7 ms·

Localsend: An open-source cross-platform alternative to AirDrop

923 points by bilsbie 6mo ago

gumboshoes 6mo ago
Posted here many times https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=github.com/localsend https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=github.com/localsend
Unicironic 6mo ago
After switching to Linux, this was one of the very first applications I installed. It really helped cement how great open source apps can be for me.
viktorcode 6mo ago
One of the most convenient aspects of Air Drop for me is that it selects the fastest available connection between the devices and ability to work without both devices being on the same network. I wonder if any of the alternatives do the same.
- gonzalohm 6mo ago
  Quickshare does
  - subscribed 6mo ago
    Never worked for me, not even once. I tried on three phones, two of which are using the same account, I'm reasonably confident I am technically competent to not make silly mistakes, though the best I've achieved was endless wait. I had better success with IR and BT file transfers. Hell, even spinning a local http server (with python -m http.server) works better than quick share.
    - burner35534 6mo ago
      Idk what Quickshare is, but AirDrop has only worked like 25% of the time for me
      - gonzalohm 6mo ago
        Quickshare is the Google alternative to airdrop
analog8374 6mo ago
Hey I use this. Works great. Ez.
lxgr 6mo ago
I feel like we need a spamsolutions.txt [1] for purported AirDrop replacements. This one fails the "must not require an existing Wi-Fi network that both peers are connected to" criterion. [1] https://craphound.com/spamsolutions.txt https://craphound.com/spamsolutions.txt
mikae1 6mo ago
Lovely, but was replaced by KDE Connect for me. Connect works for iOS, macOS, Android, Linux, you name it.
- tryptophan 6mo ago
  I like kde connect, but find it randomly breaks every month or so and for the life of me cannot figure out why. A week or so later it starts working again.
a7fort 6mo ago
Recently started using it, it works really well and it's much more reliable than AirDrop. But the UX could be improved. But I just wish Apple fixed AirDrop, every time I go to use I have so little confidence in it, it often doesn't see devices or if you have multiple Mac users it will confuse them, showing you the same Mac device twice without telling you which user it is
- dmak 6mo ago
  Have you tried troubleshooting those issues already? I had similar visibility issues in the past, but seems to always work now for me.
  - tonyedgecombe 6mo ago
    I think it initiates the connection over Bluetooth so if your Bluetooth is poor it isn’t going to work very well.
- OGWhales 6mo ago
  Yup, for me I can see the device but when I try to initiate a send it just doesn't show up on the other device about half the time. I've not found a reliable way to fix it either, toggling AirDrop on and off on both devices seems the best way to fix it but only works like 70% of the time.
- d3Xt3r 6mo ago
  I'm curious, what do you people use this for? What are all these (presumably large) files that you guys are generating and transferring, that requires the use of apps like these? Like in my case, the only files I generate on my phone are photos and videos, and these get backed up by Immich, which I can then share with someone by sending them a link to the files/album in question. I imagine normal folks would use iCloud or Google Photos for the same task. For syncing other files like documents and such, I use ownCloud OCIS, and I'd imagine most other folks would use something like DropBox or iCloud, or even just email or WhatsApp the files. For local network transfers of say ISOs or something, I'd just copy them over SMB, which is pretty much universal and doesn't need any special app. Or even just plug in a hard drive, if I'm doing backups. So I don't understand why I should be using this.
mrbombastic 6mo ago
I use this all the time dropping files from old android device to mac, thanks devs!
newhotelowner 6mo ago
And it works in the browser. https://web.localsend.org/ https://web.localsend.org/ From windows to android to iOS.
- tetris11 6mo ago
  Amazing! Though v1.18.0 hasn't dropped in F-droid yet
  - clutch89 6mo ago
    I wish you just send plaintext on the web app, it looks like it only works for files
- duckmysick 6mo ago
  I can't get it to work on my end. Tried sending/receiving with Firefox, Chrome, mobile phone, a laptop. Got this in the console: `WebRTC: ICE failed, add a TURN server and see about:webrtc for more details.` Not sure how to troubleshoot this. Most of the suggestions I found are for the devs not users. EDIT: Ok, figured it out. It works if I disable Tailscale.
- nazcan 6mo ago
  How does this work to discover things on the LAN from a browser?
justindotdev 6mo ago
came with omarchy pre installed, usedd it ever since. bonus points for it being open source too. i was surprised it is written in flutter. looking at how mutli-platform it is, flutter was the more appealing choice.
- sdoering 6mo ago
  D'accord.
bahadiraydin 6mo ago
I've been using this for years, simple, gets the job done. Nice UI.
jMyles 6mo ago
The README and website certainly seem polished, but I haven't used the utility yet. What's the main value prop over wormhole? That it works from the browser?
- subscribed 6mo ago
  That you can send over 1000 files without it messing it up, and they'll end in the right place. That you can set the recipient so it will auto-accept from the trusted senders. And for me that in Android I can do Share to....localsend to do it faster than with wormhole.
rolymath 6mo ago
Excuse my ignorance but why are there so many solutions like this? Especially if they aren't intercompatible (which I'm assuming they're not)
- lxgr 6mo ago
  Because none of them actually match the capabilities of AirDrop, since they essentially require controlling the full stack (UI, low-level networking including Bluetooth for discoverability, Wi-Fi peer to peer connections without dropping any existing infrastructure connection etc.) Many have tried, I don't think anyone has succeeded. Supposedly the EU interoperability mandate will make this possible going forward, though? (The tricky part is usually not getting your device to speak some protocol, but to get Apple devices to actually respond to your attempts.)
_-_-__-_-_- 6mo ago
Been using LocalSend for a few years, it works great even when sharing files between devices sharing a mobile connection.
Forgeties79 6mo ago
It’s not as slick as AirDrop and you have to sort of “prep“ both devices whenever you want to send/receive anything, it’s never just ready to go, but it’s incredibly reliable and will move anything from one machine to another. Just having that consistency across literally any device is so nice.
jrflo 6mo ago
I love local send. It’s ridiculously fast for sending large amounts of media too.
- chasil 6mo ago
  When multiple files are in transit, Localsend always transfers two at once.
faangguyindia 6mo ago
I used it, but it prevented my mac from sleeping. After some investigation I found it's local send.
- ChrisLTD 6mo ago
  Does it run in the background?
pryanshu89 6mo ago
Really cool! I used it a couple of times and did not expect it to work. But it worked. :D
eigenspace 6mo ago
My problem is that all these alternatives require the devices to be on the same local network. One beauty of Airdrop is that it creates and handles that local network automatically under the hood (as far as I understand). So you could be out on a hike with friends and Airdrop something. The workaround I've found after switching to an Android device has been to teather my connection to my friend's device, which ends up creating a LAN that Localsend can work through, but this is not as nice an experience.
