Hey,
I was wondering what folks use to quickly send a file or a link between your PC and android phone in a lightweight and self hosted way.
Currently I use syncthing to copy files around, but I’m looking for something more immediate, and quick than doesn’t involve searching for folders in a file manager.
Example use case: Send a file from PC to phone. Notification pops up on phone, tap it to access.
(PC runs OpenBSD)
What lightweight software do you guys use?
Stuff I tried so far:
- syncthing
- xmpp
- tox
- scp and termux.
- magic wormhole
- telegram saved messages
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Localsend works great for me.
Yeah, can recommend that one too Although it sometimes seems to have some performance problems with a large amount of files - could be, that it’s already fixed though
Yeah for large folders and stuff probably better to use SFTP or WebDAV
open source, can be self hosted or you can use the official instance.
Personally I have been using KDE connect most of the time when I am at home.
Pairdrop I use more when sharing with other people across the internet.
pairdrop
I like this a lot.
A question. Docs say:
Your files are sent using WebRTC, encrypting them in transit. Still you have to trust the PairDrop server. To ensure the connection is secure and there is no MITM there is a plan to make PairDrop zero trust by encrypting the signaling and implementing a verification process. See issue #180 to keep updated.
Does this mean if you self-host on your LAN for personal use without https, then nothing is encrypted, or does WebRTC negotiate its own crypto?
Never heard of that tool. Thank you for sharing it!
I use pairdrop. I don’t personally self host it, but that option is available. It’s better suited to more one-off situations, as there’s no history kept anywhere.
Selfhost: https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/pairdrop
Open instance: pairdrop.net
Not heard of this one. Thanks.
As I have basically all devices connected to my Nextcloud instance, I simply use that. I don’t have any “time-critical” file transfers though.
Well my transfers aren’t “time critical” either, but life feels easier if I don’t have to jump through hoops to solve a task that involves copy files around.
Re: next cloud, looking for something more lightweight than that.
My solution is scp with termux. I can’t suggest any better alternative.
rsync?
Kde connect is also a option
A bit heavy for my taste.
What is heavy about that? Is it more complex on BSD or something?
Installing KDE will pull in hundreds of packages.
There should be clients for other DEs. I know there’s a Gnome specific one and I think there’s an independent one as well.
I’d use anything else that is based on rsync over Syncthing
FX File Explorer has a local web-access feature. Start it on your phone and access via local IP, then just turn it off when you’re done.
Don’t use on public wifi, it’s http-only.
Ssh and X-Plore File Explorer.
Internal, sd card, ssh, ftp(s), google drive, dropbox, and a bunch of other cloud providers; treats it all like one big file system that I can casually copy/move files between.
I was a dedicated xplore user for years until I saw all the advertising cookies that they stuffed into it. That made me sad and I uninstall it.
I just paid the whole 4$ for the pro version and to support an otherwise free app I’ve quite enjoyed.
No ads/tracking anymore.
Devs gotta eat.
I also had the pro version. Last time I installed it, it asked me to review a bunch of cookies.
This was about a year ago. Could have changed since then.
I’ve tried LocalSend for this, but I usually end up using more reliable ways like Syncthing (not instantly transfered, but at a decent speed) or sending myself the file on Element for Matrix (as good as instantaneous).
Kdeconnect. Alternatively NextCloud or sending an email to myself.
Seconding sending an email. SMB for big stuff.
Here are a bunch of local services I’ve used at one point or another from phone to PC or PC to PC. Not sure if any links are out of date.
KDE Connect
Wormhole (Closed Source)
- Site: https://wormhole.app/
LocalSend
- Site: https://localsend.org/
- Source: https://github.com/localsend/localsend
SnapDrop
- Site: https://snapdrop.net/
- Source: https://github.com/RobinLinus/snapdrop
ShareDrop
- Site: https://www.sharedrop.io/
- Source: https://github.com/szimek/sharedrop
FilePizza
- Site: https://file.pizza/
- Source: https://github.com/kern/filepizza
Original Wormhole
- Site: https://webwormhole.io/
- Source: https://github.com/saljam/webwormhole
PeerTransfer
JustBeamIt
- Site: https://justbeamit.com/
- Source: https://github.com/justbeamit/beam
Send Visee
- Website: https://send.vis.ee/
- Source: https://github.com/timvisee/send
- List of instances at: https://github.com/timvisee/send-instances
+1 Love LocalSend!
Hey wormhole is closed source? Wow I didn’t knew that.
There are two, the original open source version and its forks, and then the closed source version.
+1 KDE Connect. File transfer works great on Android, Linux, and even on Windows 10/11! Clipboard sync is also a game changer; super easy to copy and paste across devices.
PairDrop is a fork of SnapDrop, which at one point had more features and active development. Don’t know, how it is nowadays though.
+1 for LocalSend. Well worth checking out.
Another +1 for it here. Use it multiple times a day between Linux, MacOS, android, and iOS.
I often spin up a quick python http server. Just go to the folder which has the files you want to transfer and run the following command:
python3 -m http.server. This will server the folder contentServing HTTP on 0.0.0.0 port 8000 (http://0.0.0.0:8000/) .... On your phone you can then browse to http://PC_IP:8000 and download what you want/need.Is it safe though?
Too much typing, especially if transferring from phone to computer.
Thanks though.
Taildrop works relatively well for most all circumstances. Only thing is you gotta use trayscale or cli currently for sending files from a Linux/bsd machine. I don’t know if opened has a port for trayscale but it definitely has a port of tailscale.
email.
