Unfortunately sharing files between Android and Windows was never this easy. Google launches Nearby Share Beta for Windows.

[RollyShed]

6 hours ago, LAwLz said:

There are dozens of great file transfer programs ... Dukto is not one of them though, because it's a really terrible program and a massive security nightmare.

Transfer programmes such as?

 

Dukto is the easiest, works with everything, simplest and most logical I've so far come across and never had problem over the years I've used it. What alternative do you suggest?

 

Warpinator, which seems to work on everything, is the next but not as easy to use.

[LAwLz]

56 minutes ago, RollyShed said:

Transfer programmes such as?

 

Dukto is the easiest, works with everything, simplest and most logical I've so far come across and never had problem over the years I've used it. What alternative do you suggest?

 

Warpinator, which seems to work on everything, is the next but not as easy to use.

Keep using Dukto if you want. Just know that it is a security hazard. You can mitigate the risks a bit by doing what you have said, but it's still bad by design.

If you want something simple and secure then I'd recommend SnapDrop or ShareDrop. They both work the same way and are very similar. You open the website in both browsers (or you can use a native program if you want, or run it as a WPA) and then you can send files to and from your devices.

 

It works by establishing a P2P WebRTC connection between your devices. You have to authorize the file being sent (which adds security) and the connection is encrypted so it provides integrity and confidentiality. It's not perfect, but I'd say it's a lot better than Dukto. One drawback is that both services requires a signaling server to establish the WebRTC connection. That means that if their servers are down, they won't work. However, there are multiple people hosting servers using the same code, so if that worries you, you can always have two bookmarks and switch if one is down.

[RollyShed]

4 hours ago, LAwLz said:

If you want something simple and secure then I'd recommend SnapDrop or ShareDrop.

 

It works by establishing a P2P WebRTC connection between your devices.

Thank you, I'll look into them.

 

However, a big problem, they need the internet and all of that possible problem.

 

Sometimes when file sharing I'll be using a router or switch not connected to the internet so Dukto is perfect.

 

The driving without a seat belt. No problem, we're only driving up and down the driveway, not on the highway.

[vertigo220]

It's always amazed me that Apple has had seamless communication between all their devices (desktop, laptop, phone, and tablet) for what, over a decade, and Google still hasn't managed to get anywhere close. I get that they have to deal with an OS they don't control, but they should easily be able to develop an app to run on Windows to accomplish this. And what's their excuse for the fact I can't even get my two Android devices to connect to each other? It's just pathetic, really, but sadly the type of ineptitude I've come to expect from Google.

 

As for me, I personally use either SFTP or SMB, depending on what I'm doing, which works fine and is relatively easy, but unfortunately I have yet to find a way to do it through a direct connection between two devices and so have to have a WAP to connect to with the phone (and computer if wireless).

 

On 4/2/2023 at 6:28 AM, OhioYJ said:

This seems more complicated than just plugging in a USB cord? Not to mention I'm going to be really upset if some manufacturer decides they can now release a phone without a USB port.... As a Linux user, what would I do?

As was mentioned already, KDEConnect, though when I tried it, it didn't work at all and had tons of issues. Not sure if it's been significantly improved since then or if it works better on Linux than Windows, but my experience with it was not good.

[LAwLz]

2 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

I get that they have to deal with an OS they don't control, but they should easily be able to develop an app to run on Windows to accomplish this.

That's exactly what they have done. That's what these news are about.

 

2 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

And what's their excuse for the fact I can't even get my two Android devices to connect to each other?

You should be able to do that, unless you have a REALLY old Android device (Android 5.0 or earlier).

[vertigo220]

3 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

That's exactly what they have done. That's what these news are about.

 

You should be able to do that, unless you have a REALLY old Android device (Android 5.0 or earlier).

Yes, but the fact it's taken ~15 years to launch a BETA app to accomplish this is just sad. The fact that something like this, a feature that Apple has had for several years, is even news says it all.

 

And I know I should be able to, but of course, it doesn't work, as is the case with many things Android. I send the request from one to the other, accept it on the other, and...nothing. Then after a few minutes, it resets to how it was before I sent the request, and I can send another, and it just does the same thing. Google really struggles to make things that actually work properly. Heck, even Keep, which literally the only reason I got into using it was due to the syncing between devices, has lately not been doing so properly. With all the advancements of Android over the years, it has not only failed to implement what should be basic things that should have been there from the start, but it's also managed to take many steps backwards. Sadly, it's still the best option, and so I just make do. But I use my phone far less than I used to (a good thing, so silver lining I suppose) due to the direction Android has gone. It's just not as fun or useful anymore.

