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Let's say I want to send a file from my phone to the phone of my friend (who is physically next to me).

I can't use the telephony network nor WiFi.

Is there an app to send the file anyway, using Bluetooth/NFC if available, or QR code video (sender's screen shows video, receiver's camera records and recognizes), or even audio. Or anything faster than might be available.

Requirements:

  • No network
  • Reliable, using checksums where needed
  • Runs on Android
  • Open source
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You might wish to take a look at my list for Filetransfer between two Android devices – I'm sure you'll find your candidate there. And I'm pretty sure it will be something like...

SuperBeam, which makes use of NFC (if available) or QR-Codes (otherwise) to connect two devices, and then uses WiFi-Direct for the transfer itself. So it's easy to connect – and much faster than Bluetooth:

SuperBeam Select SuperBeam QR
SuperBeam (click images for larger variants)

As the screenshots show, it's pretty easy to deal with: On the sending side, you select what to send and how to initiate the transfer – and on the target device (which also must have the app installed), you select the same connection method: either scanning a QR code, or hold the devices close to each other and use NFC.

It's possible to use SuperBeam on the sending side even if the target does not have the app installed – but that would involve a web service, and thus contradict your requirements. Speaking of which:

  • No network: Taken literally, I had to recommend an SDCard ;) But: No internet connection required, it uses WiFi-Direct.
  • Reliable, using checksums where needed: I don't know about the "internal handling", but all I've heard was positive feedback. So it should be reliable – however it does its job.
  • Runs on Android: Yupp, it's an Android app.
  • Open Source: Afraid that's the only part the app does not match. Moreover, I'm afraid that's the part hard to match: Though my above mentioned list covers 13 candidates currently, none of them seems to be Open Source – and I've not heard of such. Though I must admit the fact simply slipped by when I investigated on that topic.
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Bluetooth file transfer works for a subset of files for the rest you may need to rename the file to have an extension of .jpg, transfer it and then rename it back.

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  • Is there an app for this?
    – Nicolas Raoul ♦
    Commented Sep 19, 2014 at 7:33
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    @NicolasRaoul as Steve seems to be "temporarily out of order": A few can be found in my lists again, see Bluetooth Fileserver. But BT is pretty limited, especially when it comes to bigger files (which is why I didn't even think about mentioning that). Might come in handy, though, as a fallback if one of the devices doesn't work with WiFi-Direct.
    – Izzy
    Commented Sep 20, 2014 at 20:01

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