Almost all Android users are accustomed to using third-party file-sharing apps. Even most Android phones come with built-in third-party sharing apps. But strangely, your phone has some great and powerful features to let you share files at ease. We are here to introduce those.
Why you shouldn't use third-party sharing apps?
In the case of any third-party app other than of trusted companies, there's always a possibility of using or collecting your private information by their developers. Besides, many people have decided to leave sharing apps after the phenomenon of security leak of popular file-sharing app "SHAREit" led to vulnerability of personal information although it got fixed within a week. So, trusting or using any third-party apps without worrying is quite tough.
Alternatives
Here are some features of your Android device you may use to transfer files:
Wi-Fi Direct (Recommended)
You shouldn't worry about your privacy using third-party sharing apps as you already have a built-in great option for transferring files in your phone called "Wi-Fi Direct". It is also known as P2P (peer-to-peer). All the Android devices of Jellybean version (4.1) or later comes with this feature.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Wi-Fi Direct
Wi-Fi Direct supports WPA2 encryption. For this reason, it's more secure. The average transfer speed of Wi-Fi Direct is up to 250Mbps (31.5 MB/s). However, it mostly depends on the Wi-Fi bandwidth your phone is using which is much satisfactory. Another good point of Wi-Fi Direct is-you can transfer files within up to 100-200 meters. Wi-Fi Direct is the best choice for transferring large files in a short time. The disadvantage of Wi-Fi Direct is that it results in more power consumption.
How to Transfer with Wi-Fi Direct
On the receiver device, go to Wi-Fi option from Settings. At first, turn Wi-Fi on. Then tap the three dots icon (at top-right). You may find Wi-Fi Direct there. Tap it and wait. For the sender device, turn Wi-Fi on first. Then tap the share option from wherever you want to share files and choose Wi-Fi Direct. If you didn't turn on Wi-Fi before, you will receive a dialogue asking for turning it on. After turning Wi-Fi on, you will see the available nearby devices. Tap on the receiver's device name. On the receiver device, a connection request will appear for confirmation with a time limit in seconds to confirm within the limited time. Accept the request and it will start transferring.
Note: Although Wi-Fi Direct exists for receiving, Samsung has replaced "Wi-Fi Direct" with "Quick Share" for sending files on One UI 3.0 which uses Wi-Fi Direct implicitly. But there must have "Quick Share" option on the receiver device too for receiving files, Wi-Fi Direct won't work to receive files sent via Quick Share. It is pretty disappointing.
Nearby Share
If your device is running Android 6 (Marshmallow) or above, then it's eligible for using Nearby Share. Nearby Share uses Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Location together. We don't recommend Nearby Share for transferring large files but it's quite better for transferring small files.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Nearby Share
Along with mobile data or Wi-Fi, Nearby Share can be accessed offline. The plus point is that you can control your visibility for other devices marking some or all of your contacts or staying invisible to others until you turn Nearby Share on. But as it uses both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, it doesn't provide a faster speed as anyone would expect. The average transfer speed is almost 2-3MB/s.
How to Transfer with Nearby Share
To start transferring with Nearby Share for the first time, you have to go through a quick setup process. For this, go to Settings>Google>Device Connections>Nearby Share. Then set up your device name and visibility. That's it. Alternatively, if you turn Nearby Share on from quick settings for the first time, it will ask you to configure it. It should be done for both devices (sender and receiver). Both devices will be visible to nearby devices in this way. To transfer using Nearby Share, turn Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Location, and Nearby Share on from quick settings on both devices. On the receiver device, a notification may be shown saying Device nearby is sharing. Tap on the notification to open nearby sharing panel. Then choose Nearby Share icon from sharing options after selecting files you want to share from the sender device. If you didn't toggle Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Location on before, you will see a prompt to turn them on. Tap Turn on for turn on at once. On the sender device, you will see the receiver device name with an icon. As soon as you tap on it, a prompt will be shown on the receiver device to accept the files. Tap Accept and sharing will be started.
Note: For some devices, Nearby Share may not be shown on quick settings. In this case, turn on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Location. If you get a notification saying that "Device nearby is sharing", tap it. That's pretty much it.
Sharing through A Cable Connection
If there is an OTG (On-The-Go) support to at least one of the two devices, you can easily transfer files through a wired connection between the two phones. Though it is quite unusual, it can be much convenient.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Sharing through A Cable
Although the transfer speed depends on the hardware of your device and the USB type, you can get almost an average of 10-20MB/s or even more transfer speed. But this type of connection may fail often for moving or shaking device or cable. Besides, this method will consume the host device's battery faster and charge the client device. We mark it neutral as whether it is helpful or not depends on you.
How to Transfer through A Cable Connection?
For transferring by this method, either you need a cable of male USB on both sides according to the ports of two devices (e.g. USB-C to USB-C, USB-C to Micro USB, etc) or a data cable (matched with client device's port) and an OTG (matched with host device's port). The first thing you have to do is to connect the two devices appropriately. Connect the OTG with the host device and connect the data cable with the OTG. At last, connect the male USB of the data cable with the female port of the client device. The host is the device that you connect OTG to and the client is the device that you connect with the data cable. Don't worry about this matter. Any of the two devices can be used as host (if both have OTG support). Otherwise, connect OTG with the device that has OTG support if only one of the two is supported. Once the devices are successfully connected, you may get a prompt on the receiver device asking for allowing transferring files. Tap Allow. If you don't see the dialogue box, go to the notification panel. You will get an MTP Host notification by Android System. Tap it and choose what to configure USB settings. You may see "Open with" dialogue box on the host device to access the client device's files. You can open it with the device's default Downloads app or any third-party file managing app. You would be able to copy files from your phone to the receiver phone or from the receiver phone to your phone.
Wrapping It Up
Always make your phone the first choice for transferring files. The alternatives your phone have are free from ads, provide great stability, and the best thing is-your data can not get hacked!
