[HN Gopher] LocalSend: Open-source, cross-platform file sharing ...
___________________________________________________________________
LocalSend: Open-source, cross-platform file sharing to nearby
devices
Author : alexzeitler
Score : 402 points
Date : 2024-03-10 21:38 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (localsend.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (localsend.org)
| andrewSC wrote:
| Devil's advocate: why would I choose this over Syncthing?
| earthling8118 wrote:
| Upon first look this doesn't appear to serve the same purpose
| as syncthing. It sends files individually instead of keeping a
| folder synced.
| lknuth wrote:
| This is really more like AirDrop, where Syncthing is more like
| DropBox.
|
| Not to say they have no overlap, I use both. LocalSend is nice
| to quickly send that one picture from my Android to my MacBook
| factormeta wrote:
| So it requires lan network? Can it work over bluetooth? Like
| Briar https://briarproject.org
| LittleFreak wrote:
| it can't, Bluetooth has a very limited datarate anyway
| tjoff wrote:
| That's why many only use Bluetooth to create an ad-hoc
| wifi network and do the transfer on that instead.
|
| Airdrop even requires bluetooth.
| fddrdplktrew wrote:
| why not do straight up ad-hoc wi-fi?
| pastage wrote:
| It is easy to do Bluetooth discovery between apps on
| Android/ios. I have not seen the same for wifi.
| fddrdplktrew wrote:
| that's because Google actively won't implement it... not
| sure why but there was issues with "thousands" of
| comments requesting it (because it is part of WiFi
| standard). Not sure about Apple.
|
| https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/36904180 (won't
| fix, obsolete, according to these mofos)
|
| https://i.imgur.com/xei98fy.png (who the fuck knows how
| many more comments it would have got if they didn't block
| commenting)
|
| It was implemented once on Cyanogenmod thought...
|
| A lot of the posts about this have been de-indexed from
| Google Search too.
| masklinn wrote:
| I assume localsend can't buffer files?
|
| That's what I'd really like when sending stuff between my
| devices because my most common use case is I see or think of
| something work-related when I'm off and don't want to dig out
| the company laptop to make note of it, or the other way
| around see a personal interest or a nerd snipe while at work
| and want to stash it for off-the-clock.
|
| I usually sling mails between devices, less commonly stash
| something in iCloud (or similar), but those are pretty noisy
| and high overhead workflows.
| atlas_hugged wrote:
| This isn't really competing with syncthing it doesn't look
| like. This is more of a cross-platform AirDrop. Syncthing is
| more for, well, syncing.
| Saris wrote:
| Completely different use cases, this is for quick transfers of
| a file or several.
| anotherhue wrote:
| Some CLI alternatives if you don't need the GUI:
|
| Croc: https://github.com/schollz/croc
|
| Magic-Wormhole: https://github.com/magic-wormhole/magic-wormhole
|
| I used to use MW but switched to croc as the single binary was
| easier to deploy.
| fddrdplktrew wrote:
| aren't ssh and ftp/sftp also good alternatives?
| behnamoh wrote:
| Every few months there's a new tool for this and none of them
| gets widespread use.
| api wrote:
| It's 2024. There is still no good generally available way to
| send files between systems on the same LAN, let alone over the
| Internet.
|
| These kinds of blind spots exist because not only is there no
| money in solving them (and open solutions are too hard to use
| as usual) but in this case there is money in not solving them.
| A great simple ubiquitous solution would reduce demand for
| large complicated cloud storage systems that allow cloud data
| mining of all your files and/or require subscriptions.
| LittleFreak wrote:
| there is enough good software out there. If it's only file
| sharing, then I'd prefer 'LocalSend' . For anything more
| complex, like send clipboard, push notifications or remote
| control is 'KDE Connect' my first option, since it's also
| available for almost any platform.
| blooalien wrote:
| I've personally had great success with KDE Connect on the
| LAN for all that (and also as a handy touchpad / keyboard
| input device for PC). It's one of those "Just Works" tools
| I always reach for. Also have found SyncThing to be really
| excellent for keeping folders auto-sync'd between devices.
| (One personal use-case example for that is keeping my
| "Pictures" folder in sync between my phone camera and a
| local folder on one or more of my PCs.)
| userbinator wrote:
| _There is still no good generally available way to send files
| between systems on the same LAN_
|
| For me, a pair of netcats has served that use-case quite
| well.
| esafak wrote:
| How do you do this with an Android phone and iPhone, one of
| which is yours and others is some friend's? My most common
| problem is sharing media.
| api wrote:
| Okay I'll just tell my finance department head to netcat
| from port 5000...
| Geezus_42 wrote:
| Rsync has been around along time and works great. I use it
| almost daily. SFTP has also been a solid option for quite a
| while. If you want a more permanent network share there's
| NFS.
| minhmeoke wrote:
| A useful utility for sharing (upload and download) files over
| a local LAN that a friend wrote is
| https://github.com/akovacs/uploadserver - it's basically a
| nicer version of: python -m http.server
| 8000
|
| You first start one server on a desktop/laptop which has the
| software, and then any client (Android, iOS, PlayStation,
| Kindle, etc) with a web browser (no need to install any
| client software) can upload or download files from it.
