TECHNO
CARE to SHARE
TECHNO
CARE to SHARE
You have just taken a great picture on your smartphone of your friends on a walk in the countryside, but there is no phone signal or Wi-Fi. How do you share the photo with them without making them wait until you get back on the internet? Chris Partridge tells you how
There are many times when it is useful to be able to swap pictures, documents, websites and other data directly between phones. Usually, connecting directly is a matter of convenience, speed and minimizing the impact on your expensive data plan, but sometimes it is a matter of security: sensitive personal material should not be transferred via unknown and possibly insecure servers.
Relatively small items such as photos, short video clips, short audio clips such as songs and individual documents can be sent by Bluetooth directly to nearby devices unless the phones are incredibly ancient. Android phones have a system called QuickShare and the Apple equivalent is AirDrop.
Unfortunately, because of Apple’s obsession with imprisoning its fans within its ecosystem and keeping everyone else out, QuickShare and AirDrop do not speak to each other. As a result, swapping files between Apple and Android phones requires fiddly and tiresome workarounds that I will come to later.
Connecting Devices Offline
The first step when using both QuickShare and AirDrop is to switch Bluetooth on in all the devices involved. For Apple devices, go to Settings > Bluetooth. For Android, go to Settings > Connected Devices or search ‘Bluetooth’ in the settings search bar. Most devices automatically become discoverable when you open the Bluetooth menu. If not, look for a ‘Make Discoverable’ option.
Select the photo or file or whatever that you want to share and press the sharing icon at the bottom of the screen. It is that strange little Y-junction shape with three dots. Press on the QuickShare or AirDrop icon. After a moment or two, all the devices should appear on the screen. Select the ones you want to send to. All the recipients will get a notification that a file is on its way, and will need to approve it. The transmission takes just moments for small files.
Once everyone has got used to the system, it really is incredibly quick and easy.
One of the draws of QuickShare and AirDrop is that the devices do not have to be paired for the system to work.
If you want to send documents directly via Bluetooth to another device, enter the Bluetooth menu and select ‘pair new device’. A list of nearby devices will appear. Select those you wish to pair with. You may be prompted to enter a passcode (often 0000 or 1234) or confirm a pairing code displayed on both devices. Tap ‘Pair’ or ‘Connect’ to finalise. Then you can transfer files using the file management system. This seems a bit fiddly but only needs to be done once. Unfortunately, iOS refuses to play nice with Android using this method as well.
Android and iOS will communicate via third-party apps like Snapdrop or Feem but these usually work online which means you might as well post the images you want to share on social media anyway.
Another practical method of transferring files from one phone to another is to invest in a memory stick or thumb drive with a usb-c connector. Just plug it into the phone you want to send from, where it will appear as a drive. Load the file onto it, transfer the thumb drive over to the other device and upload the file. You can get a big enough thumb drive for under a fiver, and if you get one that can be put on your keyring you will always have it available.
It is also possible to transfer files by connecting the phones using a QR code or by contactless (NFC) but again these solutions are a bit fiddly.
It is theoretically possible to transfer files using Wi-Fi Direct, a system mainly used for connecting directly with printers. I have never managed to get this working to transfer files between phones so I suggest you don’t bother.
It is probably least nerve-frazzling to use quick share or AirDrop if you can, otherwise just wait and until you are back in Wi-Fi coverage.