Filedrop Editor's Review

Transfer files to and from nodes on your home network with this cool Windows system utility.


Moving files between storage nodes on your home network isn't always easy. Some may be Macs. Some may be Windows machines. Some may be varying differences of the same OS. Sometimes these differences create problems making it difficult for you to use standard file copying difficult or impractical. Some or most of these issues can now be bypassed with Filedrop. It’s a multiplatform file transfer tool that also runs on Windows.

Filedrop is an app for sending files between devices on a local network. Its really easy to use.  All you have to do is launch Filedrop on any two devices on your network.  After that you can drag and drop files between them.

Filedrop is designed to allow file transfers between any kind of device, to and from any platform, and as easy as handing someone next to you, a pen, pencil, or any kind of object. If you need to send a file from your Mac to a Windows laptop, you can do it without any extra settings or insuring that you're using the correct drive format or transfer protocols. Simply launch Filedrop on both computers and drag and drop files between them.

There are many times when you're stuck for a way to get a file from one PC to another. If you have a USB stick, you can often sneaker-net, or copy the file to an intermediary device, walk the copy to another computer and then copy it from the intermediary device to the target computer.  If you don't have a USB stick, sometimes, you can't even do that.  With Filedrop, you can use your phone as a Wi-Fi sub-stick.  You can copy files to your phone and it will appears in the Downloads section. When you get to the other computer, all you need to do is filedrop it from your phone to the target PC. Its really kind of cool.

You can also use Filedrop to stream files from your phone opt your PC.  If you have photos and want to view them on your monitor or laptop screen, all you have to do is select the photos you want to show. Then tap on the Stream button and your photos will appear on a the target screen.  You can do the same thing with other multimedia content like music and video.


App Pro’s: free, stream multimedia files, transfer files from one device to any other

App Con’s: No Android or Windows Phone client yet

Conclusion: Filedrop is a pretty cool little app. Its free, and allows you to move data between one networked object to another.  It works with Mac, Windows and iOS devices, and support is planned for both Android and Windows Phone, though both of those are still in the works. 

Streaming features are new, and while streaming music works, streaming video, while technically possible, didn't work for me.  You'll also need to watch your battery life while streaming content, as it could be eaten up quickly.  This is a decent app.  You should really give it a shot and keep an eye out for both Android and Windows Phone clients, as they are certain to make file transfer woes disappear.

A word of caution, however – Filedrop is an Adobe Air application.  It had a great deal of trouble running via Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac. I'm not certain if that was a Coherence issue or something else.  The app's display flashed a great deal, and lost connectivity when my iPhone slept.