|
| You can download prebuilt binaries for x86-64 Linux, Windows
| 7 or higher, or Mac OS 10.7 Lion or higher (sorry, no
| prebuilt binaries for Apple Silicon, but they could be added
| if there is sufficient demand) from
| https://github.com/akovacs/uploadserver/releases/ or compile
| from source using a nightly rust toolchain if you prefer.
|
| Start the file server on a desktop machine:
| chmod +x upload_server ./upload_server
|
| Determine your machine's IP address using:
| # Linux hostname -I # Mac
| ifconfig # Windows ipconfig
|
| Navigate to the server's ip address port 8000 (indicated by
| the hostname -I command you ran earlier) in the web browser
| of your choice on any device (no need to download or install
| any client applications) and upload files using the web UI or
| directly via curl: curl -X POST --data-
| binary @file_to_upload.txt
| http://192.168.1.X:8000/uploaded_file.txt
|
| Then download the file to another machine or mobile device
| either from the web GUI or via a commandline tool:
| curl http://192.168.1.X:8000/uploads/uploaded_file.txt
| --output downloaded_file.txt
|
| If you don't have a local network, you can setup an adhoc
| hotspot on any Android 9+ (Settings > Network & internet >
| Hotspot & tethering
| https://support.google.com/android/answer/9059108) or iPhone
| (Settings > Personal Hotspot), then connect to it using any
| WiFi-enabled device.
|
| Compared to cloud services or `python -m http.server 8000`,
| this is extremely fast since the server is written in rust,
| it is fairly simple (compiled and stripped binary is
| typically less than 3MB), it sends everything over local LAN,
| it seems to handle large files (over 4GB) fairly well, and
| you only need to install the software on one machine.
| raffraffraff wrote:
| Because people are lazy, and phone makers haven't all agreed
| on a single sharing app that's preinstalled on every device.
| Apple own their own ecosystem but are famously "FUCK YOU" to
| every other platform, but inside their walled garden,
| AirDrop.
| prmoustache wrote:
| This very hn entries is bust contradicting your statement.
|
| Also what about syncthing[1] (for recurrent/permanent sync)
| and croc[2] (for one time copies) ?
|
| I have used both for a number of years already. Before croc,
| magic wormhole was available for even longer.
|
| [1] https://syncthing.net/
|
| [2] https://github.com/schollz/croc
| api wrote:
| All the replies to this show me just how little your
| average HN user understands the difference between "nerds
| can do it" and "anyone can do it and it's a standard part
| of the ecosystem."
|
| Obviously I can move files around. I can also program in 10
| languages. I am not normal.
|
| But even for me, it's not _convenient_. I don 't "need" a
| friendly ubiquitous way to do it, but if I had one it'd be
| really nice and would save me time.
| prmoustache wrote:
| OS vendors aren't interested in "ubiquitous" because they
| want to capture people in their walled garden.
|
| Regardless of the quality of any tool, most people will
| not necessarily use the most friendly way. They will use
| the tool they already know and have. Reason most people
| have been using Microsoft Word over the year with very
| crappy results to share screenshot to people for example.
| There were plenty of available screenshot tools that
| would save wherever you want in the format you want, but
| you had to install them, they were not installed on their
| windows XP computer out of the box. So you would see
| people preferring copy/pasting to Word, not even paint or
| that other image tool I don't remember the name that was
| available ou of the box on windows.
|
| So nowadays, there is only one thing that is ubiquitous
| and available in most people devices that allows them to
| reach other: messaging tools. In the past it was email,
| nowadays it is Whatsapp. You can make the nicest, fast
| and friendly tool to share files to others, people will
| still use Whatsapp to send files to others and even
| themselves.
| yjftsjthsd-h wrote:
| I had the thought once that it would be a useful - if not easy
| - to submit patches to as many of these projects as possible to
| allow interoperation (probably by implementing the same
| protocol(s) in as many as possible). It's the kind of thing
| where you really want enough common protocol use that most apps
| can communicate to get network effects.
|
| (But of course, I hardly have the time or perhaps even ability
| to really go far with that thought. Oh well.)
| gitgud wrote:
| This one is pretty good
|
| https://wormhole.app/
| anon115 wrote:
| what does widespread mean I always use
| https://www.sharedrop.io/ for myself only tho.
| astkaasa wrote:
| tailscale's taildrop is an good alternative and maybe more
| secure(?)
| refulgentis wrote:
| I don't think it's a good alternative.
|
| Via https://tailscale.com/kb/1106/taildrop:
|
| - "Since Taildrop is an alpha feature, you'll need to opt your
| network in to the test to use it."
|
| - "Taildrop is only available on Synology with Tailscale
| v1.18.2".
|
| - "Currently that means you need to manually install Tailscale
| on your Synology NAS."
|
| Taking Occam's Razor to it:
|
| - Buy Enterprise(tm) hardware to use alpha software.
|
| - "more secure" has a prefix of "maybe" and a suffix of "(?)"