[aliasdred]

On 4/2/2023 at 4:42 PM, porina said:

I'm curious about the use case of file transfer between phone and desktop. Personally the only transfer I regularly do are photos, and that's already handled through cloud.

 

Is this more for sharing files with someone other than yourself?

I'm used to transfer large video files from phones. This has helped me skip 5 more steps. And is native on Phone so i don't have to install shit there.
Transferred a 2gb file from phone to desktop. No settings changed or anything. Just installed app and sent from phone using nearby share then accepted the incoming on desktop. Got a solid 500ish-MBps(topped around 61mbps)

[Senzelian]

14 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

And what's their excuse for the fact I can't even get my two Android devices to connect to each other? It's just pathetic, really, but sadly the type of ineptitude I've come to expect from Google.

What do you mean with you can't get two Android devices to connect to each other? What sort of connection? Which version of Android?

 

11 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

The fact that something like this, a feature that Apple has had for several years, is even news says it all.

It needs to be news. Otherwise how are people supposed to know about it? But I agree, that's why I called it "Unfortunately sharing files between Android and Windows was never this easy."

[vertigo220]

3 hours ago, Senzelian said:

What do you mean with you can't get two Android devices to connect to each other? What sort of connection? Which version of Android?

 

It needs to be news. Otherwise how are people supposed to know about it? But I agree, that's why I called it "Unfortunately sharing files between Android and Windows was never this easy."

I went into WiFi settings and used WiFi Direct, which supposedly allows you to connect to another device, but it wouldn't work. I actually came across it trying to do something else, but it's where I would probably look if trying to do that anyways, because it's a logical place for such a feature. I didn't even see Nearby Share, probably because despite being a similar feature to WiFi direct and one also related to wireless connections, it's mysteriously not present in the same section (or anywhere else for that matter) of settings, nor is it in the app drawer. The only place it appears to be is the quick tools section of the notification panel, which I don't use much aside from the ones I have always showing. So in other words, there's one sharing feature that's right where it makes sense to be but apparently doesn't work, and another that may work but is for all intents and purposes hidden away, buried in a single, oft-overlooked area while not being present in either of the two areas that are more likely, IMO, to be checked. And Android 8 and 13, btw.

 

And I'm not disagreeing that it needs to be news, just stating that it shouldn't be news, because this functionality should have existed, in non-beta form, over a decade ago. I strongly suspect the reason it hasn't until now is because Google prefers people use the cloud. @porina is a perfect example of this, relying on the cloud to transfer their photos, which is slower, uses data if not on WiFi, and provides access to all their personal pictures and any other data sync'd that way to Google, as opposed to just doing it over the local network. That's not meant negatively toward porina, just pointing out that most users will use what's there and what's easy, and will often not even be aware of other, potentially better, methods, or their benefits. And porina, many users transfer videos, music, podcasts, and various other large files that would be too slow to do via the cloud, or they don't want to use their data, and if on WiFi it just makes much more sense to go from the phone to the computer than from the phone to the cloud to the computer. And last but not least, as mentioned, there are privacy reasons.

[Senzelian]

1 hour ago, vertigo220 said:

The only place it appears to be is the quick tools section of the notification panel, which I don't use much aside from the ones I have always showing.

It's in the "connected devices" setting, which is the second setting in your settings panel on Android 13, right after "network & internet".

 

But why would you go that route? The idea is that you select the files that you want to share first, then select Nearby Share. Within the panel that opens you can choose the device you want to share the files to. In case you need to access the settings panel there is a link that takes you there, too.

 

In total there a 4 ways to get you to that settings panel.

 

 

1 hour ago, vertigo220 said:

I strongly suspect the reason it hasn't until now is because Google prefers people use the cloud.

It's not that they prefer people to use the cloud, it's that there was never any doubt in 2011 about how the future would look like.

Five days before Airdrop launched, Google released the first Chromebook. They thought that local storage is dead and eliminated the need for a file explorer with their Chromebooks.

