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Better way to transfer files between Windows <> Mac?

1 points by minimike ↗ HN
I recently bought my first Windows machine in 20 years (!!) because I needed a NVIDIA graphics card to run Stable Diffusion. But, I struggled to shuttle files back and forth with my Mac in a quick and easy way.

I built a little app for myself - I'm calling it Beamhole - where I can simply drag and drop a file on the Beamhole icon, and it will turn up on the other device. (Or you can right-click -> Send, or type a CLI command.)

Your files won't be uploaded to the cloud, everything is done peer-to-peer and encrypted during transit.

Window and Mac only for now, but perhaps Android, iOS, Linux, etc if this is useful to more people.

Before I keep coding, I want to validate this solves an actual problem.

If you like the idea, please fill out the survey here: https://bit.ly/beamhole_beta

Thanks!

12 comments

[ 1.7 ms ] story [ 24.4 ms ] thread
clouddrover
Can't you just use file sharing? SMB is built into both Windows and macOS:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_Message_Block

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/micro...

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/connect-mac-shared-...

minimike
True. Although I was planning on extending this to mobile devices as well, and also allowing the connections to persist if you left the local network...
clouddrover
On iOS you can use the Files application to connect to SMB shares. Android has a number of applications available that can connect to SMB shares.
bediger4000
Isn't sshd runnable on both? The distinction between client and server should be less rigid.
minimike
Yes, but I'm looking for something that's super simple, and integrated into the UI of the OS...
yuppie_scum
Make a windows file share and open it on the Mac. Super easy
minimike
Yes, I probably overlooked this as an option.

However configuring doesn't seem that easy for non-technical folks - i.e. on Mac you need to create new logins for each user, etc.

I've made it as simple as installing the software. Everything is configured by default.

ok_dad
I use Syncthing; the only platform I cannot use it on is iOS but I have airdrop for phone to laptop transfers, as rare as they are.
minimike
Yeh, a buddy of mine raves about Syncthing. I'm trying to build something though for the less-technical user. (Admittedly, I probably won't find less-technical users on HackerNews !)

Windows <> iOS would be a really nice feature. I'm surprised Microsoft didn't add something like that to the Link to Windows app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/link-to-windows/id6443686328

anjanesh
Amazing software idea. Looking forward to this. The google form short link doesn't redirect at my work network.