Hadley Simmons/Android Authority
TL; DR
- Google has released a near beta app for Windows.
- This allows you to seamlessly send and receive files between your PC and Android device.
- The app isn’t available in Europe yet, though.
Nearby Sharing is up there as one of the best ways to send files between Android devices and Chromebooks, but the feature was missing on Windows. This means that you had to use email, cloud transfers, a cable, or other methods to transfer files between your computer and Android device.
Fortunately, Google has finally brought Nearby Sharing to Windows as part of an open beta program. This already allows you to transfer files locally (and wirelessly) between your computer, Android device, and/or Chromebook.
Getting started is very easy:
- Download the Nearby Share Beta for Windows app from the Google website.
- Run the resulting BetterTogetherSetup.exe file to start the installation.
- Open the Near Share for Windows app once it’s installed and sign in to your desired Google account when prompted.
In addition to letting you adjust sharing settings (eg visible only to devices, your contacts, everyone, etc.), you can also rename your computer and change the download location. Then again, we’d like to see the ability to choose a download location before each transfer to your computer, in line with your PC’s web browsers.
As for the actual transfer process, you can choose to send a file or folder from your computer by clicking on the “Select files” or “Select folders” options. But sending a file from your phone to your computer works like any other file transfer nearby.
Hadley Simmons/Android Authority
A quick test shows that an 80MB file takes about 20 to 30 seconds to transfer from a phone to a computer, while a 690MB file takes about five minutes to transfer to a computer. But we believe that this speed may vary somewhat from device to device. However, this is still a relevant and long-awaited Windows app.
There are some caveats before downloading the app. Firstly, it is not available in many European countries yet. It should also be noted that Windows Nearby Sharing does not yet support Arm devices.