As our Android phones continue to play a bigger and bigger role in our work lives, it’s only natural that we’ll want to use them for bigger tasks. Take transferring large files for instance. If you have something on your phone that’s 1GB or even just a hundred megabytes, it’s already too big to email.
There are plenty of workarounds to that problem. We’ll show you a trick and a couple of great apps that will help you send your large files from your Android device.
If you’re just looking to share files on your local network, there are several ways you can do so. But the one we most recommend is the lightweight and efficient app EasyJoin.
There are no ads or catches here – just a simple interface that lets you share files directly between local EasyJoin devices without needing an internet connection. Everything you send is protected by end-to-end encryption, and you can also send messages and notifications to other devices.
All the linked devices are neatly listed in the Material-inspired interface, and you can make small tweaks such as changing your visibility to other devices, who you receive messages from, and whether or not you want to receive notifications.
It goes without saying that for local transfers of large files, this is one of the fastest methods available.
WeTransfer is the go-to website for anyone who has found themselves in a file-sending rut and just wanted to get things done with minimal hassle. It allows you to send 2GB of a file for free and 20GB if you are on the premium plan.
WeTransfer has an Android version, though if you prefer to save on disk space, you can just use the browser version through your phone. The browser version is actually simpler in some ways, as the app is a bit more fancy and presents your added files in “Boards,” letting you share links as well as directly send files.
Using WeTransfer is very simple. You type in your email address (so the recipient knows who it’s from and so you get a notification when your file is received and opened), type in the recipient’s email, and then add your files.
If you and the recipient are in the same vicinity, then why go through all the hassle of uploading a large file all the way to the Internet only for them to download it again when you can just send it over directly?
No, we’re not talking about Bluetooth (which is slow and only good for small files). We’re talking about Send Anywhere, an app that uses Wi-Fi Direct to beam things directly between devices.
Files (50GB file-size limit) you send are 256-bit encrypted, and you’ll get a key that you need to give to the recipient so that they can receive the file.
The desktop version of Gmail now has a feature where it integrates with Google Drive, making it capable of sending files as large as 10GB by sending them via your cloud account.
Frustratingly, the Android version of Gmail lacks this feature, but you can still upload any large file to your Google Drive account, then share it with recipients or link it to an existing file-sending app. You should be able to upload your file to your Drive account by selecting it in a file manager, then going to “Share -> Google Drive” and selecting where you want to save it.
After that, go to the Google Drive app, long-tap the file to bring up the options, then tap the three-dotted menu icon. You can either “Add people” to share the file via Google Drive, or if you want the recipient to get their own copy of it, select “Send a copy,” then choose the file-sending app you want to use. This will import the file directly into that app.
Using one or all of the above, all your big file-sending needs on Android should be addressed. The ability to actually send large files through Gmail via Google Drive is particularly handy, and it’s a bit of a mystery why Google hasn’t integrated this feature into the Android version yet. Hopefully, it’s just a matter of time, as it will make the whole process much simpler.
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