| in the comment recommending it
|
| I'm ruling it out altogether.
| evanriley wrote:
| You don't need any enterprise hardware to use taildrop.
|
| > - "Taildrop is only available on Synology with Tailscale
| v1.18.2".
|
| > - "Currently that means you need to manually install
| Tailscale on your Synology NAS."
|
| Only apply if you're installing it ON Synology hardware,
| otherwise it is matter of installing the tailscale client and
| opting your network in.
| PKop wrote:
| You misunderstand this documentation. It is available on
| other platforms besides Synology; it's just _also_ available
| on Synology which is a good thing.
| refulgentis wrote:
| You sure? "Taildrop is only available on Synology NAS"
| could certainly use some workshopping.
| d-z-m wrote:
| That's not the whole sentence. The whole sentence is:
|
| "Taildrop is only available on Synology with Tailscale
| v1.18.2 or later."
|
| That sentence is the first sentence under the "Setting up
| Taildrop on Synology" section of the documentation.
| PKop wrote:
| Am I sure that I've used Taildrop on my Android phone,
| Linux, Windows, Mac and Synology? Yes I am sure.
|
| Maybe not great wording or arrangement of statements on
| that page since it seems to have stopped you in your
| tracks reading at that point, but you can scroll down and
| see discussion of using it on other platforms. What
| you're hyper-focused on is a subsection under the heading
| specifically dealing with Synology.
| refulgentis wrote:
| Geez, that was rude. I don't think assuming that the
| literally first requirement mentioned conditions the rest
| is "hyper focusing." It seems prudent to assume the rest
| are conditioned on it. It's not outlandish to assume you
| have to be on that style of network to use it, especially
| since the pitch is to enterprises for secure file
| transfer.
| pastage wrote:
| Taildrop is "a filetransfer for your personal devices",
| it only works if you have a Tailscale network
| transferring to QNAP/Synology is a nice feature. We all
| see thing from different perspectives it really helps to
| try understand why that might be.
| brucethemoose2 wrote:
| Is there an equivalent of this with an http front end, so the
| client doesn't need to install anything?
|
| I have _used_ such apps before, but it seems they have gone
| unmaintained and don 't work anymore.
| cgriesh wrote:
| I usually use Snapdrop (https://snapdrop.net) or PairDrop
| (https://pairdrop.net).
| rcarmo wrote:
| I have a Snapdrop fork running on my LAN that works wonders
| when sending files across platforms.
| imiric wrote:
| I frequently use `python -m http.server` on my LAN.
|
| And if I can't be bothered to setup Python on the source host,
| or there are network complications, running uploadserver[1] on
| the destination host works great.
|
| I'm wary of all these fancy tools with "magic" in their name,
| that rely on external relay servers. Even if they don't, I'm
| quite fond of the simplicity of plain old HTTP. I don't need
| anything more sophisticated, and in most cases, not even
| encryption.
|
| netcat/socat would be another solution, but they're not as
| ubiquitous as Python and HTTP. And I can never remember the
| command incantations ':D
|
| [1]: https://pypi.org/project/uploadserver/
| pvik wrote:
| I've been working on this: https://github.com/pvik/simple-file-
| server/releases
| SushiHippie wrote:
| Localsend supports this
|
| https://github.com/localsend/protocol?tab=readme-ov-file#51-...
|
| Or do you mean uploading with an http frontend?
| brucethemoose2 wrote:
| - A: I didn't know this, awesome.
|
| - B: Yes, uploading via a web page would be nice too. I have
| seen other apps do this.
| minhmeoke wrote:
| One option is https://github.com/akovacs/uploadserver - it's
| basically a nicer version of: python -m
| http.server 8000
|
| You first start one server on a desktop/laptop which has the
| software, and then any client (Android, iOS, PlayStation,
| Kindle, etc) with a web browser (no need to install any client
| software) can upload or download files from the web GUI.
|
| You can download prebuilt binaries for x86-64 Linux, Windows,
| or Mac OS (sorry, no prebuilt binaries for Apple Silicon, but
| they could be added if there is sufficient demand) from
| https://github.com/akovacs/uploadserver/releases/ or compile
| from source using a nightly rust toolchain if you prefer.
|
| Compared to cloud services or `python -m http.server 8000`,
| this is extremely fast since the server is written in rust, it
| is fairly simple (compiled and stripped binary is typically
| less than 3MB), it sends everything over local LAN, it seems to
| handle large files (over 4GB) fairly well, and you only need to
| install the software on one machine.
|
| For additional details, please see:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39665095
| ickwabe wrote:
| I highly suggest people give Techno Tims walkthrough of this
| software. It explains use case and demonstrates it across all
| major platforms. https://youtu.be/2ITezMkbAqE?si=-YVJq8iqwFYQ9gMr
| crtasm wrote:
| Without the tracking code:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ITezMkbAqE
| Saris wrote:
| Love this tool, great for moving a few files between devices.
| olgs wrote:
| Agree, this tool is fantastic for adhoc transfers on my Android,
| iOS and Mac devices.
|
| Even works over tailscale on Wifi with Client isolation on.
