Mastodawn

Sebastian Crane 🏳️‍⚧️

Google claim that their upcoming laptop is the "perfect partner to your Android phone" because you can "access files from your phone as if they live on your laptop" - but did you know that this is already possible, no special laptop model needed?

KDE Connect is completely free and open source software (FOSS) to link your devices together, supported by the @kde charity. It works on almost all phone models, and it does more than just allow you to access your phone's storage. For example, with KDE Connect your phone immediately becomes a remote control for music or videos playing on your laptop or desktop PC!

Don't get drawn in by the slick marketing - you don't need AI to make your life easier with technology, and most of the features large software companies such as Google are promoting have already been thoughtfully implemented by dedicated volunteers in the FOSS community.

#kdeconnect #kde #foss

KDE Connect

KDE Connect: A project that enables all your devices to communicate with each other.

KDE Connect

Noxy 🐾🏳️‍🌈2d ago

@seabass @kde KDE Connect is the single best smartphone app. It is WONDERFUL.

wav3ydave 2d ago

@seabass @kde OMG i did not know this and it's so unbelievably helpful. Thank you.

Jeroen van Tol 🍋 ✞

@seabass @kde Have one phone and two laptops, making it work between those laptops too.

@TheDutchChief @seabass

That too!

@seabass
It will also pause your media when you receive a call, and allow you to answer messages received on your phone from your desktop.

Also great as a remote control for passing slides in presentations and even acts as pointer for the screen. Use it to lock your screen or put you computer to sleep as you walk out the door.

And tons of other features.

] Fanged Menace

@kde @seabass Honestly so much kudos to the KDE Connect folks for all their work; it's really one of those solutions that brings so much positive to my daily life.

Like I can't emphasize enough how much I needed the "ring phone" function whenever I misplace my phone

@seabass @kde I'm a big fan of KDE Connect ever since @alexbrateanu recommended it to me a couple of years ago.

@seabass I dont know about you but I dont keep my files on my phone...

@dcre @seabass Genuine question, you don't take any pictures with or copy over any music to your phone, for example? No downloads you might wish to transfer from the phone to a PC or anything like that? :o

@snep My music is on a old iPod, and I (almost) always carry a camera with me. The few documents I need on my phone, i mostly transfer them via cable from my pc, and my download folder on my phone is full of useless memes and gets deleted once a month

Iαη 🍺1d ago

@dcre @snep I scan documents with a phone app, then press Share. A PDF immediately lands in the PC folder of choice, via KDEConnect, ready to deal with, or keep safe.

grayrattus 2d ago

@seabass @kde if MacOS users found out about KDE Connect features, Tim Cook would have to change career to grocery shop assistant and start selling real apples.

#linux #kde #kdeconnect #apple

@grayrattus real. KDE Connect is in my opinion the best FOSS project (aside from Linux itself) in history. Tied for first place with LocalSend

Sakura the princess kitten 2d ago

@seabass @kde does it work with wired connections (PC)?
Last time i tried it didnt worked

@sakura84 @seabass @kde Wired via USB to the phone directly or wired to your network with a LAN cable? The former *might* work via tethering but isn't the ideal solution, the latter *should* work if your WiFi and cabled network are allowed to communicate with each other

Sakura the princess kitten 2d ago

@snep @seabass @kde wired with lan cable on the same router without vlans

@sakura84 @seabass @kde That should work! The phone and PC just need to be able to talk to each other via TCP and UDP on ports 1714-1764 AFAIK, the underlying transport shouldn't matter

Sakura the princess kitten 2d ago

@snep it works over bluetooth, but maybe the cachyOS firewall blocks the ports for lan?

@sakura84 Ah yeah, that's very likely, according to their docs, the ufw firewall is active by default (https://wiki.cachyos.org/configuration/post_install_setup/#configuring-firewall-ufw), perhaps allowing those ports is all that's needed to get it going! ^^

Post Install

Steps to configure after installing CachyOS

CachyOS

Sakura the princess kitten 2d ago

@snep now it works, i added kde connect incoming to the firewall rules and now i can see the devices
thanks for help <3

@sakura84 Glad to hear! :3

Dávid Bárdos 2d ago

@seabass @kde KDE Connect is better than any ecosystem-locked company could come up with.

LinuxPC, Windows laptop, Android phone, iPad, iPhone and SteamDeck all happily share clipboard and files when required in my family.

And whom the information is not shared with? Google.

Lunya 🏳️‍⚧️ :3 2d ago

@seabass @kde I literally rely on KDE connect and then when someone else wants to transfer a file from their phone to their PC it's difficult as I don't know how

It's a great software that has never failed on me

John Harris 2d ago

@seabass @kde Furthermore: the only reason you can't access files on your phone as easily as if they're on a computer is because of the stupid walls between programs they erected in the first blinking place!

