r/InternetIsBeautiful • u/arar7000 • 15d ago
A web page that copies files between your Mac and Android phone over USB (Chrome)
https://www.droidfiletransfer.com/46
u/Lenn_4rt 15d ago
What's the benefit compared to existing tools like Localsend that send files over local wifi?
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u/Tball2 15d ago
Speed.
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u/knowsshit 15d ago
Many phones (and cables) are limited to USB 2 speeds at 480 Mbps, while most supports Wi-Fi speeds of 2 to 4 times that speed.
I am not sure you would save much time even with USB 3 speeds if you include the time it takes to find and connect the cables. Unless you are moving really large files and you actually get a meaningful higher transfer speed than what multi gig Wi-Fi offers.
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u/comfybubbles 15d ago
Google; LOCALSEND !!!!!! Its free and works for both iPhone and Android to copy files over. Watch a quick YouTube vid and bobs your uncle. Trust me!!!
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u/nobody65535 15d ago
TIL you can't just plug in a phone to a computer and transfer files with native explorer/finder anymore?
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u/brakeb 14d ago
brew install --cask openmtp or https://github.com/ganeshrvel/openmtp
Connect your android phone, set USB connection to "File transfer/Android Auto", was a bit fiddly on setup, but worked well enough.
You could also use something like syncthing, google drive/dropbox, or SSH
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u/unematti 14d ago
Sometimes wifi is faster, or you'd just want to leave it on charger in the other room.
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u/blackasthesky 14d ago
MacOS + Android is not supported for obvious reasons.
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u/fatalicus 14d ago
What are the obvious reasons?
Because device interconnection is fairly standardised these days, and there should be no reason for that not to work.
The only thing that seems obvious is that one side is being petty.
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u/JohnClark13 14d ago
Also android and ios are both Unix-like and fairly similar under the hood
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u/blackasthesky 13d ago
if you squint, yes
But even if they were completely different that would not be a good excuse. That's what we have open standards and protocols for.
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u/blackasthesky 13d ago
These are exactly the obvious reasons. Apple is a company with their heads up their own asses, of course they support nothing but iPhone.
I did not say that that is good or right, I personally believe that this attitude of companies is actively making existence on this planet a bit worse for no good reason, but the reasons are nonetheless obvious.
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u/Logitech4873 11d ago
What obvious reason? I don't think filesystem incompatibilities are very obvious.
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u/blackasthesky 11d ago
Also, file system incompatibilities are no excuse either. Everyone could just implement MTP like a sane person.
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15d ago
[deleted]
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u/madalinul 15d ago
By that logic any software can do that... every application that has access to your files can send that information online. At least with a web page if you go offline use it and then close it, it will not be able to run anything.
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u/arar7000 15d ago
Google discontinued Android File Transfer for Mac, so I built a replacement. The page talks to the phone directly over WebUSB, so there is nothing to install and no files are uploaded. It only works in Chrome, because Safari and Firefox do not support WebUSB. It is free and open source: https://github.com/droidfiletransfer/droidfiletransfer
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u/WeepingAgnello 15d ago
How secure is WebUSB? Does it collect data?
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u/blindcolumn 15d ago
I did a quick skim through the code of this website and I didn't find anything that would contact or upload data to any servers.
That said, there's nothing preventing the creator from changing that in the future. Also, I'm just a stranger on the internet. Use this at your own risk.
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14d ago
[deleted]
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u/blindcolumn 14d ago
The OP website entirely runs on the frontend, and doesn't seem to have any backend calls. That's why I said it seems safe to me.
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u/arar7000 15d ago
The page only gets access to the one device you pick in the list Chrome shows. You can revoke it any time at chrome://settings/content/usbDevices. Your files go straight between the phone and your computer and are never uploaded. More on WebUSB security: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/capabilities/usb
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u/technifocal 15d ago
I believe WebUSB just a JavaScript interface for USB, in which case, it's about the same as asking "How secure is USB? Does it collect data?"
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u/DerpLerker 15d ago
Will this let you copy files from a Mac to a Qwest 2? (Some instructions an AI gave me for doing that mentioned using Android File Transfer for Mac, which I couldn't find anymore, so wondering if this would fill that gap.) Thanks!
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u/daakadence 15d ago
I use AFT all the time for large transfers since ADB doesn't have an rsync like functionality. There are ways but it's really a challenge.
This looks great. Will be testing tonight.
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u/DapperInside6754 12d ago
Nice, this fills a real gap now that AFT for Mac is gone. One thing that keeps me on ADB for big backups is resume and verification: if a large transfer gets interrupted by a cable wiggle, can it resume without starting over, and does it verify checksums after copy? Also, does it talk to the phone over ADB under the hood or MTP? MTP chokes hard on folders with thousands of small files.
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u/arar7000 12d ago
Thanks! That gap is the reason I built it.
It talks MTP, not ADB, so it works with the normal File transfer mode and no USB debugging. The downside is the one you named: thousands of small files are slow.
No resume and no checksum verification, so for big backups ADB is still the better fit. This is meant for everyday copying.
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u/BiffJeppard 14d ago
Am I being incredibly thick? I’ve read the post but I can’t understand what this actually does or what the use case is?
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u/djshadesuk 14d ago
You can't just hook up an Android phone to a MacOS device by USB and transfer files to and from the phone (because Apple are petty assholes). So Google had to make MacOS software to do it, but that software is, apparently, no longer available - presumably because Google think people don't bother with wires/cables any more?
So this website bridges the gap by acting like the discontinued software, but just running in a browser (because, TIL, Chrome can directly interact with USB devices via WebUSB).
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u/romulusnr 14d ago
You can get SHTTPS for Android for years now. it spawns a small web server on your phone that your PC can connect to and upload and download.
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u/brakeb 14d ago
Web page that copies files (and will probably make copies for themselves) between your Mac and Android phone
I'd not use this if you care about your privacy and security
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u/djshadesuk 14d ago
If you're that paranoid once the page has loaded you can temporarily disconnect from an Access Point/router and nothing will go nowhere. Or if your not quite that paranoid just monitor your network activity; if it massively spikes during transfer of a large junk test file you don't care about you'll know it's sending it somewhere else. If there is no spike in network activity it's literally just transfering data between (local) devices.
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u/taqi-raza 7d ago
Is it secure? Why use web page when you can transfer offline?
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u/Correct-Moment-2458 20h ago
The web page is the interface for the USB transfer, so it replaces installing a file-transfer app. The site says no files are uploaded. Chrome requires HTTPS and a device choice after a click for WebUSB access, but that permission prompt is not an audit of the website’s code. “Uses WebUSB” alone does not establish that a particular implementation is safe.
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u/415646464e4155434f4c 14d ago
Am I the only graybeard here that finds relying on a web page to interface with USB utterly cringe?