- simonmales 6mo ago
  I think nowadays on Android it's called QuickShare, and it works. But I believe the fragmentation and awareness is a part of the problem for Android.
  - eigenspace 6mo ago
    Can't QuickShare cross-platform. My wife has an iPhone and my desktop and laptop are linux, so QuickShare is a non-solution for me.
    - vrganj 6mo ago
      QuickShare is compatible with AirDrop these days, thanks to EU regulations: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/the-eu-made-apple-adopt-new-wi-fi-standards-and-now-android-can-support-airdrop/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/the-eu-made-apple-ad...
      - eigenspace 6mo ago
        One Android phone supports it so far, and it's widely expected Apple will find some way to lock it out or at least delay more support.
        vrganj 6mo ago
        Glass half empty kinda guy, huh? :-)
subscribed 6mo ago
I use it on all my devices and tbh it's the absolute best option I found. Previously I was using syncthing or had to install ftp server, used wormhole after packing all my files into one, etc. Android QuickShare never worked for me (wouldn't help me much with sending to the pc either). It has some rough edges (ie: on multi-homed devices it's less that ideal to see the one octet that matters, when the list is very long scrolling whilst sending will cause the process to crap out), but other than that it's always reliable. I'm very happy with it too.
- jumpconc 6mo ago
  For your own trusted devices on a LAN, you should try KDE Connect. KDE is not required.
  - gejose 6mo ago
    What do you find to be better about it over LocalSend? (The website seems to be down)
  - subscribed 6mo ago
    Thanks for reminding me, I actually heard about that too.
xd1936 6mo ago
Great app. I wish it supported PWA features like Web Share Targeting. https://web.dev/articles/web-share https://web.dev/articles/web-share https://developer.chrome.com/docs/capabilities/web-apis/web-share-target https://developer.chrome.com/docs/capabilities/web-apis/web-...
- ementally 6mo ago
  They have web app but had terrible experience with it (can't find devices when you are using the mobile app and the other device is using the web app). https://github.com/localsend/web https://github.com/localsend/web
deleted 6mo ago
[deleted]
worldsavior 6mo ago
It's not even close to the speed AirDrop has. This is not an alternative to AirDrop. I tried it multiple times but it's slow every time. These alternatives don't use the same technology.
- afavour 6mo ago
  It is an alternative. It just doesn't fulfill all the needs Airdrop does. I've had situation where I want to share a photo or a text file and it'll work great in that scenario.
  - worldsavior 6mo ago
    Probably the main "feature" AirDrop has is speed. Other alternatives should include that "feature".
    - afavour 6mo ago
      No it isn't? The main feature is sending things peer to peer.
      - worldsavior 6mo ago
        That's not a feature that's a purpose.
        burner35534 6mo ago
        So what? Anyway the more important difference is it requires both computers to be on the same LAN. The main point of AirDrop is you can share between two devices with or without LAN, with or without internet.
- hbn 6mo ago
  It's faster than the standard wireless transfer speed between my iPhone and my Windows PC (0 KB/s)
miguel-muniz 6mo ago
https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/pairdrop https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/pairdrop A similar project but this one works entirely in the browser and can connect to clients beyond your local network with "public" rooms
- cachius 6mo ago
  Pairdrop is awesome! The docs are a bit hidden, the FAQ is at https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/pairdrop/blob/master/docs/faq.md https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/pairdrop/blob/master/docs/... and the How-To for integration into Share menu on Android, iOS and Windows at https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/PairDrop/blob/master/docs/how-to.md https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/PairDrop/blob/master/docs/... They forked sharedrop after it and snapdrop got acquired and enshittified by LimeWire, whoever that is now.
  - cachius 6mo ago
    Submitted on its own: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47935875 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47935875
  - ivanjermakov 6mo ago
    Related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43143559 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43143559
- hecifato 6mo ago
  I'll need to give this a shot. I have Localsend installed for sending thing between my iPhone and Linux desktop, but it doesn't always play nice. Even with the Localsend port open in Firewalld it can take upwards of 10 minutes for the devices to see each other. A browser solution should at least have faster discovery.
- hbn 6mo ago
  Should have been called PearDrop
throawayonthe 6mo ago
i really wish Wi-Fi Direct succeeded maybe eventually something like quickshare & airdrop mold into an interoperable thing but i'm not holding my breath
- parasubvert 6mo ago
  WI-Fi Aware exists and is a standard
ddtaylor 6mo ago
Just use the existing magic wormhole protocol. It works and has been deployed for a long time.
- ho_schi 6mo ago
  No. It is using a central “well known server” and requires internet. Test: * Does it work in an airplane? * Does it work in a submarine? * Does it work in the mountains, when a thunderstorm is approach and you need to share the GPX? Basically my Garmin Edge and iPhone can do this. Magic-Wormhole fails in all test cases. Implementation shall be able to negoiate a connection locally (e.g. Bluetooth) and upgrade to peer-to-peer WiFi if need (Garmin doesn’t need that part, GPX are usually smaller than 1024 KB).
  - ddtaylor 6mo ago
    Modifications can be made to do that minimal peer exchange over BT. They may already exist, but I haven't used that part yet. It seems like a lot of extra work to reinvent the wheel and get the security wrong instead of extending a well established protocol with many other tools built on top of it.
smusamashah 6mo ago
List of browser based p2p file sharing tools https://gist.github.com/SMUsamaShah/fd6e275e44009b72f64d0570256bb3b2 https://gist.github.com/SMUsamaShah/fd6e275e44009b72f64d0570...
JackFener 6mo ago
I'd love this to work but I always had trouble making it work on my google tv. Wanted to share files (~2 gb files) from my Mac to my TV but the transfer kept failing
0xcoops 6mo ago
So needed
ifh-hn 6mo ago
I love this app, it's on all my devices, it's also written in my favourite cross platform development framework (dart/flutter). Very useful app, with a massive advantage of airdrop, no need for apple. Irrespective of if it's a drop in replacement.
tnelsond4 6mo ago
I end up just opening a web server in termux on my phone and having the other side download from my hotspot every time i want to transfer a file because all the other android solutions really really suck.
ohuc 6mo ago
Using it works perfectly for me!
jmarchello 6mo ago
Localsend is awesome! My team and I use it all the time for safely transmitting vpn configs, ssh keys, etc... It works flawlessly. The auto-generated names are pretty fun too.
akihitot 6mo ago
This application supports the following platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and FireOS. I was surprised. It is very interesting that it is implemented using a combination of REST API, HTTPS encryption, and local networking.
dTal 6mo ago
