Meet LocalSend - A Cross-Platform, Open Source Alternative to AirDrop and Quick Share!

LocalSend is a free and open source application that securely transfers files between devices without the internet. It's cross-platform meaning that it's available for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS (iPhone, iPad), and Android devices. This is a great alternative to AirDrop or Quick Share and can send and receive files to other devices without a 3rd party service like Google Drive.

I used LocalSend around 20x while creating this video and all transfers went flawless!

(Affiliate links may be included in this description. I may receive a small commission at no cost to you.)

00:00 - What problem am I trying to solve?
00:54 - LocalSend
01:48 - Installing on Windows
02:59 - Application Walk-though
03:59 - Installing on iOS
05:00 - Installing on Android
05:56 - Installing on Linux
07:36 - Installing on macOS
08:15 - App is Built with Flutter
08:47 - Windows to iOS
10:02 - iOS to Android
10:45 - Android to Linux
11:25 - Linux to macOS
12:05 - macOS to Windows
12:52 - This Video Almost Wasn't
13:20 - LocalSend + Docker?

Thank you for watching!

[_.--.--._]

A few tips after playing with this for a bit:

- It works on external/mobile networks with a wireguard connection to home (enable Quick Save on your home device to auto accept)

- Enabling the auto start, quick save, and minimize to tray options on desktop allows this to act as a background service

- A mapped network drive can be used as the save destination

So now with these set up, I have an extremely fast way to drop files on my NAS from anywhere in the world using my phone. Awesome!

[muddyexport]

I've been using LocalSend for about a year now with no issues between Mac, MS, iPhone, iPad, & Linux (several distros - desktops and Raspberry Pis). Made a contribution to devs. It is that good and that easy. And I am retired and cheap :~)

[blossomcherrypink]

I like that you mention how it's developed using Flutter. It's interesting and could inspire some people who may be contemplating a multi-platform framework for their next project.

[abishekbaiju]

Finally an excellent app for sharing files between devices. I was looking for so many apps to work seamlessly. Even the google quick share has slow speeds and loses the transfer while sending large files. A huge kudos for the devs.

[romayojr]

amazing! i've been looking for something like this for a long time - you're always coming in clutch. thanks, tim!

[saskog]

Just for the sake of it you could do a sha256 sum of original and roudtrip file at the end to prove that they are the same but still great video, thanx Tim. 👍

[LampJustin]

Btw you can and probably should install .deb packages with apt and not dpkg. Using apt it'll automatically do the dependency resolution and install missing ones.

[bobalachabbs]

I have been looking for something like this for a while. Thanks for bringing it some attention!!

[jason-budney]

Thank you for sharing this Tim. No more sending pics through email getting them from one device to another.

[ScanVisor]

Perfect timing! I was looking for a Snapdrop/Pairdrop replacement literally just a couple of hours before you posted this. Thanks!

[WunderTechTutorials]

You always find services that I didn't know I needed. Another great video man, you're the GOAT in this space.

[Trains-With-Shane]

Excellent Timing! I actually asked about trying to do something similar on your Discord a week or two ago. I was looking for a Docker based app. But I didn't want or need the files to be stored in an internal database. I wanted them stored in a plain share. And my usage case was iPhone to CIFS Share then to Windows. I think this solution will be the best out of everything that I've found so far as i'd looked at NextCloud, SyncThing, etc. Although like you if they end up with a Docker container or some provision to set up an "auto accept" that would be even better for my usage case.

[moelassus]

Thanks for pointing this out! I've been using Signal Note to Self to send files to myself on different platforms. Being 100% local I prefer this.

[santosvision]

This is Thank you so much

The fact that it doesn't require internet and it does not consume a lot of resources running in the background is amazing.

[bilson]

Dude! This is great! Thanks for all the stuff you do, you have no idea how much time your channel has saved my home lab setup

[flyingrichfirearms]

BIG THANKS!!!! I have over the years been an Android Phone User and Mac Desktop. Many Apps work and then break! This is great!

[briankaler]

pretty cool, sent a file to my steamdeck (from windows) and only took me about 5 minutes to get setup and running, very smooth. speed is pretty decent over my wifi @~ 15MB/sec which is about half of most of my SMB transfers, but you can’t really beat the ease of this.

[alexandzors]

I've been using the quick share app from google on my windows machines but this looks neat. I swear everytime i watch a video from you I end up adding more software to my list of "check out" lol.

[evermetalhead]

Would be cool if it had a pair key between machines.
In the office space where there are snoopy colleagues (acting like 5 year olds) would be just trying to send you files all the time etc. a pairing key would possibly keep anyone else outside of the sharing circle as it wouldn’t be discoverable, and just leaving in those who have to be in the know, something like a hidden network.

[simuman]

Wow, great video. Aways been bug bear for me about sending files locally. Definitely gonna give this a go. Thx for all the work done.