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Show HN: Snapdrop: Instantly share files between devices. No setup, no signup

111 points · 51 comments · Capira

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lolc · 1789682958 · focus · HN ↗
This can be very useful.
Indeed my Android phone sees my Linux PC. And the PC can send a file to the phone. At first the file transfer to the PC didn't work and the icons just twitched. After 5 minutes it works now strangely enough.
smusamashah · 1789684632 · focus · HN ↗
But SnapDrop was sold to LimeWire from what I remember, wasn't it? I have it on my (somewhat popular) list <a href="https://gist.github.com/SMUsamaShah/fd6e275e44009b72f64d0570256bb3b2" rel="nofollow">https://gist.github.com/SMUsamaShah/fd6e275e44009b72f64d0570...
Edit: so that was SnapDrop.net this is so confusing now. Are you the author of that GitHub repo?
1. ranger_danger · 1789686750 · focus · HN ↗
  There is a fork of it here: <a href="https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/PairDrop" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/PairDrop
  1. smusamashah · 1789695730 · focus · HN ↗
    Looking at the history of the github repo of this show hn, the readme was previously linking to now Sold to LimeWire SnapDrop.net. Github author recently changed that to SnapDrop.me and is either doing a Show HN himself or this is another fishy play by LimeWire.
2. jtokoph · 1789699231 · focus · HN ↗
  It seems to be the original developer relaunching. Here is an old show HN: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10791403">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10791403
3. xp84 · 1789700400 · focus · HN ↗
  Wait, LimeWire? That still exists? How??
  1. Hugsbox · 1789726292 · focus · HN ↗
    Damn, had to look it up but it's still around.
    "Our end-to-end encrypted, AI-powered file sharing platform allows you to upload, manipulate & share files of any size, on any device."
    Their website also reports that LMWR is $0.0098, so I guess we'll want to get on that before it goes to the moon.
    pavel_lishin · 1789740699 · focus · HN ↗
    I remember visiting their offices for a game night sometime in the early 2010s in NYC, and it was incredible - they had something like three floors of a large building somewhere in SOHO, with each floor having a dedicated kitchen with three refridgerators that had more square footage than some of my friends' living spaces.
    At the time, as far as I recall, they were still a filesharing platform, so I had absolutely no idea where they got the money for all of that.
    xp84 · 1789773293 · focus · HN ↗
    They got all that money from the massive amounts of malware (or at best, adware of dubious value, like toolbars and stuff) they were paid to install alongside their filesharing client.
    xp84 · 1789773400 · focus · HN ↗
    wow, apparently it's a cryptocurrency?[1] LOL. Somebody lost a lot of money on this, as it peaked at $1.79 in 2024.
    1. <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/chart/LMWR-USD" rel="nofollow">https://finance.yahoo.com/chart/LMWR-USD
4. Capira · 1789866448 · focus · HN ↗
  snapdrop.me is the relaunch
saadn92 · 1789685350 · focus · HN ↗
I've had this need recently and noticed that tailscale is extremely useful between phone to mac transfers as well. I mean you can also technically use airdrop too, but that sometimes is unreliable for me.
mathfailure · 1789685490 · focus · HN ↗
File transfers do not work. Even after allowing microphone access on both ends.
1. _carbyau_ · 1789703675 · focus · HN ↗
  What is the microphone access for?
  Do you need to say "My voice is my passport." or something?
Redster · 1789685566 · focus · HN ↗
If you like Snapdrop, you'll love croc!
I used Snapdrop before they got bought and found it pretty reliable. It sometimes would not transfer and I went exploring.
I used magic-wormhole-based Warp and liked it, but now I use croc of getcroc.com for almost everything. Whether it's sending files to myself or others, it's just the most flexible and seems to be reliable and fast from my use.
(I haven't been using it super long, but I heartily recommend.)
1. canadiantim · 1789685649 · focus · HN ↗
  What about something like Iroh?
  1. Redster · 1789686780 · focus · HN ↗
    I've never used Iroh; can you use it with no setup or without an account? I send/receive files often enough from non-technical people, having a no-install/accountless solution for sending files is essential. For my use-case, my go to is croc or Bitwarden Send (I'm on a paid acct), depending on the person.
2. monomania · 1789709423 · focus · HN ↗
  I like croc but you can get magic wormhole clients for platforms that your SO uses through the usual distribution channels without having to resort to "weird" installation methods like Obtanium or Fdroid.
inexcf · 1789687254 · focus · HN ↗
Why does this look exactly like <a href="https://pairdrop.net/" rel="nofollow">https://pairdrop.net/ ?
1. lawilli · 1789691160 · focus · HN ↗
  Pairdrop is listed in the “Inofficial” instances section of Snapdrop’s GitHub FAQ
  <a href="https://github.com/RobinLinus/snapdrop/blob/master/docs/faq.md#inofficial-instances" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/RobinLinus/snapdrop/blob/master/docs/faq....
2. SoKamil · 1789692871 · focus · HN ↗
  Pairdrop is a fork with new features.
  See: <a href="https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/pairdrop#differences-to-the-snapdrop-it-is-based-on" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/pairdrop#differences-to-th...
3. EagnaIonat · 1789708110 · focus · HN ↗
  Both look like Airdrop. Is this for people who don't have airdrop? I am not seeing the benefits.
  1. jdranczewski · 1789718152 · focus · HN ↗
    Yes, as someone who doesn't use Apple devices Pairdrop is pretty useful.
ProAm · 1789690724 · focus · HN ↗
What year is this?
1. trencedamp · 1789814508 · focus · HN ↗
  Depends when you're asking
