7 ms·

Show HN: Sharing, command-line tool to share files with your phone

189 points by parvardegr 4y ago

Sharing is a command-line tool to share directory and files with ios and android devices without an extra client app

ohadron 4y ago
Really cool. One of my favorite things about iOS+MacOS is the ability to copy/paste between devices, but I can think of a bunch of use cases where this would be even better.
- mike97 4y ago
  You can have the same with Linux/Windows and Android(not sure if iOS also has an app), using KDE Connect
icy 4y ago
Tailscale’s Taildrop (https://tailscale.com/kb/1106/taildrop/ https://tailscale.com/kb/1106/taildrop/) has completely solved this problem for me.
- loeg 4y ago
  Is it truly Synology only?
  - pkage 4y ago
    No, it supports macOS/win/linux + ios/android; the docs just highlight Synology NASs first.
    - joshspankit 4y ago
      And words it poorly: > Taildrop is only available on Synology with Tailscale v1.18.2 or later
- unstatusthequo 4y ago
  100% for this. I can send things to/from iOS to Windows trivially now. Easy, fast, and reliable.
bbkane 4y ago
Nice! I used to do something similar with: python -m http.server And a dns -> http record Namecheap which sent traffic from books.bbkane.com to http://localhost:5000 http://localhost:5000
jcynix 4y ago
Ok, nice idea with the qrcode, but (as far I can tell from a quick view into the source) it uses plain http? On Android I'm happy with the apps I use anyway, e.g. Termux which offers ssh (both client and server), rsync, … or sftp via Solid Explorer.
- w4rh4wk5 4y ago
  Can you configure to the ssh server to start automatically, or do you have to launch Termux and start it manually after a reboot?
  - jcynix 4y ago
    I can execute Termux scripts at boot time (via a secondary app Termux:Boot), which would execute files in ~/.termux/boot/so yes. And you have your standard shell init files, so just opening Termux allows you to implement actions.
    - freedomben 4y ago
      Termux is the most underrated app I can think of. It's absolutely incredible and is one of the best "features" of android IMHO.
      - jcynix 4y ago
        I 100% agree, Termux shows, what a useful tool a smartphone can be. Do I need an app to look at the EXIF of a photo? No, I just use Phil Harvey's excellent exiftool[1] in the shell. Resize or rotate an image? Or even a number of images? Imagemagick does the job. The power of the command line in your hand ;-) [1] https://exiftool.org/ https://exiftool.org/
jamps 4y ago
Pretty cool and lightweight! I use KDE connect that allows me to have communication both ways.
- blensor 4y ago
  I am also happy with kdeconnect, although I am not sure if I have set everything up correctly. I am un xfce and every once in a while use the kdeconnect cli to pair my phone, then I never think about it and just share my files to the downloads folder or copy paste something from the clipboard
prettyStandard 4y ago
Pretty happy with resilio sync... Wait... all commits were 2 hours ago?
- sva_ 4y ago
  It's less than 100 lines https://github.com/parvardegr/sharing/blob/main/bin/index.js https://github.com/parvardegr/sharing/blob/main/bin/index.js
treespace8 4y ago
For only text I use https://cl1p.net https://cl1p.net, basic but works everywhere.
- radiojasper 4y ago
  Hey I didn't know that tool, that's very useful for me. Thanks for sharing!
chuckdotis 4y ago
This looks identical to qrcp. https://github.com/claudiodangelis/qrcp https://github.com/claudiodangelis/qrcp
- quyleanh 4y ago
  Same thought. I've been using qrcp for a long time, and still prefer go rather than js.
RupertEisenhart 4y ago
I use Syncthing[0] for continuous file synchronization to/from my phone, its pretty nifty. Way more memory-heavy than something like this though. [0] https://syncthing.net/ https://syncthing.net/
- dotancohen 4y ago
  If you're already using Telegram, you can use the Saved Messages pseudochat to transfer text and files between the phone and desktop. Telegram has an excellent desktop client.
  - fgeiger 4y ago
    Signal has the "Note to self" chat which works the same ... Except for the cloud sync that Telegram has. Signal only syncs between your clients.
  - SXX 4y ago
    Just make sure to be aware that such "sync" via Telegram is not to be used for anything important as it's not E2E encrypted.
- sanroot99 4y ago
  I made a bash script using rsync and termux notification for file syncing to my laptop
- eternityforest 4y ago
  This is what I use too. Amazingly fast and very easy to use.
