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Recently, we did a guide on how to move files onto your Android device without using cables.
We had quite a bit of feedback on what apps you thought were best
suited to file transferring, so in this guide, we’re going to narrow
down the topic and talk about the best apps for moving files from your
PC to your Android device (and vice versa) through a WiFi network.
AirDroid was one of the most recommended
apps for moving files across networks, and for good reason. AirDroid
comes fully equipped to essentially use your phone without actually
touching your phone and isn’t just limited to file transfers.
The initial set-up and connection is
simple: when you first run the app from your phone, you’ll be asked to
either sign in or register. You can use your email as a primary sign-in
option or use a convenient Google, Facebook or Twitter alternate sign-in
instead. After that initial set up, you’ll have a screen that shows two
links to go to on your desktop: the AirDroid site for accessing your
device over a same WiFi network or a specific IP address for accessing
it remotely. For the sake of this guide, we’re mostly going to discuss
being able to transfer files through WiFi, but if you ever need remote
access away from home, AirDroid has you covered (although it does cap
you at a 500 MB monthly limit of transfers).
Over WiFi though, there’s no limit to the
amount of files you can transfer. AirDroid supports moving files from
your PC onto your phone’s internal storage or SD card, but can also pull
music, photos, ringtones, or anything else off of your device onto your
PC. The speed is dependent on your router, but for most file transfers,
it’s much quicker than going through the internet as a middleman.
At some points, it almost seems like
AirDroid does too much. Your web browser page turns into a
mini-homescreen for your device where you can text, play music, change
ringtones, and even make phone calls (Phone calls require a premium
key). From your computer, you can add shortcuts to specific contacts,
upload files onto your device from web URLs, and take screenshots of
your phone’s display. It’s ridiculously powerful, incredibly well
designed, and for WiFi transfers, it’s free. For a well-rounded utility
app, AirDroid is hard to beat, especially for how easy it is to set up.
WiFi File Explorer is similar to AirDroid
with its network transferring capabilities, but it lacks all the other
bells and whistles that AirDroid has. On one hand, it can be tough to
recommend WiFi File Explorer over AirDroid because it lacks those
features, but if you’re just looking for a light application to handle
moving some songs and photos onto your device without all the extra
fluff, WiFi File Explorer is arguably the better app.
Similar to AirDroid, after installing the
application, it gives you an IP address to connect to on your computer’s
web browser. This gives you full access to the files on your device,
including internal memory and the SD card. From here, it’s easy to copy
pictures from your phone to your computer, or move some music from your
computer onto your device. There’s also a few small gauges to give you
an idea of things like your WiFi strength and free space on your phone.
Best of all, the app runs as a service, so you can keep doing anything
else on your phone while files transfer.
There is a free and pro version of WiFi
File Explorer, with the Pro version adding a handful of extra, handy
features like copying multiple files at the same time.
When thinking about transferring files to
your device, file explorers aren’t generally the first things to come to
mind, but some file explorer apps do support file browsing on a local
network. Apps that do this basically allow you to browse your computer’s
hard drive across a WiFi network as if it was an extra SD card in your
phone, which is extremely quick and convenient.
Solid Explorer is one such file explorer
that allows network connections by using an FTP connection. In SE’s
menu, there’s a file sharing option. Selecting that will allow you to
set up an FTP server and give you a corresponding address to connect to
in either a web browser or a file explorer on your computer. The cool
thing about that type of connection is that you can set up a bookmark in
Windows Explorer that always connects to that one connection, so you
can always access your phone’s storage just like you would access a
music folder on your hard drive. It isn’t as pretty and it isn’t as
simple, but if you want something that integrates into your existing PC
setup, using Solid Explorer as an FTP connection on your WiFi network is
an excellent option.
Solid Explorer isn’t the only option in the
Play Store, but it scores some extra points for its root capabilities,
holo theme, and the awesome dual-panel view when using the app in
landscape orientation. The free application gives you a 14 day trial,
but the app is only $1.99. It’s an excellent deal for a powerful file
explorer.
Sometimes, you’re not going to want to use
your PC to do all of your file management. For moving files onto your
device using your phone as opposed to your computer, ES File Explorer
has a relatively easy to set up feature that will allow you to browse
your computer’s hard drive directly from your phone.
Setting up this type of connection is
pretty quick, but it’s not automated. First off, you’re going to need to
find the IP address on your computer. There’s a handful of ways to do
this, but on Windows, the easiest way would be to go to your Network and
Sharing Center, clicking your current network, then click the
Properties button on the box that pops up. It’ll show a list of
properties about your current network, but all you need is the IPv4
address that’s listed. Then, on ES File Explorer, you can tap the fast
access button on the top left of the app, then select LAN connection
from the Network drop down list. Tap the New button on the bottom left,
type in your IP address from earlier in the Server box, then your PC’s
user name and password. Click okay, and voila; instant access to any
file on your computer hard drive. You can copy and move things around
between your PC and your phone’s memory or SD card. ES will also make a
shortcut that you can name to have quick access to your PC in the
future.
The biggest advantage to using ES File
Explorer like this is that you’ll be able to manage PC files from your
phone instead of managing your phone’s files from your PC. Generally,
most users would need to have access to their PC to get files moved
around anyway, but in a pinch, ES is extremely useful to have.
Setting up a Samba server was one of the methods of file transferring we went over in our earlier guide, and compared to some of the other items on this list, it does have some advantages.
Samba Filesharing is the best app to set up
a dedicated server on your phone, but it does require root to fully
function. If your device is rooted, this app is worth a look. Samba
Filesharing can be set to automatically run whenever your device is
connected to a WiFi network, (or a particular WiFi network, if you only
want it to run on your home network for security) so you can set it and
forget it. Once it’s running, you can access your Android device like
any other network drive. It’s extremely simple but still has plenty of
power-user functions, such as WiFi white listing, web browser and Unix
support if you’re using something like a Chromebook
instead of a traditional Windows computer, and a handful of other
features. Overall, the app is very simple and won’t bog you down in
menus and settings to get up and running.
Samba Filesharing is available as a free app.
Source:TalkAndroid.com
