Like many, I was deeply disappointed when Google decided to drop USB mass storage support from Android. Its prob their biggest fkup yet. So, since then I've been using Airdroid to transfer files to and from my Nexus 4.
I know Airdroid does lots of stuff but I only ever use it to transfer files and I sincerely believe similar functionality to this aspect of Airdroid should be integrated into Android by default - an SSH server would be ideal!
There are two things I don't like about Airdroid
1 - It insists on zipping multiple file transfers, which slows down the transfer greatly
2 - Its not FLOSS
What is the best free (and hopefully open source) alternative to Airdroid to enable me to quickly and easily transfer files between my phone and my 'proper' Linux boxes? Ideally it will work over both wifi and a USB tether link.
Thanks!
EDIT 2 10th August 2014
The fastest way to download files from most modern Android devices is via MTP / USB cable. This can allow file transfer speeds of 30+MB/s. Sadly, under KDE (KDE 4.13.2 / Ubuntu 14.04) you can only read but not write via MTP.
If you use a Linux desktop or file manager that doesn't support the new Android MTP properly or your DE/FM has no MTP support then you can use gmtp to quickly and easily transfer files via MTP. MTP is a good solution for KDE users who want to upload to their device via MTP.
EDIT 10th August 2014
My Nexus 4 died and got replaced by a SGS3. I used to get 10/12MB/s via SFTP from my N4 but for some reason I only get 5/6MBs via an SFTP USB tether connection on my S3. On top of that, the SFTP server app is unreliable on my S3 and it often takes multiple attempts to transfer file(s) that are over a few hundred MB in size so now I'm using Samba Server by Ice Cold Apps instead.
Using the Samba server app on my S3, I can now achieve 10+ MB/s transfer rates again. It also has the advantages of not requiring a rooted phone to use (although it does help if you use Linux or Windows) and doesn't require that you install an sftp client as all big 3 OSs can access samba shares from their file managers.
EDIT 7th May 2014
I have now tried every app I could find that claimed to work as a Android (s)ftp server. Out of a dozen or so apps, there was only two working alternatives to Airdroid - 'Rooted ssh/ftp Daemon' and 'HTTPS and FTPS server'. HTTPS and FTPS server 4.6.1 allowed me to transfer files but only at USB1-alike speeds ie at a max of about 1.2MB/s. Airdroid seems to be the fastest app for copying files from your computer to your Android device but 'Rooted ssh/sftp Daemon' allows you to download multiple files from your Android device almost 3x faster than Airdroid allows.
It should be noted that you have to enable either wifi or mobile data before the sftp daemon lets you connect via a USB tether. I shall ask the author about fixing this. I have informed the author of HTTPS and FTPS server about the slow transfer rates - it would be nice to see that working as it doesn't require that your phone be rooted to use it - and I've also written to the Airdroid devs to request they add the option to disable compression when transferring multiple files so that it may transfer as quickly as the SFTP daemon does.
Android file transfer test results
In my tests I transfered 30 MP4 movie files totaling approx 500MB to/from my Nexus 4 running stock (but rooted) Android 4.4.2 and my i7 laptop running Ubuntu 12.04.4 amd64 w/ kernel 3.11.
I used a USB connection for all transfers and where a FTP client was required I used filezilla 3.5.3 from the Ubuntu repos.
Airdroid 2.1.0
Ubuntu to Android = 52s
Android to Ubuntu = 2m 23s
(Rooted) ssh/ftp server (Daemon) v12
Ubuntu to Android = 1m 32s
Android to Ubuntu = 50s
HTTPS and FTPS server 4.6.1
Ubuntu to Android = 7m 57s
Android to Ubuntu = 5m 43s
I know Airdroid does lots of stuff but I only ever use it to transfer files and I sincerely believe similar functionality to this aspect of Airdroid should be integrated into Android by default - an SSH server would be ideal!
There are two things I don't like about Airdroid
1 - It insists on zipping multiple file transfers, which slows down the transfer greatly
2 - Its not FLOSS
What is the best free (and hopefully open source) alternative to Airdroid to enable me to quickly and easily transfer files between my phone and my 'proper' Linux boxes? Ideally it will work over both wifi and a USB tether link.
Thanks!
EDIT 2 10th August 2014
The fastest way to download files from most modern Android devices is via MTP / USB cable. This can allow file transfer speeds of 30+MB/s. Sadly, under KDE (KDE 4.13.2 / Ubuntu 14.04) you can only read but not write via MTP.
If you use a Linux desktop or file manager that doesn't support the new Android MTP properly or your DE/FM has no MTP support then you can use gmtp to quickly and easily transfer files via MTP. MTP is a good solution for KDE users who want to upload to their device via MTP.
EDIT 10th August 2014
My Nexus 4 died and got replaced by a SGS3. I used to get 10/12MB/s via SFTP from my N4 but for some reason I only get 5/6MBs via an SFTP USB tether connection on my S3. On top of that, the SFTP server app is unreliable on my S3 and it often takes multiple attempts to transfer file(s) that are over a few hundred MB in size so now I'm using Samba Server by Ice Cold Apps instead.
Using the Samba server app on my S3, I can now achieve 10+ MB/s transfer rates again. It also has the advantages of not requiring a rooted phone to use (although it does help if you use Linux or Windows) and doesn't require that you install an sftp client as all big 3 OSs can access samba shares from their file managers.
EDIT 7th May 2014
I have now tried every app I could find that claimed to work as a Android (s)ftp server. Out of a dozen or so apps, there was only two working alternatives to Airdroid - 'Rooted ssh/ftp Daemon' and 'HTTPS and FTPS server'. HTTPS and FTPS server 4.6.1 allowed me to transfer files but only at USB1-alike speeds ie at a max of about 1.2MB/s. Airdroid seems to be the fastest app for copying files from your computer to your Android device but 'Rooted ssh/sftp Daemon' allows you to download multiple files from your Android device almost 3x faster than Airdroid allows.
It should be noted that you have to enable either wifi or mobile data before the sftp daemon lets you connect via a USB tether. I shall ask the author about fixing this. I have informed the author of HTTPS and FTPS server about the slow transfer rates - it would be nice to see that working as it doesn't require that your phone be rooted to use it - and I've also written to the Airdroid devs to request they add the option to disable compression when transferring multiple files so that it may transfer as quickly as the SFTP daemon does.
Android file transfer test results
In my tests I transfered 30 MP4 movie files totaling approx 500MB to/from my Nexus 4 running stock (but rooted) Android 4.4.2 and my i7 laptop running Ubuntu 12.04.4 amd64 w/ kernel 3.11.
I used a USB connection for all transfers and where a FTP client was required I used filezilla 3.5.3 from the Ubuntu repos.
Airdroid 2.1.0
Ubuntu to Android = 52s
Android to Ubuntu = 2m 23s
(Rooted) ssh/ftp server (Daemon) v12
Ubuntu to Android = 1m 32s
Android to Ubuntu = 50s
HTTPS and FTPS server 4.6.1
Ubuntu to Android = 7m 57s
Android to Ubuntu = 5m 43s