4 ms·

Better way to transfer files between Windows <> Mac?

1 points by minimike 3y ago

I recently bought my first Windows machine in 20 years (!!) because I needed a NVIDIA graphics card to run Stable Diffusion. But, I struggled to shuttle files back and forth with my Mac in a quick and easy way. I built a little app for myself - I'm calling it Beamhole - where I can simply drag and drop a file on the Beamhole icon, and it will turn up on the other device. (Or you can right-click -> Send, or type a CLI command.) Your files won't be uploaded to the cloud, everything is done peer-to-peer and encrypted during transit. Window and Mac only for now, but perhaps Android, iOS, Linux, etc if this is useful to more people. Before I keep coding, I want to validate this solves an actual problem. If you like the idea, please fill out the survey here: https://bit.ly/beamhole_beta Thanks!

clouddrover 3y ago
Can't you just use file sharing? SMB is built into both Windows and macOS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_Message_Block https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_Message_Block https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/microsoft-smb-protocol-and-cifs-protocol-overview https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/micro... https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/connect-mac-shared-computers-servers-mchlp1140/mac https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/connect-mac-shared-...
- minimike 3y ago
  True. Although I was planning on extending this to mobile devices as well, and also allowing the connections to persist if you left the local network...
  - clouddrover 3y ago
    On iOS you can use the Files application to connect to SMB shares. Android has a number of applications available that can connect to SMB shares.
bediger4000 3y ago
Isn't sshd runnable on both? The distinction between client and server should be less rigid.
- minimike 3y ago
  Yes, but I'm looking for something that's super simple, and integrated into the UI of the OS...
yuppie_scum 3y ago
Make a windows file share and open it on the Mac. Super easy
- minimike 3y ago
  Yes, I probably overlooked this as an option. However configuring doesn't seem that easy for non-technical folks - i.e. on Mac you need to create new logins for each user, etc. I've made it as simple as installing the software. Everything is configured by default.
ok_dad 3y ago
I use Syncthing; the only platform I cannot use it on is iOS but I have airdrop for phone to laptop transfers, as rare as they are.
- minimike 3y ago
  Yeh, a buddy of mine raves about Syncthing. I'm trying to build something though for the less-technical user. (Admittedly, I probably won't find less-technical users on HackerNews !) Windows <> iOS would be a really nice feature. I'm surprised Microsoft didn't add something like that to the Link to Windows app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/link-to-windows/id6443686328 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/link-to-windows/id6443686328
anjanesh 3y ago
Amazing software idea. Looking forward to this. The google form short link doesn't redirect at my work network.
adamredwoods 3y ago
CLI: https://github.com/schollz/croc https://github.com/schollz/croc https://localsend.org https://localsend.org
TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
This works between Windows, Mac and Android: https://webwormhole.io/ https://webwormhole.io/