XPost: comp.mobile.android, alt.comp.microsoft.windows

Jeff Layman <Jeff@invalid.invalid> wrote

I'd assumed that - as with KDE Connect - it required Nitroshare
installed on the computer as well as the app on the phone, and they
would be talking to each other. If you try to get the Nitroshare app
from the Play Store (or whatever you use - F-Droid?), does it not tell
you that it won't work with your version of Android?

NOTE: This is a followup to this file-sharing thread with Windows' added.
*A cautionary tale*
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/Y0nzYXsZ_vs>

Dunno. I haven't used Android NitroShare with Windows 10 in a long time.

Like I said, I had tested _every_ file-sharing suggestion ever made
(that was free and ad free anyway) on both the Windows & Android ngs.

One of those many file-sharing tests were on NitroShare:
<https://i.postimg.cc/90HqTpw2/nitroshare01.jpg> Open Windows firewall
<https://i.postimg.cc/Z5382rkR/nitroshare02.jpg> Android NitroShare
<https://i.postimg.cc/CMzvhP9r/nitroshare03.jpg> Select file(s)
<https://i.postimg.cc/qBsN34fN/nitroshare04.jpg> Select desktop
But that was a long time ago - maybe Android 10 or maybe earlier.

(My phone has been upgraded from Android 10 -> 11 -> 12 -> 13 and
all the apps came over in the exact place I had put them prior so
my NitroShare today was probably installed on Android 10 long ago.)

I'm on Android 13 & Windows 10 so let's see what happens when I try.

0. Since I have an absolutely perfect system of bringing over the old
homescreen to any new phone (just like I brought over WinXP menus
to Windows 10 and they worked instantly - verbatim - with a copy!)
I had to first uninstall the old NitroShare just to start fresh.
C:\> adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 net.nitroshare.android
Now it's time to start fresh by obtaining the latest NitroShare.

1. Most people would use the Google Play Store but I don't even have
that installed on my unrooted Android so I open the App finder
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=scadica.aq>
Note: This Skyica app is one of the best APKs on this planet!

2. The Skyica App Finder easily finds the NitroShare APK by Nathan Osman.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.nitroshare.android>
Note: The App Finder has filters like you absolutely can't imagine!

3. App Finder passes the URI to the Aurora Google Play Store GUI
(which doesn't require me to create a Google Account - that's why)
(which also does a lot of good things such as NOT DELETE the APK)
<https://aurorastore.org/>

Note: Not deleting the APK means every single app I install on
Android (and every subsequent version of that app!) is automatically
saved onto my Windows PC since Android is a drive letter on Windows.
<https://i.postimg.cc/9FJMKYch/scrcpy21.jpg> Windows Drive: === Android

Note: That way, to install any APK that you had previously installed
any number of years ago, you simply slide it from Windows to Android.
<https://i.postimg.cc/wvsbcNBz/scrcpy05.jpg> Drag APK from Windows

Also note the Android GUI is ~2 feet tall by ~1 foot wide on the PC
monitor so I'm doing all this using the PC mouse/keyboard & clipboard.
<https://i.postimg.cc/tgvzsMRm/scrcpy25.jpg> Connect over Wi-Fi sans USB

4. That downloads (updates) NitroShare on my Android 13 which says
"NitroShare for Android works with the desktop app,
which is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux./"
visit website = https://nitroshare.net/

5. I download & install the Windows 64-bit installer onto my Windows PC
C:\{app,menu,software}\network\nitroshare\.
<https://launchpad.net/nitroshare/0.3/0.3.4/+download/nitroshare-0.3.4-windows-x86_64.exe>
Name: nitroshare-0.3.4-windows-x86_64.exe
Size: 9308628 bytes (9090 KiB)
SHA256: 0816AA1147F66D09B5AF96170AB34361516A58A98D98470025B285ADE71CA358
Which creates a desktop shortcut that gets put into my cascade menu
Target = C:\app\network\nitroshare\nitroshare.exe

6. Now it's time to send an arbitrary file from each to the other
a. From PC to Android (you need to run the PC as the server)
b. From Android to PC (you will then use the APK as the client)

At this point I could go further but I'm aware that my PC is set up
differently than most PC's in that it doesn't have a Wi-Fi card.

It uses the Ethernet wired to an old router which acts as the Wi-Fi
bridge to an access point which itself is tethered to the router.

The point there is the NETBIOS of Windows gets screwed up in that
complicated assemblage (so I don't want to debug that for no reason).

Note: I never did understand why the lack of NETBIOS broadcasts
screws up just some network connections - but leaving most intact.

I could set up a simpler network - but my point is there are no
indications that NitroShare isn't going to work. None at all.

BTW, NitroShare "seems" like a copy of "KDEConnect" but it's not.
a. NitroShare only does one thing. Copy files to/from the desktop.
b. KDEConnect does a billion things - only one of which is copying files.
<https://i.postimg.cc/qqcHvN6T/kdeconnect01.jpg> KDEConnect setup
<https://i.postimg.cc/ZYHf4PCq/kdeconnect02.jpg> KDEConnect pairing
<https://i.postimg.cc/cJ39SVnq/kdeconnect03.jpg> KDEConnect sharing

In summary, I don't see any indication NitroShare won't work to share
files both ways between a PC & Android over an ad hoc Wi-Fi connection.

Why not try it (at least you should get as far as I just did).

Note: There are so many ways to copy files between Android & Windows
that it's not funny. I already can slide files both ways with aplomb.
<https://i.postimg.cc/hjkVFyqJ/scrcpy07.jpg> Android mnt as drive letter

The "magic" for me is a combination of scrcpy + webdav where there
is no distinction between the Android & the PC file system or GUI.
<https://i.postimg.cc/5NrK7jtg/scrcpy16.jpg> powershell hide-console trick
<https://i.postimg.cc/g2yNftw0/scrcpy15.jpg> Trick to pin batch shortcut
<https://i.postimg.cc/XqZsmVFM/scrcpy14.jpg> AppPath & shortcut TARGET
<https://i.postimg.cc/CxXH6N2r/scrcpy13.jpg> No scrcpy console window!
etc.

Apologies for not finishing the task but I hacked it out for you to
get you at least to the point where you have to set up your network.
--
I added the Windows' ng (and the Windows' archived ng too - which nobody
uses but which is a useful archive for how to do things on Windows).

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