I love this software for its reliability (as compared to, say, KDE Connect, which I gave up on after years of frustrated use after it became clear that the developers did not believe there was an issue and it would never improve). I do not love that it is a heavy electron app that takes many seconds to launch on my mid-spec machine and burns 20% of an entire CPU core the entire time it is running. Why can't we have a simple command line tool that works?
- hacker161 6mo ago
  It’s open source so you can put together that CLI yourself if so motivated
coldstartops 6mo ago
Hi, I am late to the party, but I was also building in this space in the last year, Basically I did a peer to peer filesystem named keibidrop: https://keibidrop.com/ https://keibidrop.com/ I made it public last week. It does what local send does, but also via WAN. Still did not launch the mobile apps. And 1 up is that it has also a virutal filesystem that is synced both ways. repository is here: https://github.com/KeibiSoft/KeibiDrop https://github.com/KeibiSoft/KeibiDrop The code is open source, except for the UI, and I did benchmark on loopback vs localsend (local send is faster :D ) https://keibisoft.com/blog/keibidrop-benchmarks-vs-competition.html https://keibisoft.com/blog/keibidrop-benchmarks-vs-competiti... and was also trying to get a commenting thread in /r/golang yesterday! behind the hood I went with PQC, + gRPC + FUSE.
- FireInsight 6mo ago
  Very interesting. With the "virtual folders" feature, doesn't this also compete with Syncthing kind of? I have actually been looking for a solution like Syncthing, where I can write and cache files offline without actually having all the files in the full synced folder on every device (just my NAS). Kind of a hybrid between a remote filesystem mount and full-on folder sync.
  - coldstartops 6mo ago
    Yes-ish, adjacent. Syncthing usually you use it to sync to your server. Here I skipped the server part. I just connect two devices. If they both use the virtual mountpoint MountAlice and MountBob They get an underlying SaveAlice and SaveBob on disk. so what gets dropped in MountAlice gets saved to SaveAlice, and appears in MountBob. Once bob accesses it in MountBob it gets cached to SaveBob (like saved persistently to disk). But while the transfer happens a mmap is saved to disk to keep track of the segments that were transmited. If changes happen on Alice for the file, GetAttr metadata is synced when the filehandler on Alice is released. and Bob knows to request the parts of the file that changed. It did not go for the full-on folder sync. I went for a synced filesystem while the peers are connected. And because ios and android do not have FUSE, i also added the option to add a file/ pull a file, that does the same thing. So now, you can add folders/ files on android/ ios. and mount them as a filesystem on your desktop and do magic with them, and if they get changed you can export them back from the phone to the gallery or w/e files
satvikpendem 6mo ago
Look into Sendme [0] and AltSendme [1] (which is a GUI around the former), they use Iroh [2] which is an open-source encrypted peer-to-peer relay service to send data so there are no limits whatsoever for sending and receiving files, because there's no central server. From my earlier comment about a similar thread a couple days ago about which file sharing apps people use [3]: [0] https://github.com/n0-computer/sendme https://github.com/n0-computer/sendme [1] https://github.com/tonyantony300/alt-sendme https://github.com/tonyantony300/alt-sendme [2] https://github.com/n0-computer/iroh https://github.com/n0-computer/iroh [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47906587 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47906587
- 3371 6mo ago
  This kind of services that requires the user to share a seed/code to the recipient always seems kinda awkward to me. The code is not simple/short enough to be verbally communicated; If I can send the code, I usually can just send the file.
  - nine_k 6mo ago
    The code can be easily communicated as a QR code. But a 100 MB file cannot.
  - satvikpendem 6mo ago
    Not necessarily. For example I might have a few gigs of photos to send someone, and I want to send them uncompressed. I could text someone the seed or QR code for them to download the photos, but I can't send those photos (especially uncompressed, even if over RCS or WhatsApp) over text.
    - cortesoft 6mo ago
      Wouldn’t this use your internet data, though? Isn’t the point of these tools to send locally without being limited by internet speeds and without having to use your mobile data?
gejose 6mo ago
Been using this on all my devices (macos, iPhone, iPad, android, windows) and love it!
jrm4 6mo ago
As people have noted, the "local" part makes it hard. Here's my question, y'all. What is the deal with the magic Syncthing uses and why can't we use it for stuff like this? And well, for everything? (I've been doing this stuff for years and I still can't wrap my head around this question)
zie 6mo ago
I just use send(formerly FF send) and share a URL via chat or whatever: https://github.com/timvisee/send https://github.com/timvisee/send With a CLI tool as well: https://github.com/timvisee/ffsend https://github.com/timvisee/ffsend
- cachius 6mo ago
  Also https://wormhole.app/ https://wormhole.app/, but feross is busy witch Socket and the myriad of NPM supply chain attacks nowadays
  - feross 6mo ago
    Thanks for the mention!
andunie 6mo ago
This works great for me to transfer stuff between my own devices in my home, but it's not an AirDrop replacement at all, so I don't know why they advertise it like that.
MEMORA_AI 6mo ago
What do you guys think about an AI that has Multi agents personal assistance agentic commander all in one place..??
nightwalkerkg 6mo ago
The closest I found to AirDrops ease of use is Blip https://blip.net/ https://blip.net/. Works like charm, supported on pretty much all platforms, works on local and non-local networks (P2P) and has no file size limit. I was pretty surprised it's free for personal use.
t43562 6mo ago
To send files locally why not set up a wifi hotspot? Then you can transfer files to and from uncool people with Android or Linux phones/computers using localsend. I've never found this difficult and often use hotspots when I'm overseas - it's cheaper to get internet for one phone and share it with the others for example.
- eigenspace 6mo ago
  Are you lost? This is a post about Localsend...
max8539 6mo ago
Using LocalSend to send files across iOS, Mac and Windows. When everything is on the local network, it works pretty nicely.
bluebarbet 6mo ago
For years I have been syncing with great success using the most basic FOSS tools: `rsync` over `sshfs` on desktop, and SSHD (via an app called Dropbear available on F-Droid) on mobile, using an ad-hoc network over the wifi hotspot (which is turned on by Macrodroid - alas not FOSS - when the device is plugged in). This setup is rock-solid reliable and very fast.
vivzkestrel 6mo ago
- pro tip, if you want to send a directory, compress it as an archive and send i - for whatever reason, even the same sized directory takes much much longer than its corresponding archive version when using this tool
hrdwdmrbl 6mo ago
Why not use WebRTC? 0 download. (I'm all for alternatives to AirDrop. I'm all for AirDrop inter-operability. Nothing against those things.) For LAN file sharing, you can do it with any browser. Implementations like: https://sendfiles.dev/ https://sendfiles.dev/ (though there are many others)
myself248 6mo ago
I swear there's a new one of these every year. Not a single one sticks around.
- senko 6mo ago