rraval 4y ago
https://snapdrop.net https://snapdrop.net is my go to for this. Works on any modern browser on the same LAN. Supports files and plain text. Previous HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25524472 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25524472
- gmiller123456 4y ago
  That looks like the easiest, no installer, just a URL.
- iwebdevfromhome 4y ago
  For some reason, I can't send files from iPhone -> Other devices. But text works.
- isuleman 4y ago
  Microsoft Edge blocks all downloads from Snapdrop :{ I have whitelisted it countelsss times. Still it blocks images.
- sanroot99 4y ago
  This uses relay server i guess ,and doesn't work in nat
avodonosov 4y ago
I just use primitive-ftpd android app - then connect to the phone from computer with the standard file browser in my OS and copy what I need in both directions.
rraghur 4y ago
For me kde connect is great for this and a lot of similar purposes(clipboard sharing, sms, media controls, notifications)
- freedomben 4y ago
  kde connect is incredible, even for people on gnome. highly recommend
  - hoppyhoppy2 4y ago
    You might already know this, but GSConnect is a reimplementation of KDE Connect as a GNOME Extension
    - freedomben 4y ago
      I had a pretty tough time getting GSConnect to work, and consistently. The KDE Connect GUI is pretty clumsy on Gnome, but it works reliably and supports every feature. I do hope GSConnect can get better though
- JeremyNT 4y ago
  Indeed KDE Connect is a robust and secure way to share files (and it has many other features as well). I wish more people knew about it!
- wazoox 4y ago
  Yep, and you can use it seamlessly with several computer at once, I love it :)
calvinmorrison 4y ago
guilty pleasure: use WebDAV + FastMail Files for this.
mvidal01 4y ago
https://file.pizza https://file.pizza is nice.
boppo1 4y ago
Can I use it with my Ipad?
- parvardegr 4y ago
  if you can scan the QR-Code with your ipad, Yes
yewenjie 4y ago
So is this just an http server with a QR code for the link?
- parvardegr 4y ago
  exactly
Phelinofist 4y ago
I have an alias in my .bashrc for that: alias instashare='python3 -m http.server 8082'
- creata 4y ago
  If you have qrencode on your system, you can also print a QR code with echo "http://$(ip route get 1 | sed -n 's/.*src $[0-9.]\+$.*/\1/p'):8082" | qrencode -t UTF8 -o - Credit to https://stackoverflow.com/a/49552792 https://stackoverflow.com/a/49552792 for fetching the IP address.
  - BeefWellington 4y ago
    I find hostname -I Generally simpler and works in the 90% case.
lucasgonze 4y ago
What an excellent idea. Kudos.
andrepd 4y ago
I've had amazing results with Warpinator, especiall when it comes to non-techies. No more ferrying files over pen drive or "wetransfer"-like services. As long as you're all on the same LAN, just drag and drop.
andirk 4y ago
Much like many applications such as Slack attempt to be the "email killer", is this the "copy-paste-into-email-to-myself killer"?
yardshop 4y ago
OP's tool looks good, I like the QRcode idea. Another useful tool in this neighborhood is Droopy: http://stackp.online.fr/?p=28 http://stackp.online.fr/?p=28 It's a Python script that runs a simple web server with some nice options. I used it to copy a gigantic video file from my phone to my old Windows machine that other methods choked on.
prdpx7 4y ago
Made something exactly like this 2 years ago when i was learning Go. https://github.com/prdpx7/go-fileserver https://github.com/prdpx7/go-fileserver
sanroot99 4y ago
Hi i got inspired your post https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33110574 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33110574
unraveller 4y ago
you can also send a single small file without installing anything thanks to these free services. curl -s https://qrcode.show -d https://patchbay.pub/yourname/openshare && curl https://patchbay.pub/yourname/openshare --data-binary @./test.jpg Highlight the qrcode text to invert colors. If your console prints artefacts add -H "X-QR-EC-Level: H" or -H "Accept: image/jpeg" > qr.jpg && qr.jpg to open in image viewer.
minhmeoke 4y ago
Another option is https://github.com/akovacs/uploadserver https://github.com/akovacs/uploadserver which is a Rust (Rocket) web server that you can run on a local Windows, Mac or Linux machine. Open a browser and navigate to the machine's IP address at port 8000 to upload/download files from the web form. Works on a LAN or Wifi network without any Internet access. Disclaimer: I know the author.