| pkalinowski wrote:
| I'm using snapdrop.net for that. It requires a server, but
| clients only need to open a webpage, so it's easier after initial
| setup. I run mine on Synology server.
|
| Too bad it seems to not be mantained anymore
| anon115 wrote:
| som1 consider making 1 in bluetooth since now bluetooth web api
| exists
| anon115 wrote:
| wifi direct would be nice
| smusamashah wrote:
| There are a few browser based p2p file sharing tools [1] and a
| bunch of CLI tools out there as well for the same job.
|
| # Browser Based
|
| 1. FilePizza https://file.pizza/
|
| 2. SnapDrop https://snapdrop.net/
| https://github.com/RobinLinus/snapdrop. A fork PairDrop
| https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/pairdrop
|
| 3. Instant.io https://instant.io/
|
| 4. file ai http://fileai.com/
|
| 5. Send Anywhere https://send-anywhere.com/
|
| 6. Just Beaam it https://www.justbeamit.com/
|
| 7. Yt2fb.in https://yt2fb.in/file-transfer/
|
| 8. drop.lol https://drop.lol/ https://github.com/mat-sz/filedrop
|
| # CLI
|
| 1. croc https://github.com/schollz/croc
|
| 2. p2pcopy https://github.com/psantosl/p2pcopy
|
| 3. pcp https://github.com/dennis-tra/pcp
|
| 4. wormhole-william https://github.com/psanford/wormhole-william
|
| [1]:
| https://gist.github.com/SMUsamaShah/fd6e275e44009b72f64d0570...
| fuzzythinker wrote:
| More:
|
| LANDrop - https://landrop.app/
|
| ShareDrop - https://www.sharedrop.io/
|
| beamit - https://justbeamit.com/
|
| payload - https://payload.app/ (as mentioned)
|
| pairdrop - https://pairdrop.net/
|
| all via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37251411
|
| Also:
|
| pixeldrain - https://pixeldrain.com/
| djfergus wrote:
| The PairDrop dev appears to have been shadowbanned by github:
|
| https://github.com/fm-sys/snapdrop-android/issues/356#issuec...
| maxloh wrote:
| Also WebSocket-based WebWormHole
|
| https://webwormhole.io/
| tamimio wrote:
| From my experience where I wanted to send some files from my
| iPhone to an android based screen in my car, local send and
| landrop where the best, the rest needed internet or didn't work
| properly, like sharedrop, snapdrop, pairdrop, and arc.
| ComputerGuru wrote:
| Best thing about this is that it is available for most of the
| major platforms with an easy to use GUI. iOS app is excellent.
|
| Some important bugs to beware:
|
| On Windows having the LocalSend app running with the Window
| visible (after a receive?) prevents the system from sleeping. On
| Linux, it does the same even if the window isn't showing. On
| Linux, having the LocalSend window visible and idle consumes an
| insane amount of cpu with the desktop window manager constantly
| refreshing damages. On Windows, the app (with the "startup
| minimized" option checked) if configured to launch at startup
| will often show the window anyway (not that you want it running
| in the background given the sleep issues).
| arvindkumarc wrote:
| Yes. Love this cross platform, non proprietary software for
| local file sharing.
| ahmedfromtunis wrote:
| Thanks for the heads-up.
|
| I just installed it and it's the most most hassle-free
| experience I ever had with this type of apps.
|
| My only gripe with it is that I need the receiving device awake
| and the app on the foreground (at least on android) for it to
| work. Even with the quick save option activated.
|
| I wish quick share (ne nearby share) was available on linux
| (even if via chrome).
| grishka wrote:
| > I wish quick share (ne nearby share) was available on linux
| (even if via chrome).
|
| I made NearDrop, which is a macOS implementation of Nearby
| Share: https://github.com/grishka/NearDrop
|
| And of course, someone tried to reimplement it for other
| OSes: https://github.com/PlutoHDDev/CrossDrop
| ahmedfromtunis wrote:
| I'll give them a spin, thanks for the links!
| harikb wrote:
| > having the LocalSend window visible and idle consumes an
| insane amount of cpu with the desktop window manager
|
| so Flutter :)
| Alifatisk wrote:
| Any backstory to this?
| harikb wrote:
| Let me see if I can explain it - These "declarative" UI
| frameworks work very different from any UI frameworks in
| the past. They (theoretically) rebuild the data structures
| backing the current view of the UI and do that 60+ frames
| per second.
|
| Good thing is that there is very little chance of data-out-
| of-sync-with-UI kind of bugs. But the bad part is that tons
| and tons of alloc/dealloc and literally the code is
| executing all the time.
|
| Now in practice, it is not all that bad. They have a
| magical garbage collector that makes is all better. Every
| release it just slightly better, but I can't help think
| that they are solving a problem they created to begin with.
| But I might be too old and may be the productivity is worth
| it.
|
| This is in addition to the fact that none of the widgets
| are truly native. The "code" is native, but the UI is not.
| Even react-native apps might be this way, but they at least
| use Safari/webkit widgets, if not truly native iOS/Android
| widgets.
