One of the biggest selling points of the Apple ecosystem is the seamless interconnectivity features. I'm talking about Handoff, Sidecar, and, of course, everyone's favorite -- AirDrop. Unless you're living under a rock, you should be aware of AirDrop's capabilities. It's a file transfer tool used to send and receive files between Apple devices. If you want to send a photo from your iPhone to your Mac, AirDrop is arguably the fastest way to do it. While it's certainly convenient and useful, one of the biggest downsides of AirDrop is the fact that it only works on Apple devices.

So if you're like me, and you use a Mac along with an Android smartphone, you won't be able to use AirDrop. That said, there are several alternatives that you can use to transfer files between the two devices. There are KDE Connect, LocalSend, and other such apps that use Wi-Fi to transfer files. You can, of course, also use other means, like connecting a cable and sticking to the good 'ol wired route. However, none of these is as convenient as native AirDrop. To fix that, I decided to host an AirDrop replica on my home network. It looks and functions just like Apple's file transfer system, and it has made my life a lot easier. Here's how you can make file transfer a breeze between all your devices.

Looks familiar and works as intended

Almost like a 1:1 replica

If you've used AirDrop on a Mac (which, if you're reading this article, you probably have), Pairdrop's UI looks exactly similar to how AirDrop looks inside Finder. While some may consider this a copied interface, I appreciate the familiarity, since people transitioning from AirDrop to Pairdrop don't have to go through any learning curve. All devices connected to your local network show up on the interface, and you can click on the relevant device to pick a file and start the transfer. It's that simple.

If you decide to self-host it like I did, Pairdrop offers features that allow linking to external devices. Of course, this would mean exposing your server to the internet, so ensure you take the right precautions. Once you do it, though, you can pair with external devices outside your local network using a code, or even create a room consisting of multiple devices to share files. I mostly use it to transfer files between my devices when I'm at home (since I have a remote job), so all I need to do is run an instance of Pairdrop on any device using a browser, and it shows up on the portal.

Safety first

Self-hosting has its own benefits

One of the biggest advantages of self-hosting any software is data privacy. Self-hosting Pairdrop means that all the files you're sending or receiving are strictly on your local network only. Now, this is also the case when using the official instance of the app, i.e., without self-hosting the app. However, the extra peace of mind when a software runs on your custom server is certainly worth it for a lot of people. You can essentially turn off your internet connection and still continue to use Pairdrop. This is beneficial when transferring sensitive information, since you want to ensure the utmost security.

Other advantages of self-hosting include not worrying about the remote server status, the ability to host on SBCs like the Raspberry Pi, or even on a NAS, using Docker. This lets you create a local file transfer server that anyone at your residence or office can use. It's also extremely simple to run using Docker. All you have to do is run the below command using the terminal, and access it using any web browser of your choice.

docker run -d --restart=unless-stopped --name=pairdrop -p 127.0.0.1:3000:3000 lscr.io/linuxserver/pairdrop

You won't miss AirDrop anymore

After I started using Pairdrop, I didn't feel like my devices weren't a part of the same ecosystem. Well, at least in terms of file sharing. I keep the Pairdrop tab in my browser running at all times. Since all my gadgets are connected to the home network most of the time, all I have to do is open the tab, connect to the device I want to transfer files to, and choose the files. This saves me a considerable amount of time on a daily basis. Pairdrop also offers the flexibility to use an official instance if you don't want to go through the hassles of self-hosting it. This makes it an ideal choice for most people.