  1. ProAm · 1790986456 · focus · HN ↗
    I mean, this topic has be solved. 10 years ago. What are we doing.
dhanizael · 1789691523 · focus · HN ↗
good work!
hn_acc1 · 1789692386 · focus · HN ↗
So does this host the files? For free? How long before ads start / you have to register / subscription model, etc?
1. tredre3 · 1789700419 · focus · HN ↗
  > None of your files are ever sent to any server. Files are sent only between peers. Snapdrop doesn't even use a database. If you are curious have a look at the Server. Even if Snapdrop was able to view the files being transfered, WebRTC encrypts the files on transit, so the server would be unable to read them.
  <a href="https://github.com/RobinLinus/snapdrop/blob/master/docs/faq.md" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/RobinLinus/snapdrop/blob/master/docs/faq....
analog8374 · 1789692648 · focus · HN ↗
I like localsend mself
nitin7 · 1789694265 · focus · HN ↗
I have used localsend. How is snapdrop this different from <a href="https://github.com/localsend/localsend" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/localsend/localsend?
1. noncoml · 1789702639 · focus · HN ↗
  LocalSend doesn’t work for non /24 subnets
  1. justusthane · 1789735789 · focus · HN ↗
    Are you sure? That would be a bizarre limitation. It seems much more likely there's something else going on where it's not working
    noncoml · 1790038441 · focus · HN ↗
    <a href="https://github.com/localsend/localsend/issues/74" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/localsend/localsend/issues/74
    justusthane · 1790260808 · focus · HN ↗
    Well I'll be. It does seem that the ability to get the subnet mask is present in the beta version of Dart, so hopefully this will be resolved.
  2. fmajid · 1789741250 · focus · HN ↗
    Works just fine on my 10.0.0.0/8
    noncoml · 1790038446 · focus · HN ↗
    <a href="https://github.com/localsend/localsend/issues/74" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/localsend/localsend/issues/74
2. sfwf · 1789727913 · focus · HN ↗
  First, snapdrop shouldn't be used at all, it was sold to LimeWire along with some other similar P2P sites (sharedrop, easyupload) so only <a href="https://pairdrop.net/" rel="nofollow">https://pairdrop.net/ can be trusted.
  The difference is that localsend has dedicated apps as well, but sometimes you just quickly need the web version and for me <a href="https://web.localsend.org/" rel="nofollow">https://web.localsend.org/ is often too slow to connect or devices can't see each other, meanwhile <a href="https://pairdrop.net/" rel="nofollow">https://pairdrop.net/ always work.
  1. [deleted] · 1789733273 · focus · HN ↗
    [deleted]
kyxsc · 1789694648 · focus · HN ↗
Use Tether!!
1. Ylpertnodi · 1789717801 · focus · HN ↗
  Provide link! Why use it compared to this?
djfobbz · 1789695952 · focus · HN ↗
Terrible service. I used to use it back in the days until it starting going down all of the time. Switched to localsend and never looked back.
ftchd · 1789703639 · focus · HN ↗
I'll usually go with pairdrop.net, never failed me!
bart3r · 1789704692 · focus · HN ↗
I wanted to try it out, so i fired it up on my laptop and my phone. The laptop experience was pleasant, but on the mobile, the ads seemed to be covering the nearby devices, and it felt like full scam-ware.
So close, yet, so far.
dingody · 1789706918 · focus · HN ↗
[dead]
rtvn83 · 1789708664 · focus · HN ↗
does my file stay local?
1. trencedamp · 1789814476 · focus · HN ↗
  As I understand it, it's sent p2p between the two devices
nullify88 · 1789709761 · focus · HN ↗
I've used a bunch of similar tooling like airdrop and localsend. I don't have lot faith in them a little since they can choke on a large file or many files. I'm still looking for something that works well in those cases without resorting to a cable / MTP which isn't fantastic either.
1. mhitza · 1789714478 · focus · HN ↗
  I can't report on percentage improvement, but after a long time localsend recently pushed out a version that claims to be much better (to be read as faster) for the transfer of large/many files.
  For a long time the issue was blocked because of an upstream library, maybe LLMs finally unblocked the devs from pushibg fixes through.
2. smusamashah · 1789724726 · focus · HN ↗
  Webwormhole.io should work theoretically on file of any size because it does not keep the file being downloaded in memory/cache first. It downloads as a file as soon as it starts.
  In practice, I have used syncthing to transfer many giga bytes data from one work computer to other because syncthing uses lot more discovery protocols etc to work around restrictions.
3. hobo123 · 1789727958 · focus · HN ↗
  Once I tried Airdrop between Macbooks it was very flaky. Haven't had any problems with localsend so far (Windows, Linux, Android).
YCombinedBob · 1789717544 · focus · HN ↗
Amazing how many people here do not seem to know this.
It is like Airdrop but for interdevice transfer!
PC to Mac to Iphone to Android to Linux to Windows etc. to almost anything that has a browser. Directly, no intermediate.
I prefer Pairdrop though (fork).
ouz-a · 1789726002 · focus · HN ↗
We are working on Zynk (zynk.it) to solve this problem.
It's like croc/localsend/wetransfer combined, works on all platforms and all devices. Register once and sign in on any of your devices, it works whether you are on local network or not. There are no size limits, you can send terabytes of your data across the globe, without worrying about connection dropping or something going wrong.
You can add other people who use zynk as contacts via their username or their e-mail and send them anything you want.
dopbase · 1789734433 · focus · HN ↗
I like the way this thing just use without setup no sign up, just send, just use
adityamishra241 · 1789748422 · focus · HN ↗
[dead]
maxxxxxxxxxxxxx · 1789794478 · focus · HN ↗
Really helpful
monkeetools · 1789912691 · focus · HN ↗
[dead]

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