New tool release: Quick File Share for Android

I've published my second android app, a bit more useful than the first one (and also more prone to be a source of problems :P).

Quick File Share is meant to ease file sharing between devices by using a Wi-Fi network. Sharing content between Androids sucks: you can use bluetooth for a painfully slow experience or use email or cloud storage, with the unnecessary upload (which is also extremely slow for most people), while NFC is just a fancy way of triggering a bluetooth transfer; and that's about it.
Wi-Fi Direct (aka Wi-Fi P2P) finally emerged as a solution, but that requires discrete hardware that only newer devices have.
Meanwhile, if the devices are connected to a Wi-Fi network, than speedy, wireless, and already set up connection can't really be taken advantage of by default. That's the spot this app helps in filling, and it's certainly not the only option, but I couldn't help trying.

Select a file to share, and a temporary webserver will be started on the "sending" device. It will display a QR code and an HTTP address, so that the receiving device(s) can receive the file by just typing the address in a browser or scanning the code (scanning the code will also trigger the browser). The actual transfer is always over HTTP, so you can actually receive the file on essentially any device with network access.

What's the catch? There's always a catch. At least for the time being, the two devices must be connected to the same network. There are other tools on the marketplace that help the receiving device connect to the same network as the sender, but I didn't like that operation too much, so I preferred this way of operation.

Google Play Entry
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.outlyer.quickshare
Project Page
http://p.outlyer.net/quickshare/

Screen captures:

Main window
Quick File Share
Main window, sharing enabled
Quick File Share, sharing enabled

New tool released: Network Type Indicator for Android

I recently published my first Android app, and I hope someone else finds it useful. It's a bit of niche tool, but comes to cover a missing feature of some phones.

This is a tool for those that like to know which kind of network coverage type they're under –in other words, if they're on a 2G, EDGE, 3G, etc… network–, yet their phone, like mine, doesn't display such information automatically.
It shows a status bar icon and a permanent notification identifying the network type.

It takes as little memory as possible and barely any CPU time, for those with severely limited handsets. Like me.

Unlike with my previous tools and not releasing the source code, for the time being, until I get more comfortable with Android development.

Google Play Entry
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.outlyer.nettype
Project page
http://p.outlyer.net/nettype/

And here are some screen captures:

Network Type Indicator, dropdown permanent notification
Network Type Indicator, Persistent Notification
Network Type Indicator, light theme screenshot
Network Type Indicator, light theme
Network Type Indicator, dark theme screenshot
Network Type Indicator, dark theme

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