| Alifatisk wrote:
| > But the bad part is that tons and tons of alloc/dealloc
| and literally the code is executing all the time.
|
| Considering what you said, it's quite impressive that
| Flutter is able to perform this well and render thousands
| of widgets per second.
|
| https://youtu.be/pD38Yyz7N2E?si=7jTaQdX9ln37_fHR&t=3052
| remram wrote:
| Thousands is supposed to be a lot?
|
| Also what if I want to run other apps at the same time?
| They better not have too many widgets of their own?
| Alifatisk wrote:
| You don't think rendering thousands of widgets per second
| is a lot?
|
| Regarding your other question, I don't know.
| sunnybeetroot wrote:
| Any chance you could raise an issue?
| Solvency wrote:
| Would've been cool if they concat'd LocalSend into simply "Lend".
| themusicgod1 wrote:
| github only = this is not open source
|
| unlike, say, wormhole
| ddtaylor wrote:
| ?
| commoner wrote:
| LocalSend is also on Codeberg:
|
| https://codeberg.org/localsend/localsend
|
| While GitHub is not open source, LocalSend is under the MIT
| License:
| https://codeberg.org/localsend/localsend/src/branch/main/LIC...
| pastage wrote:
| Codeberg has become a really great service I used it
| commercially for the first time this winter it should be the
| new Github IMHO.
| KetoManx64 wrote:
| I don't think you understand what open source means then
| LorenzoGood wrote:
| They have the best privacy policy ever:
| https://localsend.org/#/privacy
| tjoff wrote:
| Doesn't say anything about what they share other than that they
| don't collect personal data...
| fddrdplktrew wrote:
| I guess they send it straight to the spying agencies from
| your personal computing device...
| Brian_K_White wrote:
| Yes they do?
|
| There's only a few lines in the entire thing, so I don't know
| how you can miss that twice they say they don't collect
| anything in the first place, and then they say: "Since we do
| not collect such information, there's no possibility of us
| using, sharing, or selling this data."
|
| If you want to say that this technically isn't a declaration,
| I would simply disagree and count it as one.
|
| Frankly, being an open source app, I would be fine if it even
| said something like "It's open source. If you think it does
| anything nefarious, go ahead and show it." without even a
| suggestion of a promise. But they actually do make a
| declaration of both intent and action.
|
| Any other data that isn't personal data they might have, like
| their download estimates or something, is theirs none of our
| business.
| tjoff wrote:
| What? Collect anything? They say they don't collect
| personal data. They don't mention what they do with non-
| personal data.
|
| > _Frankly, being an open source app, I would be fine if it
| even said something like "It's open source. If you think it
| does anything nefarious, go ahead and show it." without
| even a suggestion of a promise. But they actually do make a
| declaration of both intent and action._
|
| That is just horrendous. No. That is not a bar that is
| acceptable for any app, free, paid, open source or not.
| Likely illegal too.
|
| > _Any other data that isn 't personal data they might
| have, like their download estimates or something, is theirs
| none of our business. _
|
| Or something... such as information about files being
| sent... Or app telemetry etc.
|
| That was my point.
|
| I don't have reason to distrust them, but calling it the
| best "privacy policy ever" is a huge stretch given what it
| lacks.
| xeyownt wrote:
| What would be non-personal data in this case?
| tjoff wrote:
| ? > _" Or something... such as information about files
| being sent... Or app telemetry etc."_
|
| Information about files being sent could be anything from
| metadata, checksums, to something like (but not likely)
| CSAM.
|
| Could also be data about your device(s), anything really.
| Brian_K_White wrote:
| But what though? Do you have an example of any such
| thing? Github makes it effortless to link righ to a
| specific line of code in a file. Show us a single one of
| these anythings.
| tjoff wrote:
| There must be a disconnect here.
|
| We are talking about the privacy policy. Nothing else.
|
| The policy says that they don't collect, store, or
| process any personal data. That is great!
|
| What is not great is that the policy does not discuss
| whether or what type of other non-personal data is
| collected/stored/processed. That makes it a bad privacy
| policy. That is what I commented on.
| 2024throwaway wrote:
| Could you explain in what way sharing non-personal data
| could violate someone's privacy?
|
| You mention earlier data about your devices, this seems
| to me like it would fall into the `personal data`
| category, and be excluded.
| Brian_K_White wrote:
| Less is better. It has nothing because it needs nothing.
| That's the point.
|
| This is a stupid thing to try to contrive some way to
| criticize. It's literally as good as it can get.
|
| Also, not doing your homework for you for some free
| software where you can not only take or leave the
| software as you please, but have the source too, is maybe
| illegal? Dude you kill me. Say stuff like that for
| another 40 minutes and you got a Netflix special.
| dolmen wrote:
| But they also have Terms of Service
| (https://localsend.org/#/terms-of-service) which are not so
| great: You represent that you are over the
| age of 18. The Company does not permit those under 18 to use
| the Service.
|
| I planned to use it with family (kids).
| rchaud wrote:
| That line is probably in there to indemnify against the risk
| of kids being kids and sending each other illegal material.
