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Show HN: I made an app people call "Airdrop for Android"
- kachnuv_ocasek 3y ago> Also, it is 2022 and the future is wireless. Gotta admit, got me to check the calendar. Though can confirm 2024 is more wireless than 2022.
- TechSquidTV 3y agoIn one hour, a paid app for which there are many open source alternatives,is the top post on HN? Anyone want to speculate?
- seabass-labrax 3y agoI think that's a bit harsh - most of the comments here (including my own) are discussing existing file transfer methods, so it's hardly an abject advertisement. Show HN posts typically get more attention than regular posts anyway.
- sorenjan 3y agoMaybe you should update the text on your front page: > Why not use Android file transfer? > Android File Transfer is Google's tool for transferring files from your Android to your desktop. > The tool has not been updated in a long time and feels dated. > Also, it is 2022 and the future is wireless. It's not 2022 anymore, and Google just released an update to their Nearby share called Quick share. Or rather, they're adopting Samsung's Quick share. https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/google-is-adding-samsungs-quick-share-feature-to-all-your-android-devices/ https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/google-is-adding-samsungs-q...
- goosedragons 3y agoYou also ONLY need Android File Transfer on Macs because Apple is too shit to implement MTP and wants to cripple non-Apple devices. On Windows/Linux/BSD you just plug in your android device and it works. A lot of devices support USB 3 speeds too so transferring is fast and not miserable unlike most iPhones and iPads. They also have a Nearby Share app for Windows that lets you use Nearby Share on Windows. Would be nice if there was a Linux version.
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- trackofalljades 3y agoHey, if you don't mind a question...I need to help a friend back up all the photos off an Android phone and have had a lot of difficulty doing it on my Mac for the reasons you've stated. I do have a Windows notebook at work, are you saying if I plug the Android phone into a ThinkPad, it will just show up like a drive and let me copy photos? It's critical that the photos (thousands of them) keep their original EXIF data and filesystem dates, and the methods I've found to get them onto my Mac don't accomplish this. Thanks for any advice!
- grepexdev 3y agoI'm not who you asked, but yes this is correct. If the photos are from the phone's camera they will be in the DCIM folder. There is also a Pictures folder that stores photos downloaded from other apps. At least, that is how my Pixel Fold is.
- iforgotpassword 3y agoThat's exactly how it works.
- beeboobaa 3y agoNever knew macs aren't capable of mpt. Both Windows and Linux handle this easily.
- notRobot 3y agoThe best way to transfer files reliably off an Android device has always been an FTP server app on the phone in my experience. MTP can be really buggy with big files and it can be tough to reliably resume interrupted transfers.
- kwhitefoot 3y agoSyncthing works for me. I think it's the best way to do it for devices that you own.
- pzmarzly 3y agoA license covers "1 Mac OS device" - what about PC? Also, what happens once 1 year is up? Any upgrade discounts? Is old version still downloadable? Anyway, good job, I was in need of something like this recently and used LocalSend https://github.com/localsend/localsend https://github.com/localsend/localsend , any notable differences between it and you app?
- coldtrait 3y agoNot the OP, I've used LocalSend successfully (Mac and Android phone), it's great when it works but every now and then it's unable to find my phone to send stuff to.
- NikxDa 3y ago„people call“ - who calls it that? You, the author? A broad community? This feels like YouTube style clickbait
- johndough 3y agoIt's an attempt to get around trademark infringement.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y agoLet's call it "Steamboat Willie" instead
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- FerretFred 3y agoCheck out LocalSend - it's multi platform. I use this all the time.
- chasil 3y agoNitroshare also runs in most places.
- ElongatedMusket 3y agoIt's missing phone apps though. Great on on desktops.
- chasil 3y agoI see Nitroshare on f-droid. I've had somebody install it from Play to move some things. https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.nitroshare.android/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.nitroshare.android/
- ElongatedMusket 3y agoThanks, I've been emailing myself photos in Gmail 5-6 at a time like a caveman for the past several years... any app I tried was a non-cross-platform disaster or cost too much and had major feature bloat. This looks dead simple.
- BenjiWiebe 3y agoI use KDE Connect for that. It's cross platform despite the name. It has other features but you can turn those off so it only transfers files.