 

Were they correct? I think they were:

 

Movies? Google TV, Apple TV

Photos? Google Photos, Apple Photos

Music? YT Music, Apple Music

Other Files? Google Drive, Apple iCloud

 

The only time I ever even saw someone using AirDrop was one my teachers. He used to send out documents to someone in class that used an iPhone, who den distributed the file within a WhatsApp group to the rest of us. There was never a need for AirDrop. He could've just shared the file over a cloud service. Stuff like this always happens when someone is too tech illiterate.

 

1 hour ago, vertigo220 said:

because this functionality should have existed, in non-beta form, over a decade ago.

So yes, on one hand it should've been there, on the other it doesn't matter with how Google's (and also Apple's) ecosystem works.

[WolframaticAlpha]

On 4/2/2023 at 4:36 PM, mr moose said:

I see a dark day in our future when you won't be able to transfer anything between your phone and computer without creating an account with some company.

Well the USB IF is probably working on fucking that up for everyone probably.

[Catzzye]

Great for android peeps, I know Apple won't do it but they really need to improve their integration with regular PCs.

iTunes is super dated and outlived it's purpose. Ofcourse, they won't do that because they want to push you to use Mac ecosystem...

[vertigo220]

1 hour ago, Senzelian said:

It's in the "connected devices" setting, which is the second setting in your settings panel on Android 13, right after "network & internet".

It's not on my Samsung, which is the newer phone. Probably because of One UI, which, fair enough, but that's yet another major issue with Android. It is there on my other phone, but at first glance, it doesn't appear suited for my intended purpose, and that of this topic's subject. It looks more geared toward sharing with others than with transferring files between two of the same person's devices, and it appears to be for sharing between Android devices, not Android and PC. From just looking at it, it appears I'd have to have myself in my own contacts (which, I do, but still a silly requirement), then select myself in order to find my other devices to be able to share. Not only is this ridiculous and overly complicated, but it suggests that "nearby" sharing is still tied, at least partly, to the cloud. It should just find local devices and connect to them, like WiFi Direct at least attempts to do. So again, WiFi Direct, if it worked, would be a much more obvious, intuitive, and appropriate method than this. At least based on what I'm seeing with it. (more on this below)

 

2 hours ago, Senzelian said:

But why would you go that route? The idea is that you select the files that you want to share first, then select Nearby Share. Within the panel that opens you can choose the device you want to share the files to. In case you need to access the settings panel there is a link that takes you there, too.

Because that's the more standardized/conventional way, not to mention more efficient and how I prefer to do it. If I'm moving files around on a computer, I don't (typically) select a file or a group of files then right-click and select send to and choose where to copy/move them, nor do I copy/paste them then navigate somewhere else and paste them, going back and forth. I open two windows, and I drag stuff from one to the other. This should be no different. It's far less efficient and more cumbersome to navigate somewhere, select some files, share, select the device and location to share to, then navigate somewhere else and do it all again than it is to simply connect the devices and just copy/cut/paste stuff. Granted, there's probably not much difference between the two methods when transferring between two phones, which is something I rarely have need to do, but for transferring between phone and PC, it's much easier and faster to just have access to the phone's file system from the PC, which is why I prefer SFTP. It would just be nice if that ability was baked in and the phone would always be available when on the network just like it is when plugged in. This can be done with a good SFTP server, but most aren't very good, and it requires people to know how to do it and figure it out, instead of "just working."

 

3 hours ago, Senzelian said:

In total there a 4 ways to get you to that settings panel.

Not following. I only see one. On my Moto, it's only in settings, and it doesn't even come up when I search settings for it, I have to manually find it. It's not in the notification panel quick settings on that phone. On the Samsung, it is there, but not in settings, so not only still only in one place, but a different place. Ok, two, because selecting files and sharing them also provides the option, buried among 29 other options on my Moto, which hardly has anything installed, and not even in with the other share options on the Samsung, but rather in a separate spot which, while it makes it easier to access it when you know it's there, due to its color, size, and location, it's very easy to miss, and in fact I did so even when I was specifically looking for it. And when I tested it, I got the notification on the receiving phone, tapped it, and was told sharing won't start until I accept, yet neither device has any way to accept. And even though it's sitting there saying I'm temporarily visible, when I try to share again from the other phone, it just sits saying "looking for nearby devices," so it can't find the other phone when it actively says that it's visible, but it can when it doesn't. Then I disabled and reenabled it to check something, and afterwards it wouldn't even notify me that my other device was sharing until I switched from "Everyone," which it defaults to, to "Your devices," so apparently my devices aren't part of "Everyone" and if I were to use this feature I'd have to remember to go in and change that every time. I'm sorry, but this "feature" is a mess and a joke and I just wasted several minutes messing with it trying to get it to work, and that's only after I discovered it due to it being practically hidden. Yeah, this is not a better way, and using SFTP is substantially easier and faster. Just more proof that Android is severely lacking in an area its competition has had nailed down for years.