  I've been using LocalSend for quite some time now, after hearing about it for years. It's not a new one.
adithyassekhar 6mo ago
I found blip works better on ios and windows. Not losing transfers midway like localsend.
- hbn 6mo ago
  Blip definitely has a better UX and it's nice that it can transfer between networks through their servers (obviously don't be sending sensitive stuff cause who knows how much they can be trusted) But I consider my usage of it to be on borrowed time cause there's no way they're gonna let everyone forever beam unlimited data through their servers forever. They're accumulating users before they make you pay, it's just a matter of time. But I'm enjoying it while I can.
pwillp 6mo ago
I was using Localsend a bunch for Window <> iPhone before, really great product without hassle.
kouru225 6mo ago
I use local send when KDE connect isn’t working for me. The big problem with these is that you basically have to spend a minute or two setting up both devices to send.
egeozcan 6mo ago
Does this use libp2p[0]? [0]: https://libp2p.io/ https://libp2p.io/
MasterYoda 6mo ago
LocalSend is the best app to transfer files from mobile to computer wireless that I have fund. But it has one really big weakness/bug. When you transfer a file and it get interrupted, the half written file on the receiving end is not removed and you get an corrupted file. If you dont notice it, it could look like al files are transfered, but they are not. This is really bad, it is not how files should be "copied/transfered".
deferredgrant 6mo ago
[flagged]
- burner35534 6mo ago
  It's LAN only, so those networks will block it.
rglover 6mo ago
This has been on my mind a lot as AirDrop has continuously failed to find devices on my network (no VPN enabled on either device, no weird routing or tunneling, even after flushing networking stuff). Just set this up in a few minutes and it works a peach (quite fast, too). Just nudged me a little closer toward a "just use Linux" default.
shrubby 6mo ago
Just found out about this last week and looks awesome.
sroerick 6mo ago
Everybody here is complaining about how this isn't as good as airdrop, and that may be true. I have not really used airdrop, and this app is super useful to me.
tanvach 6mo ago
Seems like Localsend doesn't currently work reliably with Tailscale enabled. This is a bummer. Hope they also allow sending files between clients on the same tailnet, that'll be super neat.
prince005 6mo ago
PS: Pixel and Samsung devices support airdrop now.
dvngnt_ 6mo ago
KDE is more seamless, but localsend works consistently so I have both running.
p0w3n3d 6mo ago
I'm using it, it's great and interoperable. Win - Mac, Mac - android, whatever is your wish. Any combination. However on Mac it prevents the laptop from sleep for some reason
dang 6mo ago
One large past thread and two tinies: Localsend: An open-source cross-platform alternative to AirDrop - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43343574 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43343574 - March 2025 (1 comment) Localsend: Open-Source Airdrop Alternative - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37938183 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37938183 - Oct 2023 (229 comments) Localsend: An open source cross-platform alternative to AirDrop - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34936796 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34936796 - Feb 2023 (1 comment) (Reposts are fine after a year or so; links to past threads are just to satisfy extra-curious readers)
pypt 6mo ago
Here's my take: https://aero.zip https://aero.zip End-to-end encrypted, no need to be on the same LAN, upload/download auto-resume, real-time transfers (start downloading before upload finishes), really fast (10 Gbps link, smart chunking). Also zero-knowledge logins (via OPAQUE), passkey/2FA support, no AI training now or ever, GDPR compatible. 2 GB transfers are free.
angry_octet 6mo ago
There are packages for iOS app store, but it isn't in any Debian/Ubuntu/Fedora repo? Just snap/flatpak. Am I correct in thinking community maintainers have little to no visibility therefore? Additionally, is there any indication what source code is used to build an app store submission? Even a checksum?
matpb 6mo ago
[flagged]
your_challenger 6mo ago
Is there a firefox send alternative that can work on the cloudflare infra? I would like a low cost, deploy and forget service to send files to people
_mocha 6mo ago
I'm retired now, but love seeing the new generation tackle age old problems. I built something similar to this (albeit, close sourced) about 12 years ago. It was called "bullet" and was aimed at transferring text based content using a custom stickies app.
janalsncm 6mo ago
I like LocalSend. It solves the problem of: I want a clean GUI to transfer files between mac, iPhone and Windows/Linux while developing software. It doesn’t solve every edge case but I don’t need it to.
nshntarora 6mo ago
This is a great app! Simple and does the job. The F1TV app is not available in my country on play store on my Google TV. The first time, I logged into the device using the android debugger to install the APK - I didn't want to use an ad-full app. Then I tried LocalSend, and it is now my default to send the APK from my mac to my android tv. Love the simple experience. Minor quirks in the UI, but gets the job done.
Ey7NFZ3P0nzAe 6mo ago
I made websend to make it easier and secure to send images from phones to computers. It also allows automatically OCRing and cropping etc to turn a bunch of pictures into a proper pdf when there's no flatbed scanner around. https://github.com/thiswillbeyourgithub/WebSend https://github.com/thiswillbeyourgithub/WebSend Note that I'm currently refactoring it heavily (the code is awful currently).
kekpek 6mo ago
Unfortunately I can't use it in my office. Because for some reason the network there is designed in the way one computer can't see another even if there're on the same wifi. So basically if I setup a server on pc#1, I can't open pc#1.ip:port on pc#2. As a result Localsend doesn't work
deleted 6mo ago
[deleted]
torginus 6mo ago
I did try this for syncing stuff between PCs, and have found the performance quite poor, like 10MB/s on a wired 10Gbe network. I don't know what the reason for this, but I suspect its networking layer is not really optimized. In contrast, sftp did hundreds of MB/s
sinqlo 6mo ago
[flagged]
Levitating 6mo ago
https://gist.github.com/SMUsamaShah/fd6e275e44009b72f64d0570256bb3b2 https://gist.github.com/SMUsamaShah/fd6e275e44009b72f64d0570...
alkonaut 6mo ago
The bar for entry for any of these solutions is 1) require no app installs (at least beyond those you already have). 2) not require the same network Most solutions fail one or both of these. Of course AirDrop isn't perfect (It doesn't work outside iOS so if you know any Android users you are quickly out of luck).
- Ey7NFZ3P0nzAe 6mo ago
  I made websend to make it easier and secure to send images from phones to computers. It also allows automatically OCRing and cropping etc to turn a bunch of pictures into a proper pdf when there's no flatbed scanner around. https://github.com/thiswillbeyourgithub/WebSend https://github.com/thiswillbeyourgithub/WebSend Note that I'm currently refactoring it heavily (the code is awful currently).
aagha 6mo ago
Blip is also a nice alternative - https://blip.net/ https://blip.net/
BigG21 6mo ago
Anydrop - another alternative that has better UI and also option to chat sync notes between the devices. https://www.anydrop.org/ https://www.anydrop.org/
nemanja_codes 6mo ago
It has bug on Linux, I must disconnect and reconnect network interface before making transfer, otherwise it just gets stuck.

