smartfilming

One of the most fascinating and convenient things about a good modern smartphone is that it lets you do a whole video production workflow involving capturing, editing and publishing on a single device, thereby offering the opportunity to eliminate the tedious but usually mandatory process of having to transfer media files between several devices to get all this done. Depending on the situation however, there’s still a certain need for file transfer solutions. You might be shooting on a phone but want to edit on a tablet with a larger screen, someone else could be the one editing your captured footage or you want to receive footage from another person to incorporate into your phone edit. Of course, nowadays, we want everything to be wireless if possible.

Both major mobile platforms, Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android include the option to wirelessly transfer files to another (nearby) device running the same operating system, using Bluetooth for the devices to find and connect to each other and a WiFi protocol for the actual transfer – no internet connection required! Apple provides the easier and more straight-forward way with its AirDrop feature baked right into the OS while Google requires you (and the receiver) to install its Files by Google app (they also seem to be working on an AirDrop equivalent called “Nearby Sharing” that could launch with the next official version of Android, Android 11). Things get a bit more complicated however if you want to transfer files between the two platforms. Don’t despair though, you do have options depending on what kind of transfer method you prefer.

There are basically four different ways: cloud, temp cloud, device-to-device with internet and device-to-device without internet. You will need an active internet connection for the first three options, you won’t need one for the fourth.

Cloud

I’m sure most of us are pretty familiar with some kind of cloud storage service: Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, Microsoft OneDrive, Box etc. You can upload files to a cloud server and access/download them from anywhere, anywhere with an internet connection that is. The good thing is that no matter what mobile platform you are on, you already have some free cloud storage at your fingertips: Google gives you 15GB of free cloud storage on Google Drive and unless you are rocking a very recent Huawei phone, using an Android device basically means you already have a Google account and Google Drive pre-installed on your phone. Apple is a bit more stingy and gives you only 5GB of free iCloud storage. And even if we ignore the amount of free storage, Google Drive is the better cross-platform choice because it’s also available for iOS while there’s no iCloud app for Android. All other major cloud storage solutions including Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive or Box have apps for both Android and iOS, so no problem there. Another somewhat uncommon choice could be the messenger app Telegram. As I pointed out in my last blog post, Telegram gives you unlimited cloud storage for free. However, while the maximum file size of 1.5GB per file is huge compared to what you can send with other messenger apps, it can’t compete with dedicated cloud storage services in this regard, Google Drive and Dropbox for instance have no file size limit at all, OneDrive recently expanded from 15 to 100GB per file which should cover most common use cases. Generally, you should be aware of the fact that unlike with the device-to-device solutions mentioned later on, the file is not transferred directly to the other device’s storage. Once it’s been uploaded into the cloud from device A, device B needs to download it from there if you (or another person) want(s) to work with it. If you/someone else are/is not using the same cloud service account on both devices this involves the sharing of a download link. Things to consider here are also the available upload/download speed and the consumption of data if you are using mobile internet. Uploading/downloading big video files via mobile data can wreak havoc on your data plan – at least in certain countries… So better make sure you’re connected to a fast wifi network. All mentioned services send files in their original quality without compression as far as I could see.

Temp Cloud

I don’t think “temp cloud” is an actual term but I was looking for a word to describe file transfer services that allow you to temporarily store something in their cloud and create a shareable download link but where the file will be automatically deleted after a short period of time. The most popular service like that on the web is probably WeTransfer. They used to have mobile apps for Android and iOS as well but they discontinued them some time ago, replacing them with an app called Collect. The all-new UI and different structure have generated a lot of backlash from WeTransfer fans though. While it’s true that the whole “Boards” layout can be confusing, one can get the same transfer job done with Collect adding files to a “Board” within the app and then sharing the “Board” with a download link which expires automatically within 90 days. And that’s not all, unlike with the web service there’s no file size limit! In case Collect remains a mystery to you, WeTransfer is still available as a web service with the option to send files of up to 2GB in the free version (20GB in the paid pro version). If you want to send your files encrypted for security reasons, you should have a look at an offering from Mozilla’s popular Firefox brand: Firefox Send. You can send files with up to 1GB and an expiration time of one day without creating a free account, up to 2.5GB and an expiration time of seven days with a free account. It’s still in beta and only available as a mobile app on Android, you can however access the service on iOS as well via a web browser. A popular choice for all kinds of file transfers is Send Anywhere (which will pop up again in the coming paragraphs). While I mostly use Send Anywhere for device-to-device file transfer, they also have the option to send files via temp cloud / download link. You will however have to create a (free) account with them to use this feature. File size limit is 10GB for the free account, 50GB for the paid Plus account. Send Anywhere sports excellent mobile apps for both Android and iOS. Another service that I just recently discovered is the Norwegian company Filemail which also has mobile apps for both Android and iOS. Their file size allowance is huge, a whopping 50GB, but the free version only lets you do two transfers a day. Still a pretty cool option so you should give it a go! You can choose either one day or seven days for the link to expire. All mentioned services send files in their original quality without compression as far as I could see.