| remram wrote:
| > We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. Thus, you
| are advised to review this page periodically for any changes.
| We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy
| Policy on this page. These changes are effective immediately
| after they are posted on this page.
|
| This actually seems really awful?
| djfergus wrote:
| Unfortunately does not work with Chromebooks:
|
| https://github.com/localsend/localsend/issues/29
| SiDevesh wrote:
| Its amazing to me how AirDrop is such a big plus for Apple
| ecosystem even in 2024 given technologically it is one of the
| simplest things possible. The innovation is purely on the
| alignment of interests Apple has and its competitors don't
| because they are all competing with each other and then also
| Apple.
| lofenfew wrote:
| if everyone has samsung they all have quick share or whatever.
| lockin isn't laudible
| JeremyNT wrote:
| Google calls this feature "quick share." Of course the
| problem is that it's all proprietary and Apple has no
| interest in supporting transfers with non Apple devices.
|
| It's pretty typical on HN to see somebody singing the praises
| of apple while failing to notice the competition provides
| similar functionality.
| Almondsetat wrote:
| >technologically it is one of the simplest things possible
|
| then how come there are zero FOSS "AirDrop replacements" that
| seamlessly create an ad-hoc wireless network between two
| devices to allow for truly p2p high speed transfers?
| g_p wrote:
| My guess is that it's difficult to interface with the
| system's Bluetooth and WiFi sufficiently without a native app
| on any modern platform (iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux)
| enough to create and advertise that kind of ad hoc network,
| without a native app on the device (perhaps even with system
| permissions).
|
| Since Apple won't implement any third party one, and theirs
| is natively integrated with their platform, half the
| ecosystem won't implement or adopt any FOSS alternative.
|
| Since such an alternative won't be pre loaded on handsets
| (and the Android ecosystem is complex without one single
| vendor producing firmware everyone ships), the rival would
| need to be installed manually by users before use.
|
| Not impossible - WhatsApp and other apps have (in some
| markets) gained near-ubiquity without being built-in, but I
| think the native app barrier here will always be a hurdle.
| And Apple presumably knows and strategizes that an
| alternative won't gain adoption if their half of the
| ecosystem won't adopt it, therefore holding back the wider
| market and keeping airdrop functionality as a USP.
| Almondsetat wrote:
| If that were the case someone would at least have made a
| version for Linux devices since you can have full access to
| them
| agazso wrote:
| There is KDEConnect, which has apps for all major platforms
| (iOS, android, macOS, Windows and of course Linux) and some
| more. I even used between Apple devices when AirDrop did not
| work for some reason.
|
| https://kdeconnect.kde.org/
| Almondsetat wrote:
| KDEConnect does not implement what I've said
| berkes wrote:
| It doesn't?
| Almondsetat wrote:
| Does it create a seamless p2p wifi connection between any
| pair of devices it's installed on?
| JeremyNT wrote:
| Kde connect requires two devices already connected to the
| same local wireless network.
| popcalc wrote:
| I dusted off a Samsung dumbphone from 2011 and was amazed to
| learn it could send files directly to my PC over Bluetooth and
| vice-versa.
| bmicraft wrote:
| That still works, as it always has.
| rchaud wrote:
| Proprietary lock-in methods might put you on the cover of CEO
| Magazine (if that exists), but it's not innovation.
|
| Here's how Apple describes its EU-mandated USB-C port on the
| iPhone 15, after rejecting criticisms about proprietary cables
| for years:
|
| "The new USB-C connector lets you charge your Mac or iPad with
| the same cable you use to charge iPhone 15. You can even use
| iPhone 15 to charge Apple Watch or AirPods.5 Bye-bye, cable
| clutter."
|
| https://www.apple.com/ca/iphone-15/
|
| The reason this keeps happening is because Apple (and Google)
| keep widening the feature gap between computers and phones,
| because the latter gives consumers far less choice when it
| comes to using third-party applications and peripherals.
| acidburnNSA wrote:
| I was talking to my brother about phones the other day and he has
| to have an iphone for work. He's a federal firefighter in the USA
| who was hot-shotting all last summer. When they're way out in the
| middle of nowhere with no cell and no central wifi routers
| anywhere they use AirDrop to transfer maps and stuff to team
| members before splitting up. Kinda interesting. Would this tool
| allow that kind of thing, e.g. for Android to iphone?
| sedatk wrote:
| Yes.
| cl3misch wrote:
| Can you elaborate? How does it work without the devices
| sharing the same Wifi?
|
| I just skimmed the readme. It states a "local network"
| multiple times. So in this example, the firefighters need a
| Wifi network to connect the devices. Not because the files
| are sent over the internet, but because LocalSend doesn't
| create an ad-hoc network unlike to Airdrop.
|
| So OP: technically yes, but the experience is not quite the
| same.
| sedatk wrote:
| Sorry I missed the part "no wifi routers available". They
| need to be on the same Wifi with this app, you're right.
| t0bia_s wrote:
| VPN on devices to same network, ie Wireguard or Tailscale.
| RF_Savage wrote:
| Won't this still require network connectivity to
| function?