- dsego 3y agoSame, uploading to google drive.
- seized 3y agoSyncThing is a much better solution for that too. For SyncThing-Fork has better options for controlling syncing based on network, battery level, etc.
- kenrick95 3y agoRelevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/949/ https://xkcd.com/949/
- chasil 3y agoFor under 50mb, Swiss Transfer. Over that, filetransfer.io.
- dp-hackernews 3y agoOr wormhole
- catapart 3y agoOof! A very cool thing, solving a real problem I have, but if you're taking feedback on pricing: I could never justify paying for local filesharing. I've been this close to building my own version of something like this, multiple times over (and actually built a browser-based one as a way to learn .net core when that first started), because - like I said - it's a really handy utility. But I could only justify paying for something premium, like wide area sharing or torrent-like sharing for faster and resumable transfers. To get a file from one device to another can be cumbersome, for sure. But a cable and and an adapter would cost less than your solution, and have benefits (and drawbacks!) of its own. So I just couldn't figure a subscription* for something that, in the worst case, is a tedious pain to set up myself and in the most practical case is replaced by a simple, if cumbersome, process. Maybe others are doing different calculus on this (everyone has their own threshold for 'too much hassle' or 'not accessible enough'), but it's a pass from me without free local sharing. *not sure what's 'free updates for a year' would mean other than "you will need to pay another $19, to continue receiving updates" which is a subscription, by my definition.
- twodave 3y agoThe chase for subscription revenue is destroying a lot of potentially-great software. Not just in pricing structure, but in how software is designed in the first place. Compare this to something like Magnet, which is great software that I use almost every time I turn on my wife’s MacBook and costs $2. Once. My guess is the people who made Magnet just aren’t getting rich off of it, but maybe we shouldn’t expect to get wildly rich from making a useful utility.
- lwhi 3y agoI love Magnet and also paid for it. Coming from Linux to Mac, I _rarely_ pay for any kind of utility .. but I did here. Maybe that says something in itself. Subscriptions for desktop software sucks; but I can deal with yearly licenses .. assuming the app is maintained, you have a chance to actively consider the value you're getting before renewal. A subscription feels far more passive.
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- javajosh 3y agoSurprised no-one mentioned https://syncthing.net/ https://syncthing.net/ yet. That would seem to be the main competitor for such an app. Still, perhaps there's a market for something a little more user friendly and streamlined. Nice work!
- toastercat 3y agoTo be fair, the developers of Syncthing have been explicit that Syncthing is not intended to be a file transfer application, and that you should avoid doing so. Syncthing is designed to keep two folders on separate devices in sync at all times. That said, I have used it at times to "transfer" a single file that I copy paste elsewhere and then delete from the sync folder. Sorry Syncthing devs..
- kwhitefoot 3y agoI have my Android and laptop running Syncthing with the Android end read write so when I move the files out of the receiving directory on the laptop it is automatically deleted on the Android device. No need for separate copy and delet, just move.
- therealmarv 3y agoMaybe one day I should upgrade from Pushbullet ^^
- kajika91 3y agoKDE Connect has been around for at least 5 years : https://apps.kde.org/kdeconnect/ https://apps.kde.org/kdeconnect/ . It is quiet amazing and does way more than only file transfert : clipboard sharing, multimedia control, ping, messages, remote keyboard/mouse, etc.
- seabass-labrax 3y ago> KDE Connect has been around for at least 5 years : https://apps.kde.org/kdeconnect/ https://apps.kde.org/kdeconnect/ . It is quiet amazing and does way more than only file transfert : clipboard sharing, multimedia control, ping, messages, remote keyboard/mouse, etc. I also love KDE Connect; the clipboard sharing is so unobtrusive it feels almost magical. It takes less effort to copy and paste across my devices than it does between only Emacs and Vi on my desktop! It seems to be not yet possible to share entire folders with KDE Connect, so I use Syncthing for that, which is also polished in its own, somewhat different way (more technical to use but optimised for large amounts of data).
- boomboomsubban 3y ago>It seems to be not yet possible to share entire folders with KDE Connect KDE Connect expects you to mount the phone's directory to transfer folders, a decision I will never understand. You can use globbing to send every file in a folder though.
