10 years of android and I never managed to share files via WiFi direct
10 years of android and I never managed to share files via WiFi direct
Anyone has a fool proof method? Preferably that does not involve third party apps, or a Foss one.
PS at home I use mixplorer over my home WiFi, but on the go WiFi direct would be useful. I use a Samsung smartphone and lenovo tablet, both on android 14. I can easily connect them, but I never see any WiFi direct option in the share menu (nor Samsung's quickshare)
EDIT: Enabling Quickshare on both devices then the quickshare icon shows up in the share menu.
Although:
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it asks to deactivate WiFi direct (as Markaos says below, probably so it can decide the best connection type, and probably active WiFi direct on demand)
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it relies on the contacts of the Google account. As I use a dummy and different gmail on both, and Foss apps for contacts, the only way to share is to "allow sharing with everyone for 10 minutes"
So my question remains as to how to use Wi-Fi direct well...directly.
localsend makes it easy.
i used it for android to android, android to mac, mac to ipad, &c
i as a fool can confirm that it's "fool proof"
I read that pairdrop.net was 👍 too.
Localsend has never failed me. You can find it on F-Droid for android and their website for installation options for desktop.
Doesn't this require the devices to be connected to the same wifi?
Edit: OP already replied so nvm
The description says it is over the local WiFi though, so not what I'm looking for
The Quick Share option missing is weird - Nearby Share/Quick Share is supposed to be available on every Android 6 or newer device since roughly 2020. And it's supposed to be able to automatically figure out a reasonable way to connect the devices (LAN if they are in the same network, Bluetooth or WiFi Direct otherwise).
You are right that it is workable, I will edit my post. I thought quickshare was a Samsung thing only
KDE connect
I tried this between the Samsung and my Debian laptop and none ever recognised the other. Also quite sure it relies on a local network?
If you use a free VPN like Proton you'll need to disconnect from it to be able to see devices on LAN.
Not sure if it helps but i fixed this problem by connecting both devices using a cable. Works like a charm now, even over network
Even though KDE Connect came with Endeavour OS (arch BTW) I had to allow some firewall settings.
I use KDE Connect with my laptop and it just works (Linux with KDE required)
Or gnome with gsconnect. I think it's actually even out on windows now...
Works wih bspwm too
Linux with KDE required
Not true, it's available for all major distros regardless of DE as well as Windows and Mac OS
This is why I only buy Androids with MicroSD. This problem was solved in the 1980s with the invention of floppy disks. Now it seems they have worked hard to "uninvent it" so your data needs to go through their servers before you are allowed to have a copy.
You know that you can use a cable or a flash drive right? Fiddling with microSD cards seems annoying.
Cable + MPV is the precise nightmare that lead me to be prejudice of these "non-solutions".
And plugging in a big ackward fat USB-C in the bottom of the phone sounds like a hazard way to break your USB port.
Avoiding phones without 3.5mm AUX and without MicroSD is easier. Problem averted.
Edit: Also, phone suddenly dead? No problem pull the MicroSD for your data.
I use localsend, if I need to share between devices while out and about I just turn on hotspot to create a local Wi-Fi network.
All the sharing tools built into android are garbage, none work properly.
To share from where to where? For sharing with your own computer at home I just have a SMB share and I use Cx File Explorer to access it like I would on a PC. For direct phone to phone sharing... I haven't had to do that in ages, so I wouldn't know. I have a number of solutions for cloud file sharing that are platform agnostic, though.
I was specifically asking for what you haven't done in ages
Oh, gotcha. Yeah, direct phone-to-phone transfers have been rare and mostly replaced by cloud shares for me. It's just easier to add the file in question to some cloud destination that allows link sharing instead.
I use Superbeam. You can send to desktop too
when there is LocalSend one doesn't even need to know what is wifi direct.
I like LocalSend because it can send folders without zipping them, but it did fail for me once when I was sending a folder with 7000 pics.
But LocalSend isn't a direct option like airdrop, devices need to be connected to a same hotspot.
WIFI file transfer, downloaded from pure apk:
https://m.apkpure.com/wifi-file-transfer/com.smarterdroid.wififiletransfer
You have to allow third party apps to install it but then you're good to go.
Warpinator works quite well for me
EDIT: In my excitement to share a way to do this I didn't realize you don't want FOSS or other apps so I deleted my original comment.
EDIT2: See my reply to OP.
Sorry if it is misunderstanding. I meant no app if possible, but a Foss app would be OK if unavoidable
It is I that misunderstood the whole thing.
But since we're here, I use an SSH server app worth about $3 on my phone to access it from other devices with an SFTP or SSHFS client. The app is literally called "SSH Server". Once the server is active I can use an app like Solid Explorer (free with ads or paying for a license) on another Android device to connect to my phone on the same Wi-Fi network. Or from Windows I can just map a network drive using the format \\sshfs\user@ip. And on Linux just find the "Connect to server" option in your favorite file explorer to use SSHFS. Or any SFTP client of your choice.
I'm not familiar with Wi-Fi Direct since I've been using SSH for years now, and certainly much more work this way, but it works okay across all my devices.
I'm interested!
Yeah bring back the comment! Even if OP didn't want it, some of the rest of us might benefit from it :)
I cam vouch for Snapdrop/Pairdrop or whatever it is called nowadays. Requires opening a browser and being on the same network. Snapdrop does support sending files over the internet, but I couldn't get it to work last time I tried.
I think I sorta used it in the early 2010s but with 3rd party apps to transfer larger files phone to phone instead of bluetooth.
Nowadays NFC does it fine enough but I rarely have the need to share files outside of my home.