this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2024
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Airdrop is a little bit less friction than all of the other technologies you mention, but the real problem is that Apple has declined to implement any of the technologies you mentioned, and decided to only support Airdrop for transferring files between devices.
So it you want to transfer a file from iPhone to iPhone, than Airdrop is easy and frictionless.
If you want to transfer a file from Android to Android, then you have all the options you mention and many more to choose from.
But if you want to transfer a file from iPhone to Android (or Android to iPhone), then there basically isn't any options. Airdrop doesn't work on Android because Apple doesn't allow it. And all the options you mentioned doesn't work be cause Apple has refused to implement them.
Back before I got my iPhone I remember transferring files from my Android to and from my iPad and MacBook. This was back in 2019 so I cannot recall exactly how it was done, but it was some Bluetooth thing I did.
LocalSend works on them all, its open source and is completely frictionless.
https://localsend.org/
You are correct, and I use it myself, right up until you aren't on the same local network...
I actually haven't tested whether it works if you make a mobile hotspot... But being out in a bar that doesn't offer WiFi, would then require you to first set up a mobile hotspot, get the other person to connect, then download localsend before you can actually transfer the file. And even if the bar offered WiFi, you would kinda hope that the bar has enabled client isolation on the network to avoid spreading malware... But that would in turn defeat Localsend.
With Airdrop you don't need any of that, given that both people have iDevices
LocalSend is so good 👌
I suppose I don't understand what you mean when you say "friction". I'm assuming you mean some sort of difficulty or complexity that makes the process less straightforward than "pressing button make airdrop go brrrr" - in which case I would say is entirely consistent with the ecosystem apple has made for itself.
I don't own an Apple device, but the few time I have interacted with Airdrop it has basically been:
And this has just worked regardless of which combination of Apple devices I had available at the time.
In the ideal case this is just as simple for Androids. But I have tried many different combinations of the technologies that was mentioned above and different types of devices, different brands. And sometimes it just works. But way too often I see a failure for the devices to discover eachother, or once discovered the file failed to transfer, with no obvious explanation of why.
Lol, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . I've used rooted custom ROM devices since cyanogen mod says and have never had an issue. Weird ones too. Obscure global phones only sold in india or s america. Some work better than others. But I've never had issues with proximity file transfers. Wifi direct is my favorite, but some locked devices restrict this. In those cases BT worked fine (albeit slower).
That would be very frustrating if that were also my experience though. I suppose I can understand a use case for wanting another option. Thanks for the perspective!