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AirDrop Anywhere – Making it work on Windows

bakedbean.org.uk

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Re: AirDrop Anywhere – Making it work on Windows

#11

Post by kevincox »

tpetry wrote: post #7
perryizgr8 wrote: post #5

I appreciate the hard work and expertise. But I absolutely do not get the point in reverse engineering a protocol that has been actively closed off. We can all come up with a universal airdrop RFC instead. That effort would be better spent. It's not some magic, it will be a very simple protocol.

Because AirDrop is already available on millions of Apple devices. If you start a new protocol it will only be available for a small user base and you need to ask Apple, Google and Microsoft to implement it.

IIUC AirDrop is locked to Apple Hardware anyways (by device IDs and similar) so even if you could speak the protocol you wouldn't be able to connect.

Re: AirDrop Anywhere – Making it work on Windows

#13

Post by deanward81 »

tyingq wrote: post #2

"it is unlikely that a non-Apple device has hardware support for adhoc wireless connections between devices. This makes implementation of AirDrop directly on non-Apple devices practically impossible without additional hardware. Instead we’ll implement a proxy..." I get what they mean here, but it has been done. It does require a Wi-Fi card with support for monitor mode and frame injection. OWL did it with an Atheros…

Well, that’s why I said it’s unlikely :)! Without purchasing additional hardware it’s not practical to be able to run AirDrop directly on non-Apple devices.

There’s no need to extract any Apple keys to be able to receive files, but the public root key appears to be needed able to send files to an Apple device.

OWL, OpenDrop and their latest project PrivateDrop (https://github.com/seemoo-lab/privatedrop) are linked heavily throughout the series - their reverse engineering of the protocol have been absolutely invaluable in building something that works, more or less sanely on non-Apple devices! Huge kudos to them!

Re: AirDrop Anywhere – Making it work on Windows

#14

Post by tyingq »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #10
tyingq wrote: post #2

"it is unlikely that a non-Apple device has hardware support for adhoc wireless connections between devices. This makes implementation of AirDrop directly on non-Apple devices practically impossible without additional hardware. Instead we’ll implement a proxy..." I get what they mean here, but it has been done. It does require a Wi-Fi card with support for monitor mode and frame injection. OWL did it with an Atheros…

When you turn your android phone into a wifi hotspot, it creates a lan between your phone and the client. Isn't that enought ?

Not to send an AirDrop to an Apple phone, no. That requires the adhoc p2p wifi scheme they are using, plus the keys/certs.

Re: AirDrop Anywhere – Making it work on Windows

#15

Post by deanward81 »

swiley wrote: post #9
tpetry wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because AirDrop is already available on millions of Apple devices. If you start a new protocol it will only be available for a small user base and you need to ask Apple, Google and Microsoft to implement it.

I think that, like imessage, you need certificates signed by Apple in order to actually use it with Apple devices. Really you'll be happier if you just ignore everything going on with iOS and Android.

This is not correct, you can receive files from non-Apple devices without any Apple keys. I’m still working on sending so haven’t uncovered the demons lurking there…

Re: AirDrop Anywhere – Making it work on Windows

#16

Post by deanward81 »

tpetry wrote: post #7
perryizgr8 wrote: post #5

I appreciate the hard work and expertise. But I absolutely do not get the point in reverse engineering a protocol that has been actively closed off. We can all come up with a universal airdrop RFC instead. That effort would be better spent. It's not some magic, it will be a very simple protocol.

Because AirDrop is already available on millions of Apple devices. If you start a new protocol it will only be available for a small user base and you need to ask Apple, Google and Microsoft to implement it.

^^ this! No need to install anything on my Apple devices. Long term plan is to have an instance of AirDrop Anywhere running perpetually on a Raspberry Pi and have a web interface accessible over the LAN for non-Apple devices to connect to when sharing files.

That said, this is all just a bit of fun so monetising it isn’t really on the cards anyway :)

Re: AirDrop Anywhere – Making it work on Windows

#17

Post by tyingq »

deanward81 wrote: post #13
tyingq wrote: post #2

"it is unlikely that a non-Apple device has hardware support for adhoc wireless connections between devices. This makes implementation of AirDrop directly on non-Apple devices practically impossible without additional hardware. Instead we’ll implement a proxy..." I get what they mean here, but it has been done. It does require a Wi-Fi card with support for monitor mode and frame injection. OWL did it with an Atheros…

Well, that’s why I said it’s unlikely :)! Without purchasing additional hardware it’s not practical to be able to run AirDrop directly on non-Apple devices. There’s no need to extract any Apple keys to be able to receive files, but the public root key appears to be needed able to send files to an Apple device. OWL, OpenDrop and their latest project PrivateDrop ( https://github.com/seemoo-lab/privatedrop ) are linked…

Ah, sure. I didn't mean it as criticism, just to say it's possible with the right wifi chipset.

Re: AirDrop Anywhere – Making it work on Windows

#18

Post by MereInterest »

lostgame wrote: post #8
perryizgr8 wrote: post #5

I appreciate the hard work and expertise. But I absolutely do not get the point in reverse engineering a protocol that has been actively closed off. We can all come up with a universal airdrop RFC instead. That effort would be better spent. It's not some magic, it will be a very simple protocol.

>> But I absolutely do not get the point in reverse engineering a protocol that has been actively closed off. You might be in the wrong forum. ;P I kid obviously - but in all seriousness some people actually do this stuff for fun! And also just to know more about the services we use every day.

The fun and the learning, I definitely understand. For me, though, while I don't mind working around technical limitations to develop something, I get immensely frustrated at working around artificial barriers.

Re: AirDrop Anywhere – Making it work on Windows

#19

Post by perryizgr8 »

tpetry wrote: post #7
perryizgr8 wrote: post #5

I appreciate the hard work and expertise. But I absolutely do not get the point in reverse engineering a protocol that has been actively closed off. We can all come up with a universal airdrop RFC instead. That effort would be better spent. It's not some magic, it will be a very simple protocol.

Because AirDrop is already available on millions of Apple devices. If you start a new protocol it will only be available for a small user base and you need to ask Apple, Google and Microsoft to implement it.

Why would you need MS/Apple/Google to implement it? Just write your client and install it. Anyway you need to install the reverse engineered clients on non-apple devices, which are the majority.

Re: AirDrop Anywhere – Making it work on Windows

#20

Post by rektide »

deanward81 wrote: post #16
tpetry wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because AirDrop is already available on millions of Apple devices. If you start a new protocol it will only be available for a small user base and you need to ask Apple, Google and Microsoft to implement it.

^^ this! No need to install anything on my Apple devices. Long term plan is to have an instance of AirDrop Anywhere running perpetually on a Raspberry Pi and have a web interface accessible over the LAN for non-Apple devices to connect to when sharing files. That said, this is all just a bit of fun so monetising it isn’t really on the cards anyway :)

It's pretty vulgar that Apple people continue to feel like, well, I have a protocol that works on my devices, so what if the rest of the world can't participate? "Works for me!" has it's merits, oh sure, but some willingness to see the faults & deficiencies would be a nice balance.
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