AirDrop Alternative for Windows and Android: Send Files Between Any Devices

AirDrop is one of the best things about Apple devices: tap, pick a file and it lands on a nearby iPhone or Mac almost instantly, with no accounts and no cables. The catch is in the name of the ecosystem — AirDrop only works between Apple devices. As soon as one of the two is a Windows laptop or an Android phone, you need an AirDrop alternative that does not care what the other device is.

What makes AirDrop so good (and what to copy)

An alternative has to match the things people love:

• Zero setup. No accounts to create and nothing to configure.
• Fast. Files move over the local network, not through the internet.
• Private. Nothing is uploaded to be stored.
• Any file, any size. No "attachment too large" message.

What else exists

• Quick Share (formerly Nearby Share) is Google's answer. It works well between Android phones and has a Windows app, but it is not available on Apple devices.
• Bluetooth works with anything but is slow for large files.
• Cloud storage and messaging apps work everywhere but need an upload, an account and storage, and often compress photos and videos.
• Browser-based peer-to-peer tools such as PeerFlow work on every device with a modern browser.

Sending a file between any two devices with PeerFlow

1. Open the PeerFlow home page on the device that has the file and choose it.
2. A six-character code, a link and a QR code appear.
3. On the other device — iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac or Linux — open the link, scan the QR code with the camera or type the code.
4. The two devices connect directly and the file transfers. It downloads on the receiving device when finished.

You can send several files together, and to several devices at once.

Same Wi-Fi: AirDrop-like speed

If both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network, router or phone hotspot, PeerFlow detects the local route and moves the file on your network without going through the internet. For large videos that is the difference between seconds and minutes. Share nearby goes further and connects only over the local network.

Different networks: still direct

If the devices are in different places, they still connect to each other directly using WebRTC where the networks allow it; on strict networks an encrypted relay can carry the data without being able to read it.

Phone to PC without a cable

This is the most common use. To move photos from your phone to a computer, open PeerFlow on the computer, show the QR code, scan it with the phone, pick the photos and send. No cable, no cloud, no app required.

Tips for faster, smoother transfers

• Keep both screens awake. Phones that lock their screen can pause a browser transfer, so keep the page in front until the file is done.
• Use the same Wi-Fi when you can. It is the single biggest speed-up, and for nearby devices "Share nearby" keeps everything on your own network.
• Send in batches. Many small photos are fine in one go; for a giant video, send it on its own.
• Check free space on the receiver. Large files need room on the device that downloads them.

If something does not connect

Most problems come down to one of three things: the page was closed on the sending device, the two devices are on networks that block direct connections (try the same Wi-Fi or a phone hotspot), or a browser extension is blocking WebRTC. Refreshing both pages and trying again with a new code solves almost all of them.

AirDrop and PeerFlow compared

If everyone you share with has an Apple device, AirDrop is hard to beat. For everyone else, PeerFlow fills the gap. Learn more about P2P file transfer or compare all the ways to send large files. Apps are on the download page.