Parking Lot Crop Circle 2d ago

@seabass @kde +1 for KDE Connect! It is great and solves a lot of little inconveniences as well as provides some new conveniences you didn't know you wanted!

ЯØ81И 2d ago

@seabass An excellent and versatile piece of software @kde

Alan Clifford 🏌️‍♂️🦈 📷2d ago

@robchapman @seabass @kde Why does it need to send SMS messages?

ЯØ81И 2d ago

@pitchingniblick @seabass @kde I've never sent an SMS via the service...I guess some people who work at their computer just do want to not pick up that phone if they can avoid it.

@pitchingniblick @robchapman @seabass @kde I assume you're looking at its required permissions, right? You should be able to just not give it that permission if you don't intend to send SMS from your computer via your phone

Matthijs Kooijman 2d ago

@seabass @kde Note that KDE connect does not even need KDE, there is also e perfectly working plugin for gnome-shell for when you use Gnome on your computer.

with just a usb cable with the phone set to usb modem mode (or even a wireless hotspot from either device) you can not deal with mtp and NOT DEAL WITH BLUETOOTH FILE TRANSFER anymore!!! i use it all the time

"access files from your phone as if they live on your laptop"

They could have just made a 9p server for Android. Much easier to implement.

Jeremy Burgess 2d ago

@seabass @kde I've seen alternatives come and go (was a fan of Airdroid), thanks for posting this!

@seabass @kde Its more evident than ever that the big tech preys on people's tech ignorance.

@seabass @kde Cool. Never heard of it before. Currently phone can't see the laptop. Guess some firewall? cachyos..

fourmiune 2d ago

@seabass @syll @kde
KDE connect is on F-droid

out of bounds, anywhere out 2d ago

@fourmiune les utilisateurs avertis que nous sommes le savent, cependant pour toucher le plus grand nombre il est malheureusement indispensable de montrer aussi que c'est disponible sur les magasins d'applications "grand public", sinon les gens pensent que c'est un truc de geek

fourmiune 2d ago

😅 je donnais juste un complément d'information .

out of bounds, anywhere out 2d ago

@fourmiune utile d'ailleurs

fourmiune 2d ago

@syll ouf 🤣

out of bounds, anywhere out 2d ago

@fourmiune
et en plus, on ne sait jamais, peut-être que certains par ce biais découvriront KDE Connect et F-droid et là c'est le combo gagnant

@seabass @kde holy shit google invented MTP

Dahmonium 2d ago

@seabass @kde Using it for years, great software! KDE that is

Matt Boehm 2d ago

@kde my favorite thing is that if I get a call KDE Connect will lower the volume of my laptop.

@seabass @kde Syncthing and SSH/SFTP/SSHFS too handle the file synchronisation/access perfectly (I'm using both of them for years now). Of course, they don't provide the other features of KDE Connect.

Lilith Silverstein 2d ago

@seabass @kde Also, syncthing is a great way to have continuous backups on your own hardware

dasgrueneblatt 2d ago

KDEconnect might be the best app of all apps

DJ Sexy Fresh 2d ago

@seabass @kde i love KDE connect

@seabass @kde google reinventing the wheel, episode 58206294

I di wonder when they will get bored with it and drop support for it altogether...

And it also works with Gnome too! 😯🤪

Baloo Uriza 2d ago

@seabass KDE Connect also works if you don't have KDE or Linux in your environment.

🏳️‍⚧️PepperTheVixen🇵🇸2d ago

@seabass @kde You could also move files around with SyncThing across multiple computers if you want something simplere. No AI gubbins necessary

@seabass @kde installed.
Works like a charm.
Just did a shutdown to turn off my computer

@seabass @kde
Local send is also excellent!

Martin Escardo 2d ago

I use KDE Connect, from both Linux and macOS.

Additionally, I use scrcpy (to display my Android tablet in my laptops when giving lectures and writing in the tablet) and moonligth/sunshine (to be able to handwrite in my machines (typically using xournal++) using my Android tablet.

(I do have an iPad, but the Android tablet is much better for handwriting.)

@seabass cool - gerade installiert und läuft prima. Danke für den Tipp

@seabass @kde counter point: this is still not possible, and even with their laptop will not be possible. android prevents me from accessing app data files, and the only way around this is to fucking root the phone

William B Peckham 1d ago

@seabass @kde As easy and as well established as that is between Android and Linux, or Android and anything else, the ease of Linux to Linux communication if you have a non-Android Linux phone can be just as startling to the uninitiated. If only we could rip Android development lead away from Google and put it back in open source where it belongs Would it not be wonderful if KDE Connect capabilities were built into the Android kernel?