 

3 hours ago, Senzelian said:

It's not that they prefer people to use the cloud, it's that there was never any doubt in 2011 about how the future would look like. They thought that local storage is dead and eliminated the need for a file explorer with their Chromebooks.

Well, we may simply disagree on this, but I'd argue that Google didn't go cloud-heavy due to thinking local storage was dead, but for two main reasons: first, and primarily, because having people use the cloud instead of local storage gives Google access to more data, and second so device costs could be kept down, making more people buy Chromebooks, providing Google with more data. If you don't believe Google does almost everything it does to gain access to user data, there's really nothing I can say to convince you, because all the evidence has been there for years. They don't donate Chromebooks to schools out of charity; they do it to get kids, future consumers, used to their devices and used to having everything in the cloud, so they can get...more data. So yes, Google absolutely prefers for people to use the cloud, and local storage, while far from dead, is certainly less important for most people, but that's not what drove the cloud, it was caused by the cloud, and Google's (and other companies') push for people to use it.

 

And I realize a lot of people like, and even prefer, the various services you mentioned, but a lot of people, myself included, don't, and actively avoid them. Part of this is for privacy, part of it is because I often don't have the bandwidth to watch/listen to everything online, and part of it is because I just prefer to have local access to my stuff. To each their own, of course.

 

3 hours ago, Senzelian said:

So yes, on one hand it should've been there, on the other it doesn't matter with how Google's (and also Apple's) ecosystem works.

Again, disagree. It certainly does matter. It may not matter to the many users that don't care and are happy to just rely on the cloud, but many users don't want to for various reasons, including those I just mentioned. Android started out as a platform for more technical people, and only later became more focused on a platform for cheap devices for anybody, as an alternative to the more expensive Apple ecosystem. So I'd wager most original users of it, like myself, prefer file sharing methods that aren't cloud-reliant, and therefore, as I've said, a built-in method to easily share between Android devices and each other and PCs should have existed years ago, yet, as far as I'm concerned, it still doesn't exist, even with Nearby Share. And seeing the state of Nearby Share and how poorly it "works" between Android devices, despite being around for years, I have little faith in this beta.

[LAwLz]

2 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

It's not on my Samsung, which is the newer phone. Probably because of One UI, which, fair enough, but that's yet another major issue with Android.

It's supported in OneUI. If you don't see it then it's for some other reason, such as maybe you not looking in the right place, having nearby share turned off, or some third party program is blocking it.

 

2 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

It looks more geared toward sharing with others than with transferring files between two of the same person's devices

No, it's not. You can share between your own devices too. In fact, it has feature specifically designed for that built in.

 

2 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

and it appears to be for sharing between Android devices, not Android and PC.

... Did you read the start of this thread before commenting? This entire thread is about how you can now use it to share between Android and PC.

 

2 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

From just looking at it, it appears I'd have to have myself in my own contacts (which, I do, but still a silly requirement)

You don't.

 

2 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

then select myself in order to find my other devices to be able to share. Not only is this ridiculous and overly complicated, but it suggests that "nearby" sharing is still tied, at least partly, to the cloud.

It's not tied to the cloud, and you should not have to do what you describe.

[vertigo220]

1 hour ago, LAwLz said:

It's supported in OneUI. If you don't see it then it's for some other reason, such as maybe you not looking in the right place, having nearby share turned off, or some third party program is blocking it.

Oh, it's supported, it's just in a different place, as mentioned.

 

1 hour ago, LAwLz said:

No, it's not. You can share between your own devices too. In fact, it has feature specifically designed for that built in.

I'm aware, I was just saying that upon first look, that's how it appeared. So even had I happened upon it before (which is what would have had to happen, since as mentioned it's not exactly obvious or prominent), I likely would have just moved on and not even thought to use it for device-to-device transfer, since it doesn't seem to be aimed toward that. Basically, I was pointing out that it's a poor design.

 

1 hour ago, LAwLz said:

... Did you read the start of this thread before commenting? This entire thread is about how you can now use it to share between Android and PC.