Device-to-Device with internet

If you don’t want to use a service that stores your files on an external cloud server but prefer a direct transfer between two devices, Send Anywhere is a good choice again. Do note that despite the fact that I’m talking about device-to-device transfer, you will need an internet connection and it will use up data if you’re on mobile internet. Transfer speeds depend on the upload/download speed available. Unlike the two cloud solutions with a download link, this way is particularly useful if the device you want to transfer to is right next to you and the file will be used right away. Both devices need to have Send Anywhere installed and open, unless you want to use their web service via a browser which has a file size limitation. After selecting the files you want to send, the sending device will generate a 6-digit key which needs to be entered on the receiving device within a time frame of 10 minutes to initiate the transfer. While there is no file size limit, do make sure that the receiving device has enough free storage available! With Feem there’s another good choice available for Android and iOS. It’s the same principle but works slightly differently from Send Anywhere: After opening the app on both devices, they should detect each other (in the free version the app automatically assigns silly nicknames like “Lonely Gecko” or “Reckless Chicken” to the devices). You then tap on the listed device you want to send files to, choose “Send File” and select the files you want to send, finally tapping the “send” button. Important note: Unlike Send Anywhere (which can also utilize mobile data), Feem only works if both devices are connected to the same WiFi network! Feem is free to use. It has a paid pro version (annual subscription of 4.99 Euro/US-Dollar) which gives you a whole bunch of customization options for the device name, avatar, download folder but nothing really essential. All mentioned services send files in their original quality without compression as far as I could see. 

Device-to-Device without internet

Unlike with all the aforementioned options, Feem also has the ability to work across platforms without an active internet connection which makes it pretty unique and a lifesaver for certain situations! While Send Anywhere has an option to share files device-to-device without the use of an active internet connection via the WiFi Direct protocol, this is only available between Android devices as iOS doesn’t support the standard, so I will have to exclude it here for the purpose of this article. The magic trick in Feem is done by the Android device creating a local WiFi network to which the iOS device can connect (it doesn’t work the other way round but that’s not really a problem). Feem gives you a pretty good step-by-step guide how to do this upon opening the app so I won’t get into the details here (it’s not that complicated, don’t worry!) but you basically switch on the “Turn on Wi-Fi Direct” button in the app and a pop-up with the hotspot name and password appears which you then use to connect your iPhone or iPad to this network and commence with your file transfer from within the app. This is a great feature which you can either use if there’s no internet available at all or you don’t want to use up data. The app is not 100% stable all the time so you might have to redo a transfer on occasion but in general I have found it to work quite well.

One final note: With many/most services you will also be able to send a file using their app without having to open the app first. You can locate a video file in the Gallery (Android) or Camera Roll (iOS) and then use the OS’s share sheet to send the selected file using the file transfer app of your choice.

I’m sure there are many other options out there so this article is by no means a complete overview but just a highly personal selection of available choices that I deem worth checking out. Feel free to drop comments and questions here or hit me up on the Twitter @smartfilming. You can also sign up for my Telegram channel t.me/smartfilming to get notified about new blog posts and receive the monthly Ten Takeaways Telegram newsletter including a personal selection of 10 interesting things that happened in the world of mobile video during the last four weeks.

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Download Google Drive for Android or iOS
Download Microsoft OneDrive for Android or iOS
Download Dropbox for Android or iOS
Download Telegram for Android or iOS
Download Collect for Android or iOS
Download Firefox Send for Android
Download Send Anywhere for Android or iOS
Download Filemail for Android or iOS
Download Feem for Android or iOS