survey of "nearby" file sharing aka swapping

Zapya is a Chinese app for sending apps, files, videos, etc. via local wifi connections. It seems to only use WiFi and automatically sets up hotspot mode if it can't connect via the current WiFi. It also has a social networking aspect, as well as promoted apps within the swap UI. It has a lot of ideas like F-Droid swap, I wonder if they were inspired by our work. Typical of such commercial offerings, security and privacy do not seem to be concerns. For example, for one user to get another user started with Zapya, the app sends an unencrypted HTTP link to their site to download the APK. That means that any malware with access to the network stream, from the Great Firewall to malware that takes over wifi routers, can easily insert malware by redirecting that link.

Added suggestion swap labels

@crwinfrey @n8fr8 perhaps you have some other things to add here?

It could drastically simplify things to just focus on Wifi for sure and solves many of the interop problems with Bluetooth chips, finding MAC addresses and so on.

The question I have there is what percentage of devices have functional wifi hotspot support? We have to use some hacks to enable hotspots as it is, so while in theory it sounds like the ideal approach, I think it might have some serious gotchas. For Zapya, they are a startup, so they are probably thinking of just supporting the easiest use cases. For us, we have some essential use cases that need to be well supported, and I think those are often not the easiest to support.

@eighthave Are you looking to gather other examples of file sharing?

@crwinfrey I don't think we need to seek them out, but if you know of any ones that are interesting, it would be good to include them.

I think another thing to consider is the difference in Bluetooth speed vs Wifi, especially if users are trying to sync large media files.

@n8fr8 If we only focus on WiFi, how do we provide a solution for people that don't have an internet connection? Require a pirate box?

Zapya does it by setting up a wifi hotspot on the phone.

I think we want to provide all possible mechanisms, but I guess I am saying we may have focused on Bluetooth too much before, thinking that it somehow was easier to setup and connect, then having the user setup a wifi hotspot, and have people connect to them.

Seems like there are some private methods for this: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6394599/android-turn-on-off-wifi-hotspot-programmatically

@eighthave @n8fr8 I see what you're saying. There are 2 things that come to me immediately that we should consider about the WiFi hotspot: 1) How hard or easy it is to do, depending on the phone and service provider; and 2) If the service provider and/or user's plans allows hotspots to be set up. I haven't done research lately, but in the past, I ran into trouble with both of these. The process to do it involved multiple unfamiliar steps; then I learned that either Sprint or my particular data plan didn't even allow it.

@n8fr8 there is also @mvdan 's library for managing hotspots https://github.com/mvdan/accesspoint

Hotspot mode is like all the rest of the things we're using in that there are cases where its ideal, and cases where it does not work at all. So its something to keep in the mix.

From what I've seen, I think bluetooth is best as a way to advertise availability. The bluetooth beacon needs to include the current Wifi and IP address, then that should make connections happen easier.

One of the harder UX things is how best to represent processed that can take 1-20 seconds, like starting up a hotspot, associating with a new wifi, enabling bluetooth visibility, etc. Its tricky to do with the little on/off switches.

As @eighthave already mentioned, that lib can do the hotspot stuff. What @n8fr8 linked to is part of what the lib does under the hood.

ShareIt is another widely used one, perhaps the most popular https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lenovo.anyshare.gps&hl=en

@HStill we're cataloging apps that have similar functionality to F-Droid Swap here. Some of them should have some useful tutorial ideas.

Closing as this served its valuable purpose in the recent UX overhaul meetings. @crwinfrey has provided updated and improved mockups of the swap workflow which I recall everybody liked much better.

closed