file sharing Archives

Integrating your smartphone and PC experience has always been a problem for many years. Apple has successfully done so with their range of devices thanks to the nature of their strictly closed development. You can work on your iPhone and then transfer your FaceTime call to your iPad tablet when you get access to it, and then even to your MacBook or Mac desktop when you get to them, without too much fuss. The closest thing we have on Android and Windows is the Microsoft Phone Link platform, which can be a pain to work with at times.

Alternatively, you have Google’s Nearby Share that works as a file transfer protocol between Android devices and Windows devices. It is far from seamless though. While it is simple enough on your Android devices to work with, your PC have to have the app installed and open for it to receive files from your various Android devices.

Samsung’s Quick Share is sort of the in-between the Phone Link and Nearby Share platforms. It is more like the Nearby Share platform, except that it is made for Samsung devices specifically. Nearby Share is made for the general Android devices that come with multiple connectivity standards and hardware. Samsung’s Quick Share is made for Galaxy devices with specific hardware that comes with all Galaxy devices; meaning communications between two devices can be standardized, made seamless, and be made at greater speeds. That is why you can only find the Samsung Quick Share button on Samsung’s Galaxy devices including the Galaxy Book laptops. Then again, that is not the case anymore.

Source: Microsoft Store
Source: Microsoft Store
Source: Microsoft Store
Source: Microsoft Store

Samsung has made the Quick Share app available on the Microsoft Store for other Windows devices. While Quick Share for mobile devices is still only available on Samsung’s Galaxy devices, you do not have to have Samsung’s Galaxy Book devices to take advantage of it. You can now download it for free from the Microsoft Store.

There are a few more caveats though, other than that you must have a Samsung smartphone to take advantage of it. You must be on a Window 10 operating system at least with 2004 release (build number 19041), which is not entirely difficult since Windows 11 is the standard operating system today (unless you are on a corporate device, and they have not moved on from Windows XP just yet). You also need to have Intel’s Bluetooth driver version 22.50.02 and Wi-Fi driver version 22.50.07 to get the Quick Share app to work on your Windows device. All of these should not be too big of an issue if you have a modern laptop and ensure that you regularly update your Windows device. It only becomes a problem when you have a device that does not support Intel’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi drivers, then you cannot enjoy the Quick Share function on your Windows device. Still, you can never know until you disassemble your PC, so you can try it for yourself by downloading the app from Microsoft Store.

Sharing files between devices is not as simple as it sounds. Sure, Apple figured it out and introduced their own version of wireless file sharing system called AirDrop for years now. The feature allows you to share files between multiple iPhones, MacBooks, iPads, or even Mac Desktops without the devices ever touching each other or tethering to one another.

Android and Windows did not have that. This is where the problem of fragmentation of Android and Windows devices comes into play. Every device is built to a different standard and specification so that file sharing between devices becomes a problem. You can technically share files between Android devices quickly without the devices ever touching each other. The function is called nearby share, and it works, to a certain degree. Each manufacturer also tries to come up with their own solution for their own devices that other manufacturers cannot take advantage of. For Windows devices, it is more of a problem because there is almost no such thing as wireless file sharing other than via Bluetooth.

It seems that Google, not Microsoft to no surprise at all, is going to solve that problem for Android users at least. They call it Nearby Share for Windows, which was technically introduced as a beta app for Windows devices about a month ago. Then again, it was only available in select regions and was more of a test tool. The tool is now in beta and is available for all Windows devices across the globe (with some exceptions).

If you wish to, you can download the tool from Google themselves to try it out. It only works with Android devices and 64-bit version of Windows 10 and newer. If you are running Windows out of an ARM based device, you are out of luck. You also need to own an Android device running Marshmallow (Android 6.0) with Nearby Share capabilities. It will be utilizing your Bluetooth and WiFi capabilities on both your Android and Windows devices to make the transfer handshake and transaction happen, so you want to make sure to turn on both when you are making a transfer.

Unlike HUAWEI’s implementation of file sharing between devices, you do not need an NFC tag on your PC or smartphone. The only thing you need to do is to tap ‘nearby share’ on your smartphone, select your accompanying or intended Windows PC, approve the data transfer request on your PC, and wait for the files to transfer at near instant speeds, as fast as your WiFi can go. The transfer goes both ways, so it will be the same process for data transfers from your Windows PC to your Android device.

The Nearby Share for Windows app, as you might have noticed when you hop into their website, is still in beta and will be in that state for a while, we guess. That means that you might need to expect a few bugs and glitches with the software or function. It is not going to be the perfect solution just yet is what we are saying. Of course, Google is looking to make the app better constantly, so that is also what we are expecting in the future. You can find out more about Google’s Nearby Share for Windows app on their website.

techENT

Tag Archives: file sharing

Tech Your Way