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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)

#241
post #136

I regularly have to send files to customers, from a few megabytes to a few gigs. It's incredibly hard. Mail? Goes to spam. WeTransfer? Mail clients break URL. Download from my website? Some stupid browser will display the zip data onscreen. Send the link through messenger? Messenger breaks the link. SaaS gallery? Some file managers can't open the zip file. I've been doing that for two years now. Still don't have a 10…

I don't have a good asynchronous solution, but if you can do it while on the phone/Teams with them, then Web Wormhole ( https://webwormhole.io/ ) is absolutely fantastic. You both open a web page, you drag a file onto yours and it starts appearing in their download folder. It's WebRTC based so peer-to-peer, E2E encrypted, with servers only used for serving the client, and for NAT punching.

I tried wormhole.app many times and have about a 60% failure rate because there's an error or the download never completes. Don't know the difference with your link but i suppose i should try it next time

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

#243

It's insane to me that this is a frustration I've had back maybe 20 years now and I still feel like there isn't a particularly great solution. My current iteration is just a "transfer" SyncThing folder that is on all my devices. It's not clean or convenient but at least its incredibly fast.

If only we had something like AirDrop that reliably worked cross-platform. Proximity-based sharing just makes significantly more sense than uploading files to some server miles away, then immediately redownloading them back when the computer was two feet away from you the whole time.

Syncthing tries to send over the LAN if it's available, and only uses Internet relay servers if it can't establish LAN connectivity. This is why it's (usually) blazing fast. Not sure why the OP thinks this is a misuse of the tool. In fact, it's probably one of the intended purposes of it.

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

#245
post #179

The best solution I have found to easily exchange files between devices so far is to use Telegram. It works perfectly for your own devices. You can have it on multiple devices at the same time (computers, phones,...), there is a special "saved messages" channel for files, it can easily accommodate small to reasonably big files (like GB files), and there is also a webclient that you can use in a few seconds if you are…

Telegram is just so well designed. It's the only messaging app that doesn't frustrate me.

I moved there from whatsapp and made most of my loved ones to do the move as well. It wasn't hard because it's such a great product.

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

#246

It's insane to me that this is a frustration I've had back maybe 20 years now and I still feel like there isn't a particularly great solution. My current iteration is just a "transfer" SyncThing folder that is on all my devices. It's not clean or convenient but at least its incredibly fast.

It is purely because of the lack of static addressing. Probably an entire country's GDP-worth of SaaS products are essentially nothing more than providing basically a proxy to other devices that have to have apps installed to speak their special language.

If I knew your computer's address (and it didn't change) and you knew mine, we could route traffic through the infrastructure we already pay for.

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

#247

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…

I tried it many times, including when sending other people a file, but it fails for me about 60% of the time. Error or download just never completes.

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

#248

The best solution I have found to easily exchange files between devices so far is to use Telegram. It works perfectly for your own devices. You can have it on multiple devices at the same time (computers, phones,...), there is a special "saved messages" channel for files, it can easily accommodate small to reasonably big files (like GB files), and there is also a webclient that you can use in a few seconds if you are…

OP would rule this out because of the third party cloud service thing, but I use signal in the same way. It feels quite ridiculous but it works.

The best option I can think of is syncthing, but the ux for non technical users isn't great.

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

#249
post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know, but even sending a link is not that straightforward in my experience.

O.o how is that not straightforward? Sending a link is the easiest thing in the world.

Yes, sending it is easy. But on the other side, whatever software my customers are using tends to break the links.

I've had that with both mail clients and messenger. Call it antivirus protections, "you're leaving our website" thing, facebook tracking data... Whatever, they will break your links eventually.

I know, it's unbelievable, I don't blame you for doubting me. But still...

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

#250
post #136

I regularly have to send files to customers, from a few megabytes to a few gigs. It's incredibly hard. Mail? Goes to spam. WeTransfer? Mail clients break URL. Download from my website? Some stupid browser will display the zip data onscreen. Send the link through messenger? Messenger breaks the link. SaaS gallery? Some file managers can't open the zip file. I've been doing that for two years now. Still don't have a 10…

Tried putting it on to a USB, and sending it by snailmail?

Yes, it has come to that in some cases. I've delivered a bunch of HDD's with my car.
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