Google Releases Nearby Share, Its Android AirDrop Clone for Windows

You now have a new way to connect your Windows PC to an Android device to share files: Nearby Share, an app Google released Wednesday and which will be bundled with upcoming PCs. From a report: As the name suggests, Nearby Share allows you to share files back and forth between Android devices and PCs. It's similar to Apple's AirDrop, with the key difference being that Nearby Share connects devices from two different companies, rather than iPhones and Macs. Google released the beta version of Nearby Share earlier this year.

Nearby Share connects your phone to your PC, but it can also be used for you to send files and photos to nearby Android phones that you don't use, as well as to nearby PCs. That makes it handy for simply sharing a photo at a concert, or dropping a file onto a friend's PC without hassle. You'll just need to be within about 16 feet to do so, Google says. Why use Nearby Share? Google's unspoken argument is that it's simpler to do so. There are already numerous ways to view and transfer files and photos from Android phones to PCs, from the tried-and-true sneakerware to uploading and downloading from the cloud, to more modern approaches like Microsoft's Your Phone, now called Phone Link. Device makers like Samsung also have released their own specific versions for Galaxy devices. Google, though, made its mark with Gmail and search, both functions that worked more simply and effectively than other solutions.

KDE Connect for Windows

[pecosdave]

Let's hope the file sharing component works better on the Windows version.

Re:

[youngone]

I've been using Warpinator since sometime last year. Windows/Linux/Android/iOS clients. Works very well.

Re:

[jred]

I fairly recently (and reluctantly) switched from Pixel to a Galaxy Flip. All I wanted was a phone that fit in my shirt pocket and wasn't an iPhone. Since I've switched, I realized all the little features that I loved that were Pixel only. Please, oh please! Stop turning phones into tablets!

Re:

[AmiMoJo]

This is the Windows app. Android phones have had it for a while now, but only to transfer between devices.

For Windows I use an FTP server on the phone. In theory you can use a USB cable, but it seems unreliable.

Re:

[thegarbz]

This is the Windows app.

The GP is likely talking about the Beta (including windows app) which was available to Pixel owners.

Bluetooth transfert anyone ?

[amayii]

IIRC I was already using that with Compaq Pocket PC / ipaq

Re:

[tlhIngan]

IIRC I was already using that with Compaq Pocket PC / ipaq

Bluetooth only works for small files of a few megabytes. Transfer anything larger and it becomes an interminable wait. So transferring a photo via Bluetooth is fine, but if you're trying to upload a whole album, there are methods that use Bluetooth for discovery and the WiFI to do the actual transfer.

Why do we need this in a cloud world?

[thegarbz]

I get it some people may not like clouds, but it seems like a strange offering to come from Google. This would appear to be at odds with their strategy of pushing everything into the cloud, where a simple Drive link can already get any file you need anywhere.

And for those people against Google going through your files there are self hosted clouds too like Owncloud or Seafile.

Re:

[martin-boundary]

The cloud only works when you have a high bandwidth link to your ISP. Lots of people have low bandwidth, and also flakey Wifi due to the neighbours, etc. If you think about it, from a computer science point of view, forcing a cloud middle man is stupid. If I want to transfer a file from device A to device B, why should I transfer it TWICE? First A to C, then C to B? Especially since the link between A and B is probably high bandwidth due to being nearest neighbours, while the two links A or B to C are prob

Re:

[thegarbz]

If you are sending something sized 100s of MB then I'd agree, and especially for a computer science point of view. But that makes up a rounding error of almost nothing of actual transfers. The majority of transfers between devices are small things, pictures, PDFs, text files, basic tiny app exports.

And the requirement for "twice" isn't actually real either. In practice for many devices the transfer on demand at the time it is needed is only done once. E.g. You want that video I took yesterday? Here's a link

Re:

[martin-boundary]

Google has always tried to push its services onto Android phones, but that doesn't mean OEMs are willing to go there all the way. It think in terms of connectivity problems you may be missing the fact that many places on Earth have spotty service as a function of the amount clients are willing or able to pay, so even in cosmopolitan urban centres where service is great some people have shitty cheap connections. File sizes do grow exponentially over time, and if you're on a corporate or hotel network yet ano

Oh good

[GrumpySteen]

Now Android users can drop explicit photos to other passengers on Southwest Airlines [cnn.com]

Windows 10+ only

[RJFerret]

Not for the rest of us.

Snapdrop is better

[bart_smit]

Run a container with a progressive website version - cross platform and self hosted https://github.com/RobinLinus/... [github.com]

Infra red?

[Gabest]

What happened to that IR sensor that was on every phone and laptop. Btw I use SFTP. Of course they have no idea about existing file transfer protocols.

TeamViewer

[p51d007]

I just use team viewer on my home, laptop & phone. Works fine for transferring files.

WiFi required

[samdu]

It requires both Bluetooth and WiFi. Which makes it completely useless for my hard-wired desktop PC.

lame names?

[itzdandy]

Why is it that every alternative I see to airdrop has a really lame name? Can you imagine a group of people and someone is like 'yo, let me nearby share that to you'.

Form over function is almost always true in the consumer space. 'airdrop' is great. 'nearby share' is lame. apple would win this in just the name even if 'nearby share' is better tech.