STOP USING EMAIL TO SHARE FILES IN YOUR LOCAL NETWORK, USE THIS INSTEAD!

from https://kdeconnect.kde.org

Yes, you can stop using email as a file sharing tool within your local network.

We are going to go over one that may not be familiar to you if you are not familiar with open source software. The application is also cross platform, meaning you can use it on Windows, Mac, and Linux (BSD). The application boasts a number of useful features making a top choice among the over abundance of software choices for file sharing.

With this application you can receive phone notifications on your desktop, control music from your desktop to your phone, remote control your desktop, ring your phone, browse files, and more! Installation of the app is easy, in very much the same way you install apps on your devices.

What is KDE?

(Verbatim from their website.) " An international community developing the world’s finest free and open-source software.

KDE’s software powers NASA, CERN, Mercedes electric vehicles, the Steam Deck, your favorite YouTuber, and schools, governments, and offices throughout the world.

Our software breathes new life into old devices, and turbo-charges new ones. Anyone is welcome to use our software for free, or to help build it! "

KDE Connect is a free and open source tool for local file sharing across different devices and operating systems. With file sharing, it also comes with a whole assortment of features listed below:

KDE Connect full features include:

• Receive your phone notifications on your desktop computer and reply to messages
• Control music playing on your desktop from your phone
• Use your phone as a remote control for your desktop
• Run predefined commands on your PC from connected devices. See the list of example commands for more details.
• Check your phone's battery level from the desktop
• Ring your phone to help find it
• Share files and links between devices
• Browse your phone from your desktop
• Control the desktop's volume using your phone
• Send SMS from your desktop

KDE Connect is very easy to use and enabled when the application is open. Having the option for the other features is also a nice touch, ie remote signalling your phone to ring if you happen to misplace it. These are nice to have just in case, however, I have not tested all the feature sets.

Having a file sharing tool amongst different devices on a local network is very handy. It different from other offerings, that typically hosts a file server, where KDE Connects operates more like a peer-to-peer (p2p) architecture.

I highly recommend giving it a try!

For a more exhaustive information on KDE Connect can be found on the official website (https://kdeconnect.kde.org/) and their github (https://github.com/KDE/kdeconnect-kde).

Install KDE Connect: KDE Connect official Download page for all devices Google Play Apple App Store

Other great alternatives include:

• localsend
• warpinator
• sharedrop
• Pairdrop
• Snapdrop
• Synchthing-Fork
• Blip
• croc
• Send and SwissTransfer
• copyparty