189 points by parvardegr 4y ago

Sharing is a command-line tool to share directory and files with ios and android devices without an extra client app

Really cool. One of my favorite things about iOS+MacOS is the ability to copy/paste between devices, but I can think of a bunch of use cases where this would be even better.

mike97 4y ago
You can have the same with Linux/Windows and Android(not sure if iOS also has an app), using KDE Connect

icy 4y ago

Tailscale’s Taildrop (https://tailscale.com/kb/1106/taildrop/ https://tailscale.com/kb/1106/taildrop/) has completely solved this problem for me.

loeg 4y ago
Is it truly Synology only?
- pkage 4y ago
  No, it supports macOS/win/linux + ios/android; the docs just highlight Synology NASs first.
  - joshspankit 4y ago
    And words it poorly: > Taildrop is only available on Synology with Tailscale v1.18.2 or later
unstatusthequo 4y ago
100% for this. I can send things to/from iOS to Windows trivially now. Easy, fast, and reliable.

bbkane 4y ago

Nice! I used to do something similar with: python -m http.server And a dns -> http record Namecheap which sent traffic from books.bbkane.com to http://localhost:5000 http://localhost:5000

jcynix 4y ago

Ok, nice idea with the qrcode, but (as far I can tell from a quick view into the source) it uses plain http? On Android I'm happy with the apps I use anyway, e.g. Termux which offers ssh (both client and server), rsync, … or sftp via Solid Explorer.

w4rh4wk5 4y ago
Can you configure to the ssh server to start automatically, or do you have to launch Termux and start it manually after a reboot?
- jcynix 4y ago
  I can execute Termux scripts at boot time (via a secondary app Termux:Boot), which would execute files in ~/.termux/boot/so yes. And you have your standard shell init files, so just opening Termux allows you to implement actions.
  - freedomben 4y ago
    Termux is the most underrated app I can think of. It's absolutely incredible and is one of the best "features" of android IMHO.
    - jcynix 4y ago
      I 100% agree, Termux shows, what a useful tool a smartphone can be. Do I need an app to look at the EXIF of a photo? No, I just use Phil Harvey's excellent exiftool[1] in the shell. Resize or rotate an image? Or even a number of images? Imagemagick does the job. The power of the command line in your hand ;-) [1] https://exiftool.org/ https://exiftool.org/

jamps 4y ago

Pretty cool and lightweight! I use KDE connect that allows me to have communication both ways.

blensor 4y ago
I am also happy with kdeconnect, although I am not sure if I have set everything up correctly. I am un xfce and every once in a while use the kdeconnect cli to pair my phone, then I never think about it and just share my files to the downloads folder or copy paste something from the clipboard

prettyStandard 4y ago

Pretty happy with resilio sync... Wait... all commits were 2 hours ago?

sva_ 4y ago
It's less than 100 lines https://github.com/parvardegr/sharing/blob/main/bin/index.js https://github.com/parvardegr/sharing/blob/main/bin/index.js

treespace8 4y ago

For only text I use https://cl1p.net https://cl1p.net, basic but works everywhere.

radiojasper 4y ago
Hey I didn't know that tool, that's very useful for me. Thanks for sharing!

chuckdotis 4y ago

This looks identical to qrcp. https://github.com/claudiodangelis/qrcp https://github.com/claudiodangelis/qrcp

quyleanh 4y ago
Same thought. I've been using qrcp for a long time, and still prefer go rather than js.

RupertEisenhart 4y ago

I use Syncthing[0] for continuous file synchronization to/from my phone, its pretty nifty. Way more memory-heavy than something like this though. [0] https://syncthing.net/ https://syncthing.net/

dotancohen 4y ago
If you're already using Telegram, you can use the Saved Messages pseudochat to transfer text and files between the phone and desktop. Telegram has an excellent desktop client.
- fgeiger 4y ago
  Signal has the "Note to self" chat which works the same ... Except for the cloud sync that Telegram has. Signal only syncs between your clients.
- SXX 4y ago
  Just make sure to be aware that such "sync" via Telegram is not to be used for anything important as it's not E2E encrypted.
sanroot99 4y ago
I made a bash script using rsync and termux notification for file syncing to my laptop
eternityforest 4y ago
This is what I use too. Amazingly fast and very easy to use.