- LeanderK 3y agoI tried to use it with my linux laptop but it didn't work. It assumes you're in the same wifi and that the usual broadcasting works, right? This is not what airdrop does. Airdrop is fast and works by physical proximity. You don't need to be in the same wifi, just near each other. That's what makes it so useful, otherwise I could just use a cloud solutions as I usually have internet access when I'm in a wifi.
- boomboomsubban 3y agoFrom the original post >Both devices need to be on the same WiFi network or Hot Spot to be able to see each other.
- aquafox 3y agoCan't you do this with magic wormhole and it's Android client https://f-droid.org/de/packages/com.pavelsof.wormhole/ https://f-droid.org/de/packages/com.pavelsof.wormhole/ ?
- linkdd 3y agoI've always been using https://www.sharedrop.io/ https://www.sharedrop.io/
- thenthenthen 3y agoThis never worked for me somehow, but would love alternatives for Airdrop, it’s so buggy and the interface is horrible if you have more then 3 devices in your neighbourhood
- mistermegabyte 3y agoI just tried sharedrop.io and it worked great. It wouldn't work until I turned off my VPN, though.
- pierotofy 3y agoOr just use https://localsend.org https://localsend.org. Free and open source.
- aspenmayer 3y agoHere’s some apps that actually implement AirDrop, because I believe in truth in advertising! (I can’t be the only one, right?): Linux (seems currently maintained) https://github.com/seemoo-lab/opendrop https://github.com/seemoo-lab/opendrop Android (discontinued January 2023, may have compatibility issues, but still, actually compatible with AirDrop) https://github.com/MoKee/android_packages_apps_WarpShare https://github.com/MoKee/android_packages_apps_WarpShare
- Obscurity4340 3y agoHow does this compare to Resilio Sync, which is basically free or can be bought across platforms for like $50 I think?
- loloquwowndueo 3y agoI use pairdrop.net for this :) free and requires no install.
- Almondsetat 3y agoStill no automatic and seamless WiFi ad-hoc network creation for fast offline file transfer. Please stop claiming to be an "AirDrop for Android" if you can't implement this. Also Samsung's QuickShare and Google's NearbyShare not only have gotten a lot better but are merging together and being incorporated into Windows and elsewhere
- beingforthebene 3y agoSeriously, this is a completely different use-case than Airdrop
- account-5 3y agoI don't think I'd use this over the free alternatives.
- laurent123456 3y agoDoesn't qualify as a "Show HN" - it's already been posted twice in the past few years and there's been no updates for more than a year [0]. Sounds like an attempt to get a few clicks by labelling it as "Show HN". [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html
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- pvg 3y agoPrevious posts only count if the post has had significant discussion which this one doesn't appear to have had in the last year. If you think there's something else wrong with the submission just email the mods.
- laurent123456 3y agoI flagged the post which I guess is what flags are for? (And somehow the author made it to front page but is not here to discuss his app as would be also be expected for a "Show HN" post)
- pvg 3y agoThat is what flags are for, it's just that the post was a valid Show HN and accusations like 'doing it for clicks' belong in flags and emails to to moderators and not in the thread.
- jacooper 3y agoWell, nearby share(soon to be called quick share [1] already exists, and works pretty well. 1. https://www.androidauthority.com/google-nearby-share-renamed-quick-share-3401198/ https://www.androidauthority.com/google-nearby-share-renamed...
