There are plenty of ways to transfer files from Android to Linux (and vice versa), but a new Linux app wants to make the process a little easier.
It’s called Packet, it’s written in Rust, and has a GTK4/libadwaita GUI. Its goal? To wirelessly fling files, photos, videos and whatever else between Android and Linux devices.
As mentioned, we enjoy a surfeit of software designed for this task on Linux, each with its own strengths – from Warpinator and GSConnect/KDE Connect to command-line based tools like Magic Wormhole.
Where Packet differs is that it uses Android’s native Quick Share feature to do it — well, a “partial implementation of Google’s Quick Share protocol”. Quick Share is available on Android 6.0 and later, and Google offer an app for Windows for sharing.
On Linux, there is no official Quick Share desktop app, but Packet fills the gap.
To use Packet, Bluetooth must be enabled on both devices and they need to be connected to a wi-fi network that supports mDNS (Multicast DNS), which most modern wi-fi networks do.
But the real beneficial advantage of this?
Anyone with an Android phone near your device can send/receive files to/from you via Packet1. They don’t have to install an app on their device since the feature is built-in, and the Quick Share protocol uses end-to-end encryption for (relative) peace of mind.
Use Packet to Transfer Files to/from Android
The transfer process from Packet on Linux to an Android device is straightforward:
- Open Packet
- Check the status says “Ready” and visible
- Drag and drop a file (or select manually)
- Click Send
- Select nearby device
To go the other direction and send files from Android to Linux, simply open Packet and check the status reads “Ready” and visible, then you (or whoever nearby is sharing something with you) share a file by picking Quick Share in the share sheet, and pick your destination device.
Packet has a small set of Preferences available:
- Customise your device name
- Turn visibility on/off
- Specify a download folder
- Enable a static forward port
Additionally, the app can be allowed to run in the background and, in the latest update, use notifications to track file transfers (handy if you leave the app running while do something else) and show a “Send with Packet” option when right-clicking files in Nautilus.
Don’t use Android? Packet can be used to send and receive files from one Linux device running Packet to another, such as between your PC and your laptop – so even if you don’t own an Android device, you may find it useful.
Download Packet
If you’re interested in trying it out, you can install Packet from Flathub (link below), or build it from source using the code from the project GitHub. I haven’t (yet) seen any other packaging format options (not even a Nix flake) but if you do, let me know!
- If choosing to ‘accept’ the request, ofc. ↩︎