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Better way to transfer files between Windows <> Mac?

I recently bought my first Windows machine in 20 years (!!) because I needed a NVIDIA graphics card to run Stable Diffusion. But, I struggled to shuttle files back and forth with my Mac in a quick and easy way.

I built a little app for myself - I'm calling it Beamhole - where I can simply drag and drop a file on the Beamhole icon, and it will turn up on the other device. (Or you can right-click -> Send, or type a CLI command.)

Your files won't be uploaded to the cloud, everything is done peer-to-peer and encrypted during transit.

Window and Mac only for now, but perhaps Android, iOS, Linux, etc if this is useful to more people.

Before I keep coding, I want to validate this solves an actual problem.

If you like the idea, please fill out the survey here: https://bit.ly/beamhole_beta

Thanks!

( 12 comments | on HN )
Re:Better way to transfer files between Windows <> Mac? by yuppie_scum on Thursday December 07, 2023 @07:47PM (#38563963)
Make a windows file share and open it on the Mac. Super easy
Re:Better way to transfer files between Windows <> Mac? by minimike on Thursday December 07, 2023 @07:56PM (#38564028)
Yes, I probably overlooked this as an option.

However configuring doesn't seem that easy for non-technical folks - i.e. on Mac you need to create new logins for each user, etc.

I've made it as simple as installing the software. Everything is configured by default.

Re:Better way to transfer files between Windows <> Mac? by bediger4000 on Thursday December 07, 2023 @07:45PM (#38563941)
Isn't sshd runnable on both? The distinction between client and server should be less rigid.
Re:Better way to transfer files between Windows <> Mac? by minimike on Thursday December 07, 2023 @07:49PM (#38563975)
Yes, but I'm looking for something that's super simple, and integrated into the UI of the OS...
Re:Better way to transfer files between Windows <> Mac? by clouddrover on Thursday December 07, 2023 @07:41PM (#38563915)
Re:Better way to transfer files between Windows <> Mac? by minimike on Thursday December 07, 2023 @07:50PM (#38563987)
True. Although I was planning on extending this to mobile devices as well, and also allowing the connections to persist if you left the local network...
Re:Better way to transfer files between Windows <> Mac? by clouddrover on Thursday December 07, 2023 @09:26PM (#38564659)
On iOS you can use the Files application to connect to SMB shares. Android has a number of applications available that can connect to SMB shares.
Re:Better way to transfer files between Windows <> Mac? by ok_dad on Thursday December 07, 2023 @08:35PM (#38564313)
I use Syncthing; the only platform I cannot use it on is iOS but I have airdrop for phone to laptop transfers, as rare as they are.
Re:Better way to transfer files between Windows <> Mac? by minimike on Thursday December 07, 2023 @09:16PM (#38564595)
Yeh, a buddy of mine raves about Syncthing. I'm trying to build something though for the less-technical user. (Admittedly, I probably won't find less-technical users on HackerNews !)

Windows <> iOS would be a really nice feature. I'm surprised Microsoft didn't add something like that to the Link to Windows app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/link-to-windows/id6443686328

Re:Better way to transfer files between Windows <> Mac? by anjanesh on Thursday December 07, 2023 @11:06PM (#38565318)
Amazing software idea. Looking forward to this. The google form short link doesn't redirect at my work network.
Re:Better way to transfer files between Windows <> Mac? by adamredwoods on Thursday December 07, 2023 @11:07PM (#38565325)
Re:Better way to transfer files between Windows <> Mac? by TheLoafOfBread on Friday December 08, 2023 @06:43AM (#38567832)
This works between Windows, Mac and Android: https://webwormhole.io/