- 1B05H1N 3y ago[flagged]
- rvz 3y agoWhy bother paying for this when Localsend [0] exists on lots of platforms for free? The pricing here doesn't make any sense nor justify paying for over free alternatives. [0] https://localsend.org/ https://localsend.org/
- ksec 3y agoPreviously https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33284485 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33284485
- zoklet-enjoyer 3y agoI used to carry around an old phone running Pirate Box. Sometimes people would connect to it at coffee shops and put interesting things on there. That's how I found out about the band Death Grips! https://piratebox.cc/android https://piratebox.cc/android
- stzsch 3y agoInteresting timing, just yesterday I was looking for solutions for file transfer between android and windows. My main issue is how android presents as a very limited mtp device (i think?). Microsoft's phone link works, but only when opening a scrcpy-like screen with the android file manager. Very weird. If possible I wanted to actually mount the device as a drive. I stumbled upon sshfs-win[0] which mounts sftp shares as drives. Couple that with prim-ftpd[1] and voilà: android mounts as a drive. Tailscale[2] can also make it fairly lan-independent. Primitive ftpd supposedly starts on boot and keeps running but I found it stopping inconsistently at times, requiring a restart. Still, I'm quite satisfied. I suppose dav could work as well, but no apps popped up on fdroid. [0] https://github.com/winfsp/sshfs-win https://github.com/winfsp/sshfs-win [1] https://github.com/wolpi/prim-ftpd https://github.com/wolpi/prim-ftpd [2] https://tailscale.com/ https://tailscale.com/
- pipeline_peak 3y agoConsidering how boring and generic phones have become, if you’re really hell bent on airdrop just get an iPhone like the majority of the world. Who in there right mind would pay for this?
- MostlyStable 3y agoIf price is your main concern here, recommending switching to Apple seems completely unhinged. Don't get me wrong, Apple has a lot of advantages, but price is absolutely not one of them.
- austinjp 3y agoThe vast majority of the world does not have an iPhone as their smartphone. It's not even close. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/01/apple-hits-all-time-high-smartphone-market-share-takes-1-spot-for-2023/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/01/apple-hits-all-time-...
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- oakpond 3y ago[flagged]
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- shawnpang 3y agoThis kinda reminds of the previous project that created "iMessage for Android"...
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- vladstudio 3y ago[flagged]
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- j-rom 3y agoReminds me of Pushbullet back in the day
- dash2 3y agoI find it so insane that in 2023 you still have to be on Apple to have the following experience: * I have a file on a device I own. * I wish to send it to another device. * I send it. On Windows, it is still regularly true that the easiest way to send X from one laptop to another one, FIVE FEET AWAY, is via Dropbox or Gmail. This was technically easy twenty years ago. It's a concrete proof that collective action problems are alive and well in software.
- ijhuygft776 3y agoIt doesn't help that google is actively blocking ad-hoc Wi-Fi on Android.
- lopkeny12ko 3y agoAm I missing something? The submission under which you posted this comment literally solves the problem you're complaining about, and directly contradicts the claim "you still have to be on Apple" for this experience.
- happyopossum 3y agoIf you’re not on Apple you and the recipient have to happen to have agree on and install same one of 37 different ways to do this. It’s not seamless.
- lopkeny12ko 3y agoThat's a feature, not a bug. Why should I have to be locked in to a proprietary file sharing mechanism that my device manufacturer unilaterally declares I must use?
- bilalq 3y agoI've been using NearDrop, which is open source, for this use-case: https://github.com/grishka/NearDrop https://github.com/grishka/NearDrop The most annoying thing is you can't share clipboard text easily, only files or links. Does Ubidrop address that?
- ijhuygft776 3y agoLuckily there are free alternatives.... like https://file.io https://file.io
- jasonjayr 3y agoSimilar product was discussed last week: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38978630 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38978630
- ikari_pl 3y agoremember Bump?
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- ivanjermakov 3y ago> Sending files via a messaging apps can be a security risk, as you are sharing your files with the messaging app first and then to your other devices. You cannot tell what those companies can do with your data, such as keep a copy of them, modify or sell them. Why would I trust Ubidrop more than I trust messengers?
- ThrowawayTestr 3y agoI use pushbullet free tier
- abcd_f 3y agoFor a Show HN thread it is oddly devoid of OP's participation. Combined with the dated nature of the material, it looks a low-effort promo rather a genuine attempt to share one's work.
- spieglt 3y agoI have a project that's more like AirDrop, doesn't require a local network and configures the hotspot automatically: https://github.com/spieglt/flyingcarpet https://github.com/spieglt/flyingcarpet
- MaxikCZ 3y agoIt boggles my mind that the easiest way to send a picture from my phone to a notebook sitting next to it is to bounce it over servers on the other side of the world trough whatsapp/mail instead of some kind of 2 second discovery/highest speed negotiation/transfer over whatever hardware/protocol those devices dynamically agree upon..
- lobito14 3y agoI use deltachat for this. e2ee with my own keys and no middle man.