923 points by bilsbie 6mo ago

Posted here many times https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=github.com/localsend https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=github.com/localsend

Unicironic 6mo ago

After switching to Linux, this was one of the very first applications I installed. It really helped cement how great open source apps can be for me.

viktorcode 6mo ago

One of the most convenient aspects of Air Drop for me is that it selects the fastest available connection between the devices and ability to work without both devices being on the same network. I wonder if any of the alternatives do the same.

gonzalohm 6mo ago
Quickshare does
- subscribed 6mo ago
  Never worked for me, not even once. I tried on three phones, two of which are using the same account, I'm reasonably confident I am technically competent to not make silly mistakes, though the best I've achieved was endless wait. I had better success with IR and BT file transfers. Hell, even spinning a local http server (with python -m http.server) works better than quick share.
  - burner35534 6mo ago
    Idk what Quickshare is, but AirDrop has only worked like 25% of the time for me
    - gonzalohm 6mo ago
      Quickshare is the Google alternative to airdrop

analog8374 6mo ago

Hey I use this. Works great. Ez.

lxgr 6mo ago

I feel like we need a spamsolutions.txt [1] for purported AirDrop replacements. This one fails the "must not require an existing Wi-Fi network that both peers are connected to" criterion. [1] https://craphound.com/spamsolutions.txt https://craphound.com/spamsolutions.txt

mikae1 6mo ago

Lovely, but was replaced by KDE Connect for me. Connect works for iOS, macOS, Android, Linux, you name it.

tryptophan 6mo ago
I like kde connect, but find it randomly breaks every month or so and for the life of me cannot figure out why. A week or so later it starts working again.

a7fort 6mo ago

Recently started using it, it works really well and it's much more reliable than AirDrop. But the UX could be improved. But I just wish Apple fixed AirDrop, every time I go to use I have so little confidence in it, it often doesn't see devices or if you have multiple Mac users it will confuse them, showing you the same Mac device twice without telling you which user it is

dmak 6mo ago
Have you tried troubleshooting those issues already? I had similar visibility issues in the past, but seems to always work now for me.
- tonyedgecombe 6mo ago
  I think it initiates the connection over Bluetooth so if your Bluetooth is poor it isn’t going to work very well.
OGWhales 6mo ago
Yup, for me I can see the device but when I try to initiate a send it just doesn't show up on the other device about half the time. I've not found a reliable way to fix it either, toggling AirDrop on and off on both devices seems the best way to fix it but only works like 70% of the time.
d3Xt3r 6mo ago
I'm curious, what do you people use this for? What are all these (presumably large) files that you guys are generating and transferring, that requires the use of apps like these? Like in my case, the only files I generate on my phone are photos and videos, and these get backed up by Immich, which I can then share with someone by sending them a link to the files/album in question. I imagine normal folks would use iCloud or Google Photos for the same task. For syncing other files like documents and such, I use ownCloud OCIS, and I'd imagine most other folks would use something like DropBox or iCloud, or even just email or WhatsApp the files. For local network transfers of say ISOs or something, I'd just copy them over SMB, which is pretty much universal and doesn't need any special app. Or even just plug in a hard drive, if I'm doing backups. So I don't understand why I should be using this.

mrbombastic 6mo ago

I use this all the time dropping files from old android device to mac, thanks devs!

newhotelowner 6mo ago

And it works in the browser. https://web.localsend.org/ https://web.localsend.org/ From windows to android to iOS.

tetris11 6mo ago
Amazing! Though v1.18.0 hasn't dropped in F-droid yet
- clutch89 6mo ago
  I wish you just send plaintext on the web app, it looks like it only works for files
duckmysick 6mo ago
I can't get it to work on my end. Tried sending/receiving with Firefox, Chrome, mobile phone, a laptop. Got this in the console: `WebRTC: ICE failed, add a TURN server and see about:webrtc for more details.` Not sure how to troubleshoot this. Most of the suggestions I found are for the devs not users. EDIT: Ok, figured it out. It works if I disable Tailscale.
nazcan 6mo ago
How does this work to discover things on the LAN from a browser?

justindotdev 6mo ago

came with omarchy pre installed, usedd it ever since. bonus points for it being open source too. i was surprised it is written in flutter. looking at how mutli-platform it is, flutter was the more appealing choice.

sdoering 6mo ago
D'accord.

bahadiraydin 6mo ago

I've been using this for years, simple, gets the job done. Nice UI.

jMyles 6mo ago

The README and website certainly seem polished, but I haven't used the utility yet. What's the main value prop over wormhole? That it works from the browser?

subscribed 6mo ago
That you can send over 1000 files without it messing it up, and they'll end in the right place. That you can set the recipient so it will auto-accept from the trusted senders. And for me that in Android I can do Share to....localsend to do it faster than with wormhole.

rolymath 6mo ago

Excuse my ignorance but why are there so many solutions like this? Especially if they aren't intercompatible (which I'm assuming they're not)

lxgr 6mo ago
Because none of them actually match the capabilities of AirDrop, since they essentially require controlling the full stack (UI, low-level networking including Bluetooth for discoverability, Wi-Fi peer to peer connections without dropping any existing infrastructure connection etc.) Many have tried, I don't think anyone has succeeded. Supposedly the EU interoperability mandate will make this possible going forward, though? (The tricky part is usually not getting your device to speak some protocol, but to get Apple devices to actually respond to your attempts.)

_-_-__-_-_- 6mo ago

Been using LocalSend for a few years, it works great even when sharing files between devices sharing a mobile connection.

Forgeties79 6mo ago

It’s not as slick as AirDrop and you have to sort of “prep“ both devices whenever you want to send/receive anything, it’s never just ready to go, but it’s incredibly reliable and will move anything from one machine to another. Just having that consistency across literally any device is so nice.

jrflo 6mo ago

I love local send. It’s ridiculously fast for sending large amounts of media too.

chasil 6mo ago
When multiple files are in transit, Localsend always transfers two at once.

faangguyindia 6mo ago

I used it, but it prevented my mac from sleeping. After some investigation I found it's local send.

