I had a lot of trouble with keeping the connections stable and having to reatart services with both KDEConnect and Warpinator, but LocalSend has been perfect every time. I’m using a Fedora laptop with a Pixel 7 Pro running GrapheneOS.
I don’t want an app to send files, I want to be able to rsync files to my phone like a normal computer.
I have data I want backed up so an rsync script sends it to a few different devices to keep multiple copies. I don’t want to manually drag/drop files for that, I just want my script to take care of it.
No Pairdrop?
This works for me, for any adhoc files I want to get to any device any time, any place…
For any regular file transfers, syncthing.
I’ve used all of these except packet and localsend.
Warpinator: your firewall is closed open it. It’s a fine app, insecure mode is a bit like airdrop for Apple devices, send files to any unsecured warpinator instance on your network.
KDE connect: calling this a file transfer app is like calling a Corvette a radio. Like, yeah it does that but that’s not the point. If ALL you want is file transfer, there are smaller apps. S’good shit though, check it out.
Syncthing: idk maybe I’m dumb but I didn’t get it. Felt like it was for backups, could never access my files on the destination device after transfers despite verification that they are in fact where I put them. Maybe a weird permissions issue?
Localsend is absolutely my go-to. It is awesome.
iOS, computer, android, whatever, it just always works and is fast and everything is extremely user friendly.
I essentially stopped using kdeconnect except for its automatic clipboard and notifications.
Syncthing is a bit more complicated to set up, but that is what I use for “file sync” which in my view is different than file sharing which is different than file hosting like next/owncloud.
I believe in the conspiracy theory that the reason connecting devices directly to each other anymore without doing a bunch of backflips through third parties is more or less intentional. If you could send a file to your friend sitting right next to you with some sort of wifi-direct or bluetooth or even just via usb-C cable that is seamless and actually works, it would impact every web service from facebook to onedrive. You also have a chilling effect on what kinds of data you’re going to share as well.
That said, tailscale is the ticket for me. The client is BSD licensed, and there exists a self-hostable server which is floss (headscale). Works like airdrop but better.
I miss the bluetooth option for sharing files :(
It’s rare that I actually want to use it and it was never anywhere near fast but it was a nice thing to have in my opinion and I am disappointed that it was removed
