LocalSend - Local file transfer between devices

[Andrew Lee]

I started with Google Nearby Share for Windows to transfer files locally between my devices (Android and Windows). The issue I faced was that the transfer will fail most of the time (Android <=> Windows), and I could not find any workaround.

Then I tried Flying Carpet, but it was a little clunky in UI (eg. no auto accept), so I moved on from that.

A little search brought me to Warpinator. I encountered similar issue with Nearby Share. Whereby the latter would be able to discover the devices but fail on transfer, Warpinator (Windows client) will fail to see my Android devices intermittently. I can't figure it out, but then it will suddenly be able to see them again and the transfer will occur flawlessly. Then after a time when I want to transfer files, I will have to go thru the entire shebang again!

Which brings me to LocalSend. In LocalSend, I finally found what I was looking for. It has a simple Windows and Android app, works 100% of the time for me, has auto-accept etc. So I would like to share this info with anyone who might be encountering the same difficulties as me with the other alternatives.

Website: https://localsend.org
Portable download: https://localsend.org/#/download

[__philippe]

Good find, thanks @Andrew !

For anyone interested in delving deeper before installing LocalSend, there is a demo video

https://youtu.be/QzoJipWkU4M?t=2

[Midas]

For anyone interested in delving deeper before installing LocalSend, there is a demo video

https://youtu.be/QzoJipWkU4M?t=2

A shortcut:

[__philippe]

:
Give @Midas a cigar for nipping in the bud those bloody annoying ads !

[freakazoid]

Yeah, I mentioned LocalSend in a couple of previous threads.

It's a good app. I also recommend LanXchange as well.

[Andrew Lee]

Yeah, I mentioned LocalSend in a couple of previous threads.

It's a good app. I also recommend LanXchange as well.

Thanks freakzoid! I added this separate topic for LocalSend 'cos I plan to add it to the database soon.

I didn't like most of the options presented here for various reasons. Would have gone with Warpinator if I could get it working reliably, alas.

A note on LocalSend: it is now possible to enable auto-receive so the recipient will automatically download any files you send to it. I find it very useful to turn it on for my laptop.

[FileHandler]

In LocalSend, I finally found what I was looking for. It has a simple Windows and Android app, works 100% of the time for me, has auto-accept etc.

Same here. Could not agree more. After several attempts with alternative methods to transfer files from an old Android to various Windows versions — all of which resulted in frustration and wasted efforts on troubleshooting — LocalSend does the job reliably and irrespective of network settings and Windows and Android versions.

[Andrew Lee]

I discovered that LocalSend currently does not save settings to the app folder.

There is an outstanding feature request for this to be implemented, and I have no doubt it will be done eventually.

In the mean time, I will hold off on adding this to the database until this issue is fixed.

[joby_toss]

This has been implemented and will be published in the next release (1.13.0).

I didn't implement a special detection whether or not this app is run in portable mode.
However, you can create an empty settings.json file next to the EXE file. During app start, LocalSend will use this file instead.

Download v1.13.1 portable

[Andrew Lee]

Yes! I have been wanting to add LocalSend to the database and just waiting for portability to be fixed.

The entry: https://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=3099

Please vote!

[Andrew Lee]

Just wanting to share my recent experience with LocalSend. When I reboot my machine (damn Windows Update), I frequently get the error that LocalSend is unable to bind to the default port (53317). This is well documented at Github. The command:

Code: Select all

netsh interface ipv4 show excludedportrange protocol=tcp

will show you the ports that Windows has reserved for its own use. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be fixed, and changes upon every reboot. So the suggestion to change the port for eg. to 52319 or 52199 or even 59999 works only for now and may stop working after the next reboot, which is really annoying (since the port has to be changed on all the devices that you wish to share files with).

After some digging, this is what I have learned. The command:

Code: Select all

netsh int ipv4 show dynamicport tcp

shows the range Windows uses to reserve ports. In my case, it shows:

Code: Select all

Protocol tcp Dynamic Port Range
---------------------------------
Start Port      : 49152
Number of Ports : 16384

which means the range is 49152 - 65535.

So what I do is to simply avoid this range. Currently, I am setting the LocalSend port to 49000 for all my devices, and I have not had any problems since.

To change the port, click on "Settings". There is a checkbox at the bottom called "Advanced settings". Checking that will open up some new options:

Simply change "Port" to the desired number, then click on the "Restart" button (the circular arrow icon) under "Server" to use the new value. Do the same for LocalSend running on Android or other platforms as well.

[Andrew Lee]

Actually come to think of it, I suspect maybe that's the reason why I was having so much trouble with the other alternatives (Google's LocalShare, Warpinator etc.). The problem was always with the instance running on Windows. The Android device couldn't "see" the Windows instance but had no problems with other Android devices, while Warpinator had port binding problems as well, but only on Windows.

[freakazoid]

I've found that all these local LAN transfer apps require that you set the internet connection for Windows from Public Network to Private Network. Give that a shot. This isn't really noted in other documentation, but it's what I found from trial and error.

[Andrew Lee]

Mine already set to private, just confirmed!

[spieglt]

Hi @Andrew, I'm the author of Flying Carpet. Do you remember if there were any other issues you had with it besides auto-accept? The information about the hotspot has to be transmitted from one device to the other somehow, so if I'm interpreting you correctly, auto-accept wouldn't be possible for Flying Carpet like it is for programs that rely on the two devices already being on the same network. Thanks.