this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2024
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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:

  • 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)

  • 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.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 4 months ago (2 children)

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"

[–] BeatTakeshi 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Relies on local network as the name says

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

hotspot works fine.

one connects to other's hotspot and both can send/receive files. Helps when you're out in the middle of nowhere

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[–] drawerair 1 points 2 months ago

I read that pairdrop.net was 👍 too.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Localsend has never failed me. You can find it on F-Droid for android and their website for installation options for desktop.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Doesn't this require the devices to be connected to the same wifi?

Edit: OP already replied so nvm

[–] BeatTakeshi 6 points 4 months ago

The description says it is over the local WiFi though, so not what I'm looking for

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago (1 children)

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).

[–] BeatTakeshi 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

You are right that it is workable, I will edit my post. I thought quickshare was a Samsung thing only

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] BeatTakeshi 3 points 4 months ago (4 children)

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?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

If you use a free VPN like Proton you'll need to disconnect from it to be able to see devices on LAN.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Even though KDE Connect came with Endeavour OS (arch BTW) I had to allow some firewall settings.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

And wifi direct isn't a local network?

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[–] olafurp 7 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I use KDE Connect with my laptop and it just works (Linux with KDE required)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Or gnome with gsconnect. I think it's actually even out on windows now...

[–] 800XL 2 points 4 months ago

Works wih bspwm too

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

Linux with KDE required

Not true, it's available for all major distros regardless of DE as well as Windows and Mac OS

https://kdeconnect.kde.org/download.html

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

I just use syncthing but not sure outside of home wifi.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Yeah love it. I use it to share files between Linux, Android, Windows, Steam Deck, and MacOS. Best OS agnostic sync tool I've used.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (2 children)

@stardust @muhyb LocalSend for simple file transfer is quite nice

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Looks simpler to set up than syncthing. Nice find.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (9 children)

You know that you can use a cable or a flash drive right? Fiddling with microSD cards seems annoying.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

I use Superbeam. You can send to desktop too

[–] punseye 5 points 4 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] BeatTakeshi 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I was specifically asking for what you haven't done in ages

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

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.

[–] shalva97 5 points 4 months ago

when there is LocalSend one doesn't even need to know what is wifi direct.

[–] DarkCloud 4 points 4 months ago

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.

[–] EisFrei 2 points 4 months ago

Warpinator works quite well for me

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)

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.

[–] BeatTakeshi 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Sorry if it is misunderstanding. I meant no app if possible, but a Foss app would be OK if unavoidable

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] BeatTakeshi 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Thanks, that's an interesting option. It reminded me that I used primitive ftpd a long time ago, which is a Foss app to create a local ftp server, which you can then browse from other devices. I had forgotten as it was probably 6 or 7 years ago, and I'm happy to see it's still being developed. This still relies on a local network of course, like yours. I don't know if it could work over mobile data, I suppose you would need to run a full server and a domain name. Mind you it is feasible

[–] Valmond 2 points 4 months ago

I'm interested!

[–] AceSLive 1 points 4 months ago

Yeah bring back the comment! Even if OP didn't want it, some of the rest of us might benefit from it :)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

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.

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