Ask HN: Alternatives to AirDrop?

[swyx]

I'm logged in to Apple on my iPhone and my macbook. Wifi + Bluetooth both on. I try to Airdrop a copy of a website I have on my phone to my desktop.... and it just says "Waiting" and I've typed this entire post while still waiting.

In the past it's done this and sent it after a while but I don't understand why it's not instant (because it's literally just sending a short URL string)?

What's the tech stack of Airdrop and what should I be checking? Is there something that is faster and more reliable I could try out?

[steveharman]

You're wanting to share a URL from device (a) to device (b)?

I do this all the time to & from iOS, Mac, Android & Windows in Brave using "Send to your devices".

Simply Share > Send to your devices > [pick one]

The URL appears almost instantly on the target device / the next time that device is powered on

[DarthNebo]

Taildrop using Tailscale, compatible with systemwide share sheet on Android, iOS, MacOS etc

Snapdrop as well

[windthrown]

I have had good experiences with both Sharedrop (https://www.sharedrop.io/) and Snapdrop (https://snapdrop.net/). While they don't benefit from the slickness of being integrated in iOS, they both try to emulate the experience as much as possible and transfer effectively.

[TooSmugToFail]

Yeah, Airdrop is a nuisance. Reliably non-functional, to a point where I don’t even try anymore. Same thing about clipboard sharing across devices.

What I started doing for sharing text between Mac/iOS is a Note that serves me as a pastebin. It’s promptly and reliably synced via iCloud and it just works.

[karmakaze]

On Firefox, the leftmost 'mini tab' is for the "Tab Pickup" feature. You can put tabs there and find them on your other device(s) to continue reading.

Alternatively you can simply use the same Firefox profile on both computer and device and have all tabs sync'd.

[cloudking]

https://snapdrop.net/

[swyx → cloudking]

ohh sick, this could be the thing! thank you

[mensetmanusman]

Chinese citizens would love an alternative after Apple gimped airdrop for the CCP.

[pacifika]

Draft emails

[blackflame7000]

Low battery of phone or bluetooth connection being used by default and exclusively. Also some routers dont let 5ghz and 2.4ghz wifi networks talk sometimes