Yes. Unlike many other people, I do actually read prior posts before posting, at least within reason. I admit that with all the messing around trying to get the dumb thing to even work, I got a bit mixed up, but essentially, my original point was that the new feature, which is for easily transferring files between Android and PC, should have existed already for several years now. I think you didn't read the whole thread, or you would have seen that I was referring to Senzelian's question as to why I would go through settings to set up a connection between devices to transfer files as opposed to sending them via share, and basically in the discussion about preferring to set up a connection and move files around the traditional way as opposed to "sharing" them, and in looking at Nearby Share, which I'd until now been largely unaware of due to the previously mentioned reasons, I basically misspoke. If you'd read my full comment, you would see that I mentioned in the last sentence that "seeing the state of Nearby Share and how poorly it "works" between Android devices, despite being around for years, I have little faith in this beta."

 

2 hours ago, LAwLz said:

You don't.

Again, this was meant as how it appears, not how it is, which is why I said "From just looking at it, it appears..." Perhaps I could have been more clear, but I was writing as I was messing with it, in order to describe how lousy the design is by explaining how it's not clear how it works and things look a certain way even though they're not necessarily that way. I was trying to give a first-experience perspective on how I personally perceived it, which is to say, unimpressed.

 

2 hours ago, LAwLz said:

It's not tied to the cloud, and you should not have to do what you describe.

Again, wasn't necessarily saying it is, just that it "suggests" that it is. Sorry for not being more clear. But given Google's history of such things, I basically always assume they are tying things to your account and the cloud and doing malicious things until proven otherwise, and even then. Also, I'm not 100% certain, but I could have sworn when I first went into Nearby Share, I set it to offline only, but when I went back it was set to use data. Something to keep an eye on. 

[Senzelian]

4 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

From just looking at it, it appears I'd have to have myself in my own contacts (which, I do, but still a silly requirement), then select myself in order to find my other devices to be able to share. Not only is this ridiculous and overly complicated, but it suggests that "nearby" sharing is still tied, at least partly, to the cloud. It should just find local devices and connect to them, like WiFi Direct at least attempts to do. So again, WiFi Direct, if it worked, would be a much more obvious, intuitive, and appropriate method than this. At least based on what I'm seeing with it. (more on this below)

Nearby Share has a setting for sharing between only your own devices. The settings are set up in the following order:

1. No one
2. Your own devices
3. Your contacts
4. Everyone

There is actually a 5th one within Google Files...

 

 

4 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

but that's yet another major issue with Android.

That's an issue with Samsung. Google has provided the necessary tools, Samsung decided to not implement them. Taking this away wouldn't be an option, as that would kill diversity for different manufacturers.

 

4 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

This should be no different.

I disagree. This needs to be different because you're not dealing with an entire laptop or desktop PC. It's a small touch enabled device.

 

4 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

Not following. I only see one.

1. Quick Settings Panel
2. Settings -> Connected Devices -> Connection Settings (or whatever its called in english) -> Nearby Share
3. Settings -> Search "Nearby"
4. Select File -> Share -> Nearby Share -> Select Gear Icon

 

4 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

file sharing methods that aren't cloud-reliant, and therefore, as I've said, a built-in method to easily share between Android devices and each other and PCs should have existed years ago, yet, as far as I'm concerned, it still doesn't exist, even with Nearby Share.

They have exited for years in form of a USB cable. If you want simple file transfer without any nonsense, use a cable. Has always worked, will always work.

[vertigo220]

1 minute ago, Senzelian said:

Nearby Share has a setting for sharing between only your own devices. The settings are set up in the following order

Actually, the opposite order for me. But yeah, I saw that, was just commenting on how it appeared to be, i.e. not obvious what it does and not a very good design IMO.

 

2 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

That's an issue with Samsung. Google has provided the necessary tools, Samsung decided to not implement them. Taking this away wouldn't be an option, as that would kill diversity for different manufacturers.

Fragmentation is, and has always been, a major issue of Android. It's not an issue with Samsung, but with the whole ecosystem. And they didn't not implement the feature, they just put it in a different spot. I have no issue with different OEMs doing different skins, features, etc, but there really should be consistency on certain things, including the settings. Fine if they want to add things, but they shouldn't remove things and they shouldn't move things around.

 

4 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

I disagree. This needs to be different because you're not dealing with an entire laptop or desktop PC. It's a small touch enabled device.