| zie wrote:
| I mean you could build a little server that offers all
| this one per fire-truck or something, but it's probably
| overkill when simpler solutions exist :)
|
| Then you could have the fire-trucks mesh network with
| each other!
|
| Sarcasm alert: I'm sure that is bound to be 100% reliable
| out in the middle of nowhere, with whatever cheap power
| converter they used to provide power from the 12V
| batteries in the truck, and hopefully doesn't drain them
| :)
| fauigerzigerk wrote:
| I think it could still be possible by connecting to the
| wifi hotspot on one of the phones:
|
| https://developer.android.com/develop/connectivity/wifi/loc
| a...
| cl3misch wrote:
| Yep, that should be possible and does not require a
| router. I would think it is significantly less low-
| friction than native Airdrop for a firefighter on mission
| though...
| k4rli wrote:
| It could have an option to create a hidden hotspot and
| have the other phone also be able to discover the hotspot
| automatically (app specific SSID name is searched for and
| if user is not already in wifi, and hidden hotspot
| doesn't exist, then it will be created for the duration
| of transfer). Airdrop doesn't seem too different.
| baruz wrote:
| A hotspot requires a cellular connection to an existing
| network. AirDrop creates a ZeroConf network, which
| advertises its presence to other devices.
| ambichook wrote:
| a hotspot that provides _internet_ requires a cellular
| connection, you can still just make a hotspot that has
| not internet connection and acts as a regular lan
| johnchristopher wrote:
| Are Airdrop networks wifi or bluetooth based ? (or
| something else)
| cl3misch wrote:
| Handshake is bluetooth, transfer is wifi
| ianburrell wrote:
| AirDrop uses Bluetooth and UWB to find nearby devices and
| then creates Wifi Direct network between devices to do the
| transfer.
| sedatk wrote:
| It's not in Microsoft Store, but it can be installed via WinGet
| on Windows machines: winget install
| LocalSend.LocalSend
| Alifatisk wrote:
| Is there a website where you can search for packages for
| winget? Like homebrew.
| mherrmann wrote:
| https://winstall.app. There's also winget.run, but it's no
| longer updated.
| MasterYoda wrote:
| Does anyone knows if it is possible to send folders (includings
| subfolders) or is just files?
|
| Have been looking for a simple way to share files between pc and
| android wireless but not via internet, but seems it always is
| just file/s you could transfer, not folders with everything in
| them.
|
| If LocalSend is the same and can only transfer selected file/s,
| have anyone any tips on a alternative app that do the same but
| also with folders?
| gala8y wrote:
| Probably not what you are looking for, but Syncthing, Syncthing
| Fork on Android, if you have LAN. You can switch on only local
| announce (switch global off in adv. settings).
| minhmeoke wrote:
| If you can install software on the computer and have an Android
| 11 or newer phone, one way is to use the adb tool from android
| sdk tools to create a connection over the local wifi network
| which you can adb push folders over.
|
| # Initial Setup
|
| 1. Install Android Platform Tools from:
| https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools#...
| and verify that you can execute the adb tool.
|
| 2. Connect the Android device and the computer to the same Wi-
| Fi network
|
| 3. Also connect the Android device to the computer via USB
| cable (just for this initial setup)
|
| 4. Pair the phone with the computer and enable Wireless
| debugging as described here:
| https://developer.android.com/tools/adb#connect-to-a-device-...
|
| # Subsequent usage (does not require USB cable):
|
| 5. Toggle the Wireless Debugging quick setting toggle to enable
| adb connections from your computer to your phone
|
| 6. Retrieve the Android device's IP address in Settings - About
| - Status.
|
| 7. On the computer command line type: adb connect ip-address-
| of-device:5555
|
| 8. Push the folder to the Android device: adb push
| /path/to/folder/to/copy/on/computer
| /sdcard/path/to/destination/on/android/device
| chaxor wrote:
| I think you can make tar.zst pretty easily in Android?
| klabb3 wrote:
| Payload lets you drag and drop directories and lists of files.
| It also handles gracefully resuming after network errors.
|
| No mobile support yet but since Tauri is rolling it out, it'll
| be easier to add it as soon as I can make time.
|
| https://payload.app/
|
| Disclaimer: I'm the creator.
| Alifatisk wrote:
| What makes it blazingly fast?
| klabb3 wrote:
| Haha that's _currently_ a way to explain to people who are
| used to hosting /sync based cloud solutions that anything
| that is (a) local p2p and (b) doesn't need to upload-
| before-download is much faster. It's also faster than
| WebRTC based solutions which there are dozens, WebRTC kind
| of sucks for large stuff.
|
| That said, the next version will have multi connection tcp
| striping, which _is_ a lot faster than any single tcp
| solution in many cases, especially over long distances,
| similar to some ftp /usenet clients. (Spoiler there will be
| online p2p transfers. See https://github.com/betamos/rdv if
| curious)
| treefry wrote:
| I tried to set up Dart runtime and run cli on a Linux server.
| Then I realized that it just prints a message and quits. Maybe
| it's better to directly tell user cli isn't implemented yet.
