling communication between all your devices

#113
post #88

This is a killer app. There have been times when I asked someone "why can't you just send me a screenshot on signal" or "Oh, can't you copy the URL to your desktop?"... only to realize that the poor fellow didn't have KDE connect (yet). It's not perfect, but it does things I haven't found anywhere else, makes your phone and laptop and pc. It might help that I'm actually running KDE everywhere, of course.

I have a all my messengers running on my desktop as well, so I don't really have those problems. How's KDE Connect superior? I'm seriously interested, since I read it's a killer feature but I cannot really imagine how it would help me.

Even just copying your clipboard is very useful.

Also (more so at home) large transfers are pretty fast, regularly send movies from and to my phone, at pretty much connection speed.

You can also mount your phone storage over the network, control your mouse with your phone and much more.

Re: KDE Connect: Enabling communication between all your devices

#114

At least in my use case (as link between Android devices and both Linux/Win PCs) KDE Connect is a real killer app. It enabled seamless integration and saved me lots of hassle and time. It really should get more exposure. I see reports that it doesn't work. These are mostly for distros where Plasma is either rather old or taking a backseat after other environment (usually Gnome). I'm having great results with the late…

I definitely have a need for this, but I can't stomach same-network requirement. Maybe they need self-hostable coordination server so that devices can connect to each other through it. For now it's still 'send to telegram saved messages' for me.

> self-hostable coordination server

What a long way to spell VPN :-) (been using it for a decade or so through wireguard)

Re: KDE Connect: Enabling communication between all your devices

#115
post #88

This is a killer app. There have been times when I asked someone "why can't you just send me a screenshot on signal" or "Oh, can't you copy the URL to your desktop?"... only to realize that the poor fellow didn't have KDE connect (yet). It's not perfect, but it does things I haven't found anywhere else, makes your phone and laptop and pc. It might help that I'm actually running KDE everywhere, of course.

I have a all my messengers running on my desktop as well, so I don't really have those problems. How's KDE Connect superior? I'm seriously interested, since I read it's a killer feature but I cannot really imagine how it would help me.

Those of us who live in the US where SMS is the default messenger can't have all of their messengers running on their desktop.

Re: KDE Connect: Enabling communication between all your devices

#117
post #12

when it works it's amazing. but very often both my phone and laptop are connected to the same WiFi, yet kde connect can't see them. I can't figure out how to diagnose and solve that when it happens

It should work on any network where mDNS works and where TCP connections can be established. There's not much going on that's more complicated than that when it comes to device discovery. Many VPN configurations break mDNS and other broadcasts (i.e. Chromecast, file shares, that kind of thing), though. A lot of "how to get started with WireGuard/OpenVPN/etc." guides stop the moment HTTP(S) connections work, but there…

Oh, so if I setup mDNS on my workstation KDE Connect will be more reliable? Kind of annoying since I DNS already works to resolve names.

Re: KDE Connect: Enabling communication between all your devices

#118
post #15

Is there any update on whether Apple had already opened their iOS API in EU, which would allow to match the KDE Connect's Android functionality?

I remember getting excited about KDE Connect but then being completely disappointed that it basically non-functional on iOS... As I remember it (tried it last year I think), the application needs to be in the foreground in order to do anything at all, because of Apple's (purposeful) limitations of doing things in the background. So if you were hoping to be able to install this and sync stuff without effort and having…

Maybe I'm missing something, but what "daemon-style" app tasks are you doing, or expecting, with KDE Connect? Its core functions seem to be quick tasks; sending files, clipboard, remote control, etc.

Perhaps my usage is basic in this way - I've never had an issue with using the iOS app as it is.

Re: KDE Connect: Enabling communication between all your devices

#119
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience is that KDE 6 has very little visual nonsense right out of the box. 4 and 5 did have a lot more, but most/all of it could be disabled. Most other Linux DEs don't really let you customize them to your own personal level of nonsense at any rate.

I probably see a lot more than other people since I spent a good few years doing pixel perfect web dev. I am not being hyperbolic when I say that I can see a pixel out of place on a webpage on the other side of the room. https://kde.org/content/home/main.jpg This is a screenshot from their site. Just in this screenshot I see the following: 1) there is an horrendous text shadow effect on the text under the "Home" desk…

I agree with your assessment of KDE lacking "taste". Imo, it looks like a system designed by engineers, not designers.

GNOME has the opposite problem imo. I feel like it has "taste", but it feels like a system fully designed by designers, with no engineers giving practical pushback. It's the same issue macOS has, but amplified: Designers have some grand idea about their vision being the one true way of using the system and made it hard to impossible to customize.

I currently use KDE, but am not happy with it for the reasons you described. I used to use GNOME, but wasn't happy with it for the reasons above.

I have high hopes for Cosmic [0]. It seems like that one might get the balance right.

[0] https://system76.com/cosmic

Re: KDE Connect: Enabling communication between all your devices

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember getting excited about KDE Connect but then being completely disappointed that it basically non-functional on iOS... As I remember it (tried it last year I think), the application needs to be in the foreground in order to do anything at all, because of Apple's (purposeful) limitations of doing things in the background. So if you were hoping to be able to install this and sync stuff without effort and having…

Maybe I'm missing something, but what "daemon-style" app tasks are you doing, or expecting, with KDE Connect? Its core functions seem to be quick tasks; sending files, clipboard, remote control, etc. Perhaps my usage is basic in this way - I've never had an issue with using the iOS app as it is.

From the feature list, how do I actually accomplish these things without having the app open on iOS, or at all?

- Receive your phone notifications on your desktop computer

- Reply to text messages (or even read?)

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