

Alt-C: A neat little app to copy text between your device and your PC - brettf
http://altcopy.net

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mxstbr
Just use Pushbullet, it can do that and send files and send URLs, and send to
friends, and, and, and,... [http://pushbullet.com](http://pushbullet.com)

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Siliticxx
After using Pushbullet i really don't see the point in an app that does JUST
this.

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pbhjpbhj
[https://blog.pushbullet.com/2014/08/20/introducing-
universal...](https://blog.pushbullet.com/2014/08/20/introducing-universal-
copy-and-paste/) \- blog post about the feature (only official "documentation"
on the feature I could find).

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JoelMcCracken
I find it interesting that the "PCs" that are show are obviously a macbook pro
and an iMac -- although there is not yet any support for a mac/ios app.

Not sure what this means. It is interesting to me that the mac may now stand
for a general PC.

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pbhjpbhj
Nice idea; however I'd be very surprised if there isn't already an
implementation of this idea? It's kinda a streamlined Evernote (the way I use
it) using the clipboard.

Klipper (KDE's clipboard for ctrl+C content) has a useful "make barcode"
feature that allows you to highlight any text, which then is copied
automatically to the clipboard, and turn it in to a QR code (I've got it on
alt-V). Then the barcode reader on my phone can read the code and show the
text; then I can copy-paste it on the phone. Clunky but working and using
tools I've already got, no web involved (but the barcode app writer could be
stealing the clips just as easily as the app writer in the OP).

~~~
XorNot
I recently hacked a similar plugin for Cinnamon it could both read and write
text via QR code to and from the clipboard. Sin e most desktops/laptops have
webcams it works really well.

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joosters
How secure is the information that I cut and paste? There's a brief mention of
SSL on the website, but that doesn't clarify much.

Can the app author read my clippings? Is my data stored on any servers? If so,
for how long? How securely is it deleted? Is it stored encrypted? Who has the
encryption keys? Who can retrieve or see my data?

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brettf
The information is transmitted over SSL. It is not stored on the back-end at
all, only relayed via the backend & there is no way for the author to view the
text.

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gkoz
Is there a specific reason the author can't view the text?

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krisgenre
This is a lesson to me - if don't do your finishing touch properly, no one
will notice.

I had submitted my similar open source app a long time back -
[http://oneclipboard.crushingboredom.com/](http://oneclipboard.crushingboredom.com/).
Sorry for the shameless plug :)

~~~
laggyluke
This is kinda funny - we should all hang out together or something :)

Here's my attempt: [http://www.clipbrd.com/](http://www.clipbrd.com/)

Was looking for something similar, couldn't find a thing that worked well, so
I had to build it myself. Too bad I don't have enough time to polish it, but
it still works well for me.

~~~
krisgenre
Me too! my need was something that works over the internet. Here's one that's
LAN only - [http://bdwm.be/cs/](http://bdwm.be/cs/).

One thing I noticed is that none of us attempted an iOS version :)

~~~
laggyluke
Absence of background apps was a dealbreaker on earlier iOS versions, but I
think all the necessary APIs are in place now.

At this point I'm simply not motivated enough to do it. Especially considering
Apple's attitude towards developers.

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amelius
> Select some text on your Smart device and copy it

This is the not-so-easy part. Especially if you have big fingers.

A better interface would allow me to just make a screenshot, send that over to
my PC automatically, and extract the text from it.

~~~
microcolonel
Google's screen reader integration could be hooked into, would be better than
OCRing a screenshot.

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aw3c2
No end-to-end encryption, not even a privacy policy. Stay away...

~~~
ToastyMallows
Right on the front page: "Alt-C uses Google Cloud Messaging with SSL
connections to copy the text."

~~~
Freaky
End-to-end encryption means it's encrypted between the endpoints - any
intermediate servers just see ciphertext and never have access to the key to
decrypt it. SSL just encrypts the link to Google's servers - it should be
basically irrelevant since the data should already be encrypted and digitally
signed.

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Nursie
While this is useful, it adds to the number of ways your data can leak, as to
copy between devices that may be in the same room, your data will be crossing
borders and potentially being exposed unencrypted on some server somewhere in
another country.

I would be _very_ reticent about pushing any remotely sensitive data over a
channel like this.

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qball12
Funny how they use MacBooks stack photos and iMac icons as examples and yet
have neither iOS nor OSX app.

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Joona
I actually thought about making an app like this. Glad someone made it! Any
plans to include small file transfers (like photos)?

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GioM
What's the interaction between this and password managers, which use
copy/paste to get your passwords in & out?

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BlytheSchuma
Scatter.to seems be a much better option since it also has a history and
archive function.

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chris_engel
I just assumed this would be a web project. Open a web page on two devices and
just copy/paste data. I wondered if it would use webrtc for direct, private
communication.

Than I saw: oh, its "just an app". Meh. :D