| ho_schi wrote:
| I miss Bluetooth for discovery. And Bluetooth for transmission of
| small files. * Eliminates the need to be in one
| network of any kind. * Allows nearby detection. *
| Nowadays good for laptop <-> smartphone * Possiblilty to
| create AP with WiFi for big transfers
|
| Bluetooth discovery is the strength of AirDrop. I'm not sure but
| I think Apple creates a temporary WiFi and the other party is
| connecting to it briefly for big transfers?
|
| The application Teleport [1] uses Zeroconf for discovery. It
| misses cross-platform support. Probably it is better use
| Multicast directly, setup of Avahi is complicated (conflicts) and
| requires a Daemon.
|
| PS: People often forget that Bluetooth has already the built-in
| capability to transfer files (e.g. vCard). I only remember GNOME
| to present it and then also not in Nautilus. Same as WebDAV which
| works much better than SMB for me. Again, most people just don't
| know that there is WebDAV built-in.
| janandonly wrote:
| The screenshot on the landing page is a slap in the face of
| Apple, for good reasons, I think.
|
| Yesterday, a friend tried to airdrop a picture to me from his
| iPhone 11 Pro to my iPhone 15 Pro. Touching the top of the
| phones did the funny jiggle, but didn't send the file. He then
| clicked on my picture in AirDrop, which showed him "waiting on
| confirmation" but I never got a pop-up. After a few retries and
| reboot, we gave up. He sent me the picture over WhatsApp,
| which, ironically, "just works."
|
| Apple needs to get these bugs fixed. I lament the fact that
| they remain more focused on hardware then software.
| dheerajvs wrote:
| I continue to use TrebleShot[0] although it's repo is archived
| since it also enables browsing files using a Web browser. So you
| don't need to install it on the receiver side.
|
| Does LocalSend also have this capability?
|
| [0] https://github.com/trebleshot/android
| lukesalis wrote:
| I used to use a program called dukto to send files and text to
| other devices on my network.
| hacker_88 wrote:
| Use NearbySharing app for Android to Any Window,it uses windows
| built-in nearby sharing ) .
|
| Use Quickshare (built-in app for Android, previously called
| Nearby Share)for other androids .
| berkes wrote:
| Won't share to and from a Linux desktop though.
|
| LocalSend works on all platforms.
| crazylogger wrote:
| Great stuff! I wonder if it's possible to make it available as a
| web app? It would be even cooler if no app install is required,
| just send the link to a receiver via text message.
| zikduruqe wrote:
| https://snapdrop.net
| aPoCoMiLogin wrote:
| i'm using it from time to time, for quick share of small
| files, and it always works great
| zikduruqe wrote:
| And when I have larger content that needs to be shared,
| Signal's "Note to Self" works across platforms also. (It's
| the only reason I have Signal installed since I don't use
| it for communications)
| sinuhe69 wrote:
| I use LANDrop, another open source project, with satisfaction.
| The thing about LocalSend is its low transfer speed. Somehow it's
| even slower than LANDrop and much lower than SMB or Croc.
|
| I have also a very weird problem with detection: my iPad can't
| send to my Windows PC, but my PC can! Restart server, turn off
| firewall ... all no help. My LAN is a bit complex with VLAN so I
| didn't report the issue because it might just be me.
|
| However, LANDrop doesn't seem to have the same problem. That's
| weird square.
| sunshinesnacks wrote:
| I just got setup to use LocalSend, but then saw your comment
| and was having second thoughts.
|
| Comparing the GitHub repos for the two, it seems like LANDrop
| is pretty stale, while LocalSend is very active.
|
| https://github.com/LANDrop/LANDrop
| https://github.com/localsend/localsend
|
| Something to consider, although I'm not sure how much it
| practically matters.
| devmor wrote:
| I've been using LANDrop between 2 iOS devices, an Android
| device, 2 Windows devices and an Ubuntu device since I first
| saw it posted on HN and have never had an issue with it
| personally.
| pbnjeh wrote:
| A lot of mentions of Airdrop, here. Didn't some versions of it
| expose unique identifiers, that became a problem in e.g. Hong
| Kong?
|
| I'm not on Apple, so I didn't sufficiently retain the details,
| but I remember reading about this a year or two ago.
| CharlesW wrote:
| https://www.engadget.com/china-says-it-can-bypass-airdrop-pr...
| dolmen wrote:
| From the Terms of Service [1]: You represent
| that you are over the age of 18. The Company does not permit
| those under 18 to use the Service.
|
| [1]: https://localsend.org/#/terms-of-service
| elguindi wrote:
| I wrote a similar, but web-based, service focusing on peer to
| peer file sharing. Since it's a web app, there are file size
| restrictions imposed by browsers but give it a shot! A signalling
| server is used for connecting the clients but you don't need it
| once you're connected to your peer, file data is only ever sent
| over a P2P connection. By choice, there is no fallback TURN
| server so some network configurations that aren't able to
| establish P2P connectivity can't share files. The price of
| privacy!
|
| https://dropnow.elguindi.xyz/
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