ChrisLTD 6mo ago
Does it run in the background?

pryanshu89 6mo ago

Really cool! I used it a couple of times and did not expect it to work. But it worked. :D

eigenspace 6mo ago

My problem is that all these alternatives require the devices to be on the same local network. One beauty of Airdrop is that it creates and handles that local network automatically under the hood (as far as I understand). So you could be out on a hike with friends and Airdrop something. The workaround I've found after switching to an Android device has been to teather my connection to my friend's device, which ends up creating a LAN that Localsend can work through, but this is not as nice an experience.

simonmales 6mo ago
I think nowadays on Android it's called QuickShare, and it works. But I believe the fragmentation and awareness is a part of the problem for Android.
- eigenspace 6mo ago
  Can't QuickShare cross-platform. My wife has an iPhone and my desktop and laptop are linux, so QuickShare is a non-solution for me.
  - vrganj 6mo ago
    QuickShare is compatible with AirDrop these days, thanks to EU regulations: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/the-eu-made-apple-adopt-new-wi-fi-standards-and-now-android-can-support-airdrop/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/the-eu-made-apple-ad...
    - eigenspace 6mo ago
      One Android phone supports it so far, and it's widely expected Apple will find some way to lock it out or at least delay more support.
      - vrganj 6mo ago
        Glass half empty kinda guy, huh? :-)

subscribed 6mo ago

I use it on all my devices and tbh it's the absolute best option I found. Previously I was using syncthing or had to install ftp server, used wormhole after packing all my files into one, etc. Android QuickShare never worked for me (wouldn't help me much with sending to the pc either). It has some rough edges (ie: on multi-homed devices it's less that ideal to see the one octet that matters, when the list is very long scrolling whilst sending will cause the process to crap out), but other than that it's always reliable. I'm very happy with it too.

jumpconc 6mo ago
For your own trusted devices on a LAN, you should try KDE Connect. KDE is not required.
- gejose 6mo ago
  What do you find to be better about it over LocalSend? (The website seems to be down)
- subscribed 6mo ago
  Thanks for reminding me, I actually heard about that too.

xd1936 6mo ago

Great app. I wish it supported PWA features like Web Share Targeting. https://web.dev/articles/web-share https://web.dev/articles/web-share https://developer.chrome.com/docs/capabilities/web-apis/web-share-target https://developer.chrome.com/docs/capabilities/web-apis/web-...

ementally 6mo ago
They have web app but had terrible experience with it (can't find devices when you are using the mobile app and the other device is using the web app). https://github.com/localsend/web https://github.com/localsend/web

deleted 6mo ago

[deleted]

worldsavior 6mo ago

It's not even close to the speed AirDrop has. This is not an alternative to AirDrop. I tried it multiple times but it's slow every time. These alternatives don't use the same technology.

afavour 6mo ago
It is an alternative. It just doesn't fulfill all the needs Airdrop does. I've had situation where I want to share a photo or a text file and it'll work great in that scenario.
- worldsavior 6mo ago
  Probably the main "feature" AirDrop has is speed. Other alternatives should include that "feature".
  - afavour 6mo ago
    No it isn't? The main feature is sending things peer to peer.
    - worldsavior 6mo ago
      That's not a feature that's a purpose.
      - burner35534 6mo ago
        So what? Anyway the more important difference is it requires both computers to be on the same LAN. The main point of AirDrop is you can share between two devices with or without LAN, with or without internet.
hbn 6mo ago
It's faster than the standard wireless transfer speed between my iPhone and my Windows PC (0 KB/s)

miguel-muniz 6mo ago

https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/pairdrop https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/pairdrop A similar project but this one works entirely in the browser and can connect to clients beyond your local network with "public" rooms

cachius 6mo ago
Pairdrop is awesome! The docs are a bit hidden, the FAQ is at https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/pairdrop/blob/master/docs/faq.md https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/pairdrop/blob/master/docs/... and the How-To for integration into Share menu on Android, iOS and Windows at https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/PairDrop/blob/master/docs/how-to.md https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/PairDrop/blob/master/docs/... They forked sharedrop after it and snapdrop got acquired and enshittified by LimeWire, whoever that is now.
- cachius 6mo ago
  Submitted on its own: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47935875 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47935875
- ivanjermakov 6mo ago
  Related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43143559 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43143559
hecifato 6mo ago
I'll need to give this a shot. I have Localsend installed for sending thing between my iPhone and Linux desktop, but it doesn't always play nice. Even with the Localsend port open in Firewalld it can take upwards of 10 minutes for the devices to see each other. A browser solution should at least have faster discovery.
hbn 6mo ago
Should have been called PearDrop

throawayonthe 6mo ago

i really wish Wi-Fi Direct succeeded maybe eventually something like quickshare & airdrop mold into an interoperable thing but i'm not holding my breath

parasubvert 6mo ago
WI-Fi Aware exists and is a standard

ddtaylor 6mo ago

Just use the existing magic wormhole protocol. It works and has been deployed for a long time.

ho_schi 6mo ago
No. It is using a central “well known server” and requires internet. Test: * Does it work in an airplane? * Does it work in a submarine? * Does it work in the mountains, when a thunderstorm is approach and you need to share the GPX? Basically my Garmin Edge and iPhone can do this. Magic-Wormhole fails in all test cases. Implementation shall be able to negoiate a connection locally (e.g. Bluetooth) and upgrade to peer-to-peer WiFi if need (Garmin doesn’t need that part, GPX are usually smaller than 1024 KB).
- ddtaylor 6mo ago
  Modifications can be made to do that minimal peer exchange over BT. They may already exist, but I haven't used that part yet. It seems like a lot of extra work to reinvent the wheel and get the security wrong instead of extending a well established protocol with many other tools built on top of it.

smusamashah 6mo ago

List of browser based p2p file sharing tools https://gist.github.com/SMUsamaShah/fd6e275e44009b72f64d0570256bb3b2 https://gist.github.com/SMUsamaShah/fd6e275e44009b72f64d0570...

JackFener 6mo ago

I'd love this to work but I always had trouble making it work on my google tv. Wanted to share files (~2 gb files) from my Mac to my TV but the transfer kept failing

0xcoops 6mo ago

So needed

ifh-hn 6mo ago

I love this app, it's on all my devices, it's also written in my favourite cross platform development framework (dart/flutter). Very useful app, with a massive advantage of airdrop, no need for apple. Irrespective of if it's a drop in replacement.

tnelsond4 6mo ago

I end up just opening a web server in termux on my phone and having the other side download from my hotspot every time i want to transfer a file because all the other android solutions really really suck.

ohuc 6mo ago

Using it works perfectly for me!

jmarchello 6mo ago

Localsend is awesome! My team and I use it all the time for safely transmitting vpn configs, ssh keys, etc... It works flawlessly. The auto-generated names are pretty fun too.

akihitot 6mo ago

This application supports the following platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and FireOS. I was surprised. It is very interesting that it is implemented using a combination of REST API, HTTPS encryption, and local networking.

dTal 6mo ago

I love this software for its reliability (as compared to, say, KDE Connect, which I gave up on after years of frustrated use after it became clear that the developers did not believe there was an issue and it would never improve). I do not love that it is a heavy electron app that takes many seconds to launch on my mid-spec machine and burns 20% of an entire CPU core the entire time it is running. Why can't we have a simple command line tool that works?