rraval 4y ago

https://snapdrop.net https://snapdrop.net is my go to for this. Works on any modern browser on the same LAN. Supports files and plain text. Previous HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25524472 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25524472

gmiller123456 4y ago
That looks like the easiest, no installer, just a URL.
iwebdevfromhome 4y ago
For some reason, I can't send files from iPhone -> Other devices. But text works.
isuleman 4y ago
Microsoft Edge blocks all downloads from Snapdrop :{ I have whitelisted it countelsss times. Still it blocks images.
sanroot99 4y ago
This uses relay server i guess ,and doesn't work in nat

avodonosov 4y ago

I just use primitive-ftpd android app - then connect to the phone from computer with the standard file browser in my OS and copy what I need in both directions.

rraghur 4y ago

For me kde connect is great for this and a lot of similar purposes(clipboard sharing, sms, media controls, notifications)

freedomben 4y ago
kde connect is incredible, even for people on gnome. highly recommend
- hoppyhoppy2 4y ago
  You might already know this, but GSConnect is a reimplementation of KDE Connect as a GNOME Extension
  - freedomben 4y ago
    I had a pretty tough time getting GSConnect to work, and consistently. The KDE Connect GUI is pretty clumsy on Gnome, but it works reliably and supports every feature. I do hope GSConnect can get better though
JeremyNT 4y ago
Indeed KDE Connect is a robust and secure way to share files (and it has many other features as well). I wish more people knew about it!
wazoox 4y ago
Yep, and you can use it seamlessly with several computer at once, I love it :)

calvinmorrison 4y ago

guilty pleasure: use WebDAV + FastMail Files for this.

mvidal01 4y ago

https://file.pizza https://file.pizza is nice.

boppo1 4y ago

Can I use it with my Ipad?

parvardegr 4y ago
if you can scan the QR-Code with your ipad, Yes

yewenjie 4y ago

So is this just an http server with a QR code for the link?

parvardegr 4y ago
exactly

Phelinofist 4y ago

I have an alias in my .bashrc for that: alias instashare='python3 -m http.server 8082'

creata 4y ago
If you have qrencode on your system, you can also print a QR code with echo "http://$(ip route get 1 | sed -n 's/.*src $[0-9.]\+$.*/\1/p'):8082" | qrencode -t UTF8 -o - Credit to https://stackoverflow.com/a/49552792 https://stackoverflow.com/a/49552792 for fetching the IP address.
- BeefWellington 4y ago
  I find hostname -I Generally simpler and works in the 90% case.

lucasgonze 4y ago

What an excellent idea. Kudos.

andrepd 4y ago

I've had amazing results with Warpinator, especiall when it comes to non-techies. No more ferrying files over pen drive or "wetransfer"-like services. As long as you're all on the same LAN, just drag and drop.

andirk 4y ago

Much like many applications such as Slack attempt to be the "email killer", is this the "copy-paste-into-email-to-myself killer"?

yardshop 4y ago

OP's tool looks good, I like the QRcode idea. Another useful tool in this neighborhood is Droopy: http://stackp.online.fr/?p=28 http://stackp.online.fr/?p=28 It's a Python script that runs a simple web server with some nice options. I used it to copy a gigantic video file from my phone to my old Windows machine that other methods choked on.

prdpx7 4y ago

Made something exactly like this 2 years ago when i was learning Go. https://github.com/prdpx7/go-fileserver https://github.com/prdpx7/go-fileserver

sanroot99 4y ago

Hi i got inspired your post https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33110574 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33110574

unraveller 4y ago

you can also send a single small file without installing anything thanks to these free services. curl -s https://qrcode.show -d https://patchbay.pub/yourname/openshare && curl https://patchbay.pub/yourname/openshare --data-binary @./test.jpg Highlight the qrcode text to invert colors. If your console prints artefacts add -H "X-QR-EC-Level: H" or -H "Accept: image/jpeg" > qr.jpg && qr.jpg to open in image viewer.

minhmeoke 4y ago

Another option is https://github.com/akovacs/uploadserver https://github.com/akovacs/uploadserver which is a Rust (Rocket) web server that you can run on a local Windows, Mac or Linux machine. Open a browser and navigate to the machine's IP address at port 8000 to upload/download files from the web form. Works on a LAN or Wifi network without any Internet access. Disclaimer: I know the author.