Google is bringing Android’s Environment Sharing feature to the desktop with a new Windows app. Google says the new program will make it easier to share files between Windows and Android, allowing you to send files with just a few clicks and taps.
Google Nearby Share has been built into Android for a few years now and allows you to transfer files locally over Wi-Fi, with the initial pairing of devices happening over Bluetooth. In real life, Nearby Sharing is quite difficult to use since most people share files over the Internet. And for personal use, most people only have one Android device, a phone, so there’s nothing to share files on. However, a ton of Android users have a Windows PC, so this will be the first real use of Nearby Share for many.
The application is easy to use. Just download it from the Android website and click a few “Next”buttons in the installer. You need a PC with 64-bit Windows (not ARM, ironically) with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. From there, you can easily share by dragging to Windows or by using Android’s Share button and clicking Share to Neighborhood. You have the option to sign in to the Windows application or not. If you don’t, you’ll have to manually confirm every transaction on both your phone and PC. If you’re signed in, you can choose to automatically accept from yourself, any of your contacts, or the probably not recommended “everyone”option.
Google says you can transfer “photos, videos, documents, audio files, or entire folders between your Android device and Windows PC.”We tried it, it seems to be ok. It’s fast and easy and takes place at Wi-Fi speed.
Google Nearby Share is entering a surprisingly competitive market to improve how your Windows PC works with your Android phone. If you’re just interested in moving files between your computers, sync-style apps like Dropbox and Google Drive will let you move files with far fewer taps. Nearby Share requires “both devices are unlocked, close to each other, and have Bluetooth turned on”, which is not a requirement for sync apps.
My file sharing solution for my own computers is self-hosted SyncThing, which seamlessly syncs files in the background to the phone in addition to the desktop. Dropbox and Google Drive won’t automatically upload files to your phone – they only sync files between PCs – although there are some third-party apps that can. If you just want to keep everything in sync, one of these 24/7 automatic sync settings will require a lot less day-to-day work—your files will be automatically on every computer without any clicks.
You can also try to improve the phone-to-computer experience from the Microsoft ecosystem. Microsoft has been delivering Windows-Android solutions for nearly seven years now. This company’s latest solution is called “Link to Windows “or “Phone Link “(oddly, it has different names on Android and Windows). In addition to simply transferring files, it is a much more comprehensive system for communicating with your phone, allowing you to view and respond to notifications, use phone applications on your PC, and make calls. Again, this is only really good for connecting two of your devices, but it’s pretty good!
Some Android skins are also packaged in some kind of Windows-Android application. One is “Ready For “from Lenovo/Motorola, and Samsung includes a solution from Microsoft.
So Nearby Share, if all you really need is files, doesn’t seem like the best solution for your computers. Where Nearby Share shines is when you want to quickly send a file to a computer that doesn’t belong to you. The app can be installed quickly, and while you can log in, you don’t have to, and can just work in guest mode with individual approvals for each transfer. This was the original Android-to-Android use case for Nearby Share, and it still works well on Windows if you can find someone else you want to share files with locally.