hacker161 6mo ago
It’s open source so you can put together that CLI yourself if so motivated

coldstartops 6mo ago

Hi, I am late to the party, but I was also building in this space in the last year, Basically I did a peer to peer filesystem named keibidrop: https://keibidrop.com/ https://keibidrop.com/ I made it public last week. It does what local send does, but also via WAN. Still did not launch the mobile apps. And 1 up is that it has also a virutal filesystem that is synced both ways. repository is here: https://github.com/KeibiSoft/KeibiDrop https://github.com/KeibiSoft/KeibiDrop The code is open source, except for the UI, and I did benchmark on loopback vs localsend (local send is faster :D ) https://keibisoft.com/blog/keibidrop-benchmarks-vs-competition.html https://keibisoft.com/blog/keibidrop-benchmarks-vs-competiti... and was also trying to get a commenting thread in /r/golang yesterday! behind the hood I went with PQC, + gRPC + FUSE.

FireInsight 6mo ago
Very interesting. With the "virtual folders" feature, doesn't this also compete with Syncthing kind of? I have actually been looking for a solution like Syncthing, where I can write and cache files offline without actually having all the files in the full synced folder on every device (just my NAS). Kind of a hybrid between a remote filesystem mount and full-on folder sync.
- coldstartops 6mo ago
  Yes-ish, adjacent. Syncthing usually you use it to sync to your server. Here I skipped the server part. I just connect two devices. If they both use the virtual mountpoint MountAlice and MountBob They get an underlying SaveAlice and SaveBob on disk. so what gets dropped in MountAlice gets saved to SaveAlice, and appears in MountBob. Once bob accesses it in MountBob it gets cached to SaveBob (like saved persistently to disk). But while the transfer happens a mmap is saved to disk to keep track of the segments that were transmited. If changes happen on Alice for the file, GetAttr metadata is synced when the filehandler on Alice is released. and Bob knows to request the parts of the file that changed. It did not go for the full-on folder sync. I went for a synced filesystem while the peers are connected. And because ios and android do not have FUSE, i also added the option to add a file/ pull a file, that does the same thing. So now, you can add folders/ files on android/ ios. and mount them as a filesystem on your desktop and do magic with them, and if they get changed you can export them back from the phone to the gallery or w/e files

satvikpendem 6mo ago

Look into Sendme [0] and AltSendme [1] (which is a GUI around the former), they use Iroh [2] which is an open-source encrypted peer-to-peer relay service to send data so there are no limits whatsoever for sending and receiving files, because there's no central server. From my earlier comment about a similar thread a couple days ago about which file sharing apps people use [3]: [0] https://github.com/n0-computer/sendme https://github.com/n0-computer/sendme [1] https://github.com/tonyantony300/alt-sendme https://github.com/tonyantony300/alt-sendme [2] https://github.com/n0-computer/iroh https://github.com/n0-computer/iroh [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47906587 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47906587

3371 6mo ago
This kind of services that requires the user to share a seed/code to the recipient always seems kinda awkward to me. The code is not simple/short enough to be verbally communicated; If I can send the code, I usually can just send the file.
- nine_k 6mo ago
  The code can be easily communicated as a QR code. But a 100 MB file cannot.
- satvikpendem 6mo ago
  Not necessarily. For example I might have a few gigs of photos to send someone, and I want to send them uncompressed. I could text someone the seed or QR code for them to download the photos, but I can't send those photos (especially uncompressed, even if over RCS or WhatsApp) over text.
  - cortesoft 6mo ago
    Wouldn’t this use your internet data, though? Isn’t the point of these tools to send locally without being limited by internet speeds and without having to use your mobile data?

gejose 6mo ago

Been using this on all my devices (macos, iPhone, iPad, android, windows) and love it!

jrm4 6mo ago

As people have noted, the "local" part makes it hard. Here's my question, y'all. What is the deal with the magic Syncthing uses and why can't we use it for stuff like this? And well, for everything? (I've been doing this stuff for years and I still can't wrap my head around this question)

zie 6mo ago

I just use send(formerly FF send) and share a URL via chat or whatever: https://github.com/timvisee/send https://github.com/timvisee/send With a CLI tool as well: https://github.com/timvisee/ffsend https://github.com/timvisee/ffsend

cachius 6mo ago
Also https://wormhole.app/ https://wormhole.app/, but feross is busy witch Socket and the myriad of NPM supply chain attacks nowadays
- feross 6mo ago
  Thanks for the mention!

andunie 6mo ago

This works great for me to transfer stuff between my own devices in my home, but it's not an AirDrop replacement at all, so I don't know why they advertise it like that.

MEMORA_AI 6mo ago

What do you guys think about an AI that has Multi agents personal assistance agentic commander all in one place..??

nightwalkerkg 6mo ago

The closest I found to AirDrops ease of use is Blip https://blip.net/ https://blip.net/. Works like charm, supported on pretty much all platforms, works on local and non-local networks (P2P) and has no file size limit. I was pretty surprised it's free for personal use.

t43562 6mo ago

To send files locally why not set up a wifi hotspot? Then you can transfer files to and from uncool people with Android or Linux phones/computers using localsend. I've never found this difficult and often use hotspots when I'm overseas - it's cheaper to get internet for one phone and share it with the others for example.

eigenspace 6mo ago
Are you lost? This is a post about Localsend...

max8539 6mo ago

Using LocalSend to send files across iOS, Mac and Windows. When everything is on the local network, it works pretty nicely.

bluebarbet 6mo ago

For years I have been syncing with great success using the most basic FOSS tools: `rsync` over `sshfs` on desktop, and SSHD (via an app called Dropbear available on F-Droid) on mobile, using an ad-hoc network over the wifi hotspot (which is turned on by Macrodroid - alas not FOSS - when the device is plugged in). This setup is rock-solid reliable and very fast.

vivzkestrel 6mo ago

- pro tip, if you want to send a directory, compress it as an archive and send i - for whatever reason, even the same sized directory takes much much longer than its corresponding archive version when using this tool

hrdwdmrbl 6mo ago

Why not use WebRTC? 0 download. (I'm all for alternatives to AirDrop. I'm all for AirDrop inter-operability. Nothing against those things.) For LAN file sharing, you can do it with any browser. Implementations like: https://sendfiles.dev/ https://sendfiles.dev/ (though there are many others)

myself248 6mo ago

I swear there's a new one of these every year. Not a single one sticks around.

senko 6mo ago
I've been using LocalSend for quite some time now, after hearing about it for years. It's not a new one.

adithyassekhar 6mo ago

I found blip works better on ios and windows. Not losing transfers midway like localsend.