As I said, I can see that for device-to-device, but for device/PC it absolutely should be different, because now you do have a laptop/desktop and don't have to use a small, touch-enabled device. My point was that for device/PC transfers, it should allow a built-in, easy, secure connection method like SFTP so as soon as your phone is on the network, you can access it like a drive on your PC and just transfer files to/from it. Maybe that's what they're doing with this beta, in which case excellent, only ~15 years too late, but better late than never, right? But if this beta simply makes it so you can "share" files from your phone to your computer, that's still going to be very limited and inefficient, and I'll still stick with just connecting via SSH.

 

7 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

1. Quick Settings Panel
2. Settings -> Connected Devices -> Connection Settings (or whatever its called in english) -> Nearby Share
3. Settings -> Search "Nearby"
4. Select File -> Share -> Nearby Share -> Select Gear Icon
5.  

1 is only available on the Samsung, not the Moto. 2 is only available on the Moto, not the Samsung. So far, only one method each (see fragmentation above). 3 is only available on the Samsung, as it doesn't find Nearby Share on the Moto, but ok, fair enough, though you have to know it by name to search for it. So three ways on the Samsung, with one requiring to know it by name and none being in the location I personally consider it to make sense to be in (and apparently I'm not alone, since it's there on the Moto and whatever device(s) you're using), and two on the Moto.

 

12 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

They have exited for years in form of a USB cable. If you want simple file transfer without any nonsense, use a cable. Has always worked, will always work.

Yeah, no kidding. And that's what I often use for speed and simplicity. But I don't always want to deal with that, and Android devices also have an annoying tendency IME to disconnect when transferring even moderate amounts of data over USB to/from SD storage. But suggesting USB in the midst of a conversation about the ability to transfer data wirelessly...

 

Anyways, I'll just stick with SSH. I just find it ridiculous that's necessary to have a good wireless file transfer experience on Android. And yes, your experience may be different, but again: fragmentation. I, meanwhile, could get neither WiFi Direct nor Nearby Share to work. So 15 years in, Google is still a failure in this regard.

[Senzelian]

9 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

So 15 years in, Google is still a failure in this regard.

The next time you're in for a new smartphone, give a Pixel a shot. You'll be surprised how much of this failure is to blame on Samsung.

 

Btw.: WiFi Direct was always junk, not just on Android. That's the reason its burried within the settings where no one looks.

[vertigo220]

3 hours ago, Senzelian said:

The next time you're in for a new smartphone, give a Pixel a shot. You'll be surprised how much of this failure is to blame on Samsung.

 

Btw.: WiFi Direct was always junk, not just on Android. That's the reason its burried within the settings where no one looks.

Pixel is a no-go for me. No SD storage and too much Google. I prefer Moto because it's one step away from Google and they make very little changes. And no, I wouldn't be surprised by how much of the failure is to blame on Samsung. I hate Samsung and every single one of their devices, save one, that I've owned or even used has been problematic. They're good with hardware, but they suck with software/drivers/firmware. The only reason I got this phone was because it was one of the only ones at the time that met my requirements and it was a ridiculously good deal, but even then, I've regretted it. Among other things, the screen sucks and it's constantly dropping internet connection, requiring me to cycle Airplane mode to get it back. All that said, Google is far from powerless, even against Samsung, and could do more to enforce certain standards. And regardless of Google or Samsung, the simple fact is they're all Android, and my point has been that Android is lacking and problematic in areas that it really shouldn't be, and even if that wouldn't be the case if all of Android was Pixel phones, that's not the reality of the situation.

 

I'm very interested in a pure Linux phone, but every one I've ever seen has subpar hardware from at least a few years prior, and I wonder if it would be any better, or possible even worse. But at least it wouldn't have Google's tentacles all throughout it. Really, my next phone will probably be a Moto that I root and put a deGoogled ROM on. The main problem I foresee with that is getting my paid apps on it.

 

The fact WiFi Direct has always been junk and, instead of improving it to make it work well as a universal solution, they went off and created yet another standard to do the same thing is, IMO, part of the problem. This is done frequently in various areas, and leads to even more fragmentation, and has caused expensive pieces of technology I've bought to very quickly become obsolete and even useless. I realize that's just what happens with tech, to an extent, but it shouldn't happen as quickly or to the extent that it has due to this ADHD way of standard hopping. I'd like to believe there's good reason for them switching to something completely new instead of just fixing what's already there, but it's hard for me to give the benefit of the doubt in such cases, especially to a company like Google with a track record of abandoning projects.