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KDE connect for me works very well. I even use it on my VR headset to share video recordings to my desktop then upload on my video server, really nice workflow.
I rarely need to do it but what's wrong with just plugging in a cable?
Convenience.
Well I can think of a few things wrong with Kryten's favoured method of plugging in his "cable"
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.
PSA: For any folks that have used snapdrop.net before, switch to this one ⤴️
The old URL got bought by Limewire NFT company and they started sending all files through their sketchy ass service. Pairdrop remains peer to peer.
Ah, thank you for this!
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.
It's really tragic and inelegant how we have to jump through hoops and bounce files around a wireless network when the USB cable is just sitting right there. What I had to do since rsync doesn't work with mtp file paths was to install android-file-transfer and run the following with my phone connected via USB, but not already mounted by the file manager:
aft-mtp-mount /path/to/mount/point
rsync -a --progress --exclude 'Android/' '/path/to/mount/point/Internal shared storage/' '/path/to/backup/'
You can also omit the --exclude 'Android/' part as needed, I just didn't want to copy over the quintillion tiny files under that directory.
I would be sending files to the Android device, using it as a location to backup "important" data. Mostly Factorio saves.
Plugging in for that is impractical given its already on the same LAN.
I think you can do that with Termux on Android.
Does that let you do it both ways? I want to run rsync from the desktop
Its basically a Linux terminal for your phone that can run rsync, so it should work both ways.
Just installed it now and this is so much better than the SSH app I used before. Now dumping like 40GB of backup data onto the tablets SD card. Got the tablet second hand, think the SD card cost more than the tablet did.
You can run a SSH server on Termux, so yes, no reason you couldn't.
Though given how aggressive background app management has gotten on Android, you'll likely have to use the 'Wakelock' function which will keep a permanent notification on your status bar, and even then Termux might still not survive depending just how aggressive your OEM/ROM is.
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.
Weird about Syncthing, it works for me on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. But I find file permissions difficult so that could be it.
It's nice for my use case: I tend to download things on my phone but I often want them stored permanently on my computer, so I just dump them in a Syncthing folder and It takes care of the transfer automatically. Once it's on my computer my backup program (Backblaze) will back it up too. But not everyone has that particular use case so it's not for everyone.
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.
The only issue I've had with LocalSend is that it's a bit buggy on iOS. If you leave the app open in the background and go back to it, it won't be able to receive files. I have to force quit it and open it again to fix it.
Yeah iOS is weird about background processes and some versions are bad about killing parts of apps but not informing the app it was killed when restoring the state of the main process. One reason I personally don't develop my stuff for iOS. It requires a lot of extra code to deal with the disparate ways in various versions that coming back from being in the background requires. Since just restarting everything can be frustrating to users.
Upgrade to grapheneos
I think the easiest way is sftp over tailscale, works over any distance, easy enough to setup, plenty of apps, ish for an iphoneterminal apk add openssh (idk how to dload there but you should be able to, can convert files locally using ffmpeg off an iphone, pretty great), termius/termix/neoserver for a more "modern" way to connect into the terminal and sftp. I prefer apps with a terminal jic I need to use it to convert something real quick on my pc.
love ssh, got me to appreciate and learn to use the terminal more, being able to use a pc without a de is such a good feeling
I use ghost commander on the phone to access the file server.
It's bizarre that you have to go through such lengths to do it w native Linux also like scp or rsync; they're both Linux!!!
Android run on top of Linux. Once upon a time it was a Java VM sitting on a Linux kernel, it's roots are still there though it's blown up quite a bit since then.
It's not entirely incorrect to say Linux is somewhere between a bootloader and a bios for Android.
I'm aware and I HATE it since you have to root it just to use scp/rsync effectively.
With termux ,i can access my storage space,and use scp normally .no root.
i just tried it and i'm not able to access any of the files i created nor any of the files that already exist on my phone; what am i missing?
I've using localsend and it's great :)
I would normally use KDE Connect (iOS version) but I had some issues with it. The push local clipboard didn't work, and I think receiving files to my phone didn't work either. It also had a hard time reconnecting to my computer after pairing. It might be better now though, this was several months ago.
this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2025
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