hbn 6mo ago
Blip definitely has a better UX and it's nice that it can transfer between networks through their servers (obviously don't be sending sensitive stuff cause who knows how much they can be trusted) But I consider my usage of it to be on borrowed time cause there's no way they're gonna let everyone forever beam unlimited data through their servers forever. They're accumulating users before they make you pay, it's just a matter of time. But I'm enjoying it while I can.

pwillp 6mo ago

I was using Localsend a bunch for Window <> iPhone before, really great product without hassle.

kouru225 6mo ago

I use local send when KDE connect isn’t working for me. The big problem with these is that you basically have to spend a minute or two setting up both devices to send.

egeozcan 6mo ago

Does this use libp2p[0]? [0]: https://libp2p.io/ https://libp2p.io/

MasterYoda 6mo ago

LocalSend is the best app to transfer files from mobile to computer wireless that I have fund. But it has one really big weakness/bug. When you transfer a file and it get interrupted, the half written file on the receiving end is not removed and you get an corrupted file. If you dont notice it, it could look like al files are transfered, but they are not. This is really bad, it is not how files should be "copied/transfered".

deferredgrant 6mo ago

[flagged]

burner35534 6mo ago
It's LAN only, so those networks will block it.

rglover 6mo ago

This has been on my mind a lot as AirDrop has continuously failed to find devices on my network (no VPN enabled on either device, no weird routing or tunneling, even after flushing networking stuff). Just set this up in a few minutes and it works a peach (quite fast, too). Just nudged me a little closer toward a "just use Linux" default.

shrubby 6mo ago

Just found out about this last week and looks awesome.

sroerick 6mo ago

Everybody here is complaining about how this isn't as good as airdrop, and that may be true. I have not really used airdrop, and this app is super useful to me.

tanvach 6mo ago

Seems like Localsend doesn't currently work reliably with Tailscale enabled. This is a bummer. Hope they also allow sending files between clients on the same tailnet, that'll be super neat.

prince005 6mo ago

PS: Pixel and Samsung devices support airdrop now.

dvngnt_ 6mo ago

KDE is more seamless, but localsend works consistently so I have both running.

p0w3n3d 6mo ago

I'm using it, it's great and interoperable. Win - Mac, Mac - android, whatever is your wish. Any combination. However on Mac it prevents the laptop from sleep for some reason

dang 6mo ago

One large past thread and two tinies: Localsend: An open-source cross-platform alternative to AirDrop - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43343574 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43343574 - March 2025 (1 comment) Localsend: Open-Source Airdrop Alternative - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37938183 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37938183 - Oct 2023 (229 comments) Localsend: An open source cross-platform alternative to AirDrop - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34936796 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34936796 - Feb 2023 (1 comment) (Reposts are fine after a year or so; links to past threads are just to satisfy extra-curious readers)

pypt 6mo ago

Here's my take: https://aero.zip https://aero.zip End-to-end encrypted, no need to be on the same LAN, upload/download auto-resume, real-time transfers (start downloading before upload finishes), really fast (10 Gbps link, smart chunking). Also zero-knowledge logins (via OPAQUE), passkey/2FA support, no AI training now or ever, GDPR compatible. 2 GB transfers are free.

angry_octet 6mo ago

There are packages for iOS app store, but it isn't in any Debian/Ubuntu/Fedora repo? Just snap/flatpak. Am I correct in thinking community maintainers have little to no visibility therefore? Additionally, is there any indication what source code is used to build an app store submission? Even a checksum?

matpb 6mo ago

[flagged]

your_challenger 6mo ago

Is there a firefox send alternative that can work on the cloudflare infra? I would like a low cost, deploy and forget service to send files to people

_mocha 6mo ago

I'm retired now, but love seeing the new generation tackle age old problems. I built something similar to this (albeit, close sourced) about 12 years ago. It was called "bullet" and was aimed at transferring text based content using a custom stickies app.

janalsncm 6mo ago

I like LocalSend. It solves the problem of: I want a clean GUI to transfer files between mac, iPhone and Windows/Linux while developing software. It doesn’t solve every edge case but I don’t need it to.

nshntarora 6mo ago

This is a great app! Simple and does the job. The F1TV app is not available in my country on play store on my Google TV. The first time, I logged into the device using the android debugger to install the APK - I didn't want to use an ad-full app. Then I tried LocalSend, and it is now my default to send the APK from my mac to my android tv. Love the simple experience. Minor quirks in the UI, but gets the job done.

Ey7NFZ3P0nzAe 6mo ago

I made websend to make it easier and secure to send images from phones to computers. It also allows automatically OCRing and cropping etc to turn a bunch of pictures into a proper pdf when there's no flatbed scanner around. https://github.com/thiswillbeyourgithub/WebSend https://github.com/thiswillbeyourgithub/WebSend Note that I'm currently refactoring it heavily (the code is awful currently).

kekpek 6mo ago

Unfortunately I can't use it in my office. Because for some reason the network there is designed in the way one computer can't see another even if there're on the same wifi. So basically if I setup a server on pc#1, I can't open pc#1.ip:port on pc#2. As a result Localsend doesn't work

deleted 6mo ago

[deleted]

torginus 6mo ago

I did try this for syncing stuff between PCs, and have found the performance quite poor, like 10MB/s on a wired 10Gbe network. I don't know what the reason for this, but I suspect its networking layer is not really optimized. In contrast, sftp did hundreds of MB/s

sinqlo 6mo ago

[flagged]

Levitating 6mo ago

https://gist.github.com/SMUsamaShah/fd6e275e44009b72f64d0570256bb3b2 https://gist.github.com/SMUsamaShah/fd6e275e44009b72f64d0570...

alkonaut 6mo ago

The bar for entry for any of these solutions is 1) require no app installs (at least beyond those you already have). 2) not require the same network Most solutions fail one or both of these. Of course AirDrop isn't perfect (It doesn't work outside iOS so if you know any Android users you are quickly out of luck).

Ey7NFZ3P0nzAe 6mo ago
I made websend to make it easier and secure to send images from phones to computers. It also allows automatically OCRing and cropping etc to turn a bunch of pictures into a proper pdf when there's no flatbed scanner around. https://github.com/thiswillbeyourgithub/WebSend https://github.com/thiswillbeyourgithub/WebSend Note that I'm currently refactoring it heavily (the code is awful currently).

aagha 6mo ago

Blip is also a nice alternative - https://blip.net/ https://blip.net/

BigG21 6mo ago

Anydrop - another alternative that has better UI and also option to chat sync notes between the devices. https://www.anydrop.org/ https://www.anydrop.org/

nemanja_codes 6mo ago

It has bug on Linux, I must disconnect and reconnect network interface before making transfer, otherwise it just gets stuck.