Easy Sharing Between Devices

[Frost]

A few weeks ago, after finding it very frustrating to share simple links/media between my phone and my laptop using online notes or WhatsApp Web, I got the idea of creating an app/service that allows users to share content very easily between multiple devices.

The idea is that you can share anything, with 1 or 2 clicks max, over the local network so no need to go through the internet. It can work for text, links, photos, videos, you name it.

I was thinking about a freemium model, with a free version containing a very basic set of features, and a premium version with more interesting capabilities.

There are other apps that do similar stuff (clipboard sharing apps for example), but it seems like they each suffer from certain issues, as seen in the negative comments on the GooglePlay store, so I want to do it better.
The problem is that most of the competing apps do it all for free.

Being a software engineer I'm already writing a prototype, but I'm curious about your thoughts.

Do you think this is a good market to dive into? How do I compete with completely FREE alternatives?

Thanks

 

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[doster.zach]

A few weeks ago, after finding it very frustrating to share simple links/media between my phone and my laptop using online notes or WhatsApp Web, I got the idea of creating an app/service that allows users to share content very easily between multiple devices.

The idea is that you can share anything, with 1 or 2 clicks max, over the local network so no need to go through the internet. It can work for text, links, photos, videos, you name it.

I was thinking about a freemium model, with a free version containing a very basic set of features, and a premium version with more interesting capabilities.

There are other apps that do similar stuff (clipboard sharing apps for example), but it seems like they each suffer from certain issues, as seen in the negative comments on the GooglePlay store, so I want to do it better.
The problem is that most of the competing apps do it all for free.

Being a software engineer I'm already writing a prototype, but I'm curious about your thoughts.

Do you think this is a good market to dive into? How do I compete with completely FREE alternatives?

Thanks

AirDrop?

 

[Jobless]

No, I don't think this is a good idea, but seeing as it may be quite simple to make, why not give it a try and see what happens? To differentiate, focus on one form of media (example: documents) even if software is able to handle many media types.

 

[AnasHarn]

My vision is that only the market will give you answers to your questions.

You have a big advantage, you are a software engineer, so build something, not a final version, but just an MVP, share it publicly, communicate about your unique skews and how using your app may be better than other alternative apps. The reason for this ? Get real, valuable and actionable feedback that will help you build a better version, present it to the market and readjust again.

Good luck for your project, and as I like to think, if this is a problem for you, chances are that many people are also facing the same.

 

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[Frost]

AirDrop?

It's actually very similar in terms of functionality, and not just restricted to the Apple ecosystem!

No, I don't think this is a good idea, but seeing as it may be quite simple to make, why not give it a try and see what happens? To differentiate, focus on one form of media (example: documents) even if software is able to handle many media types.

Thanks for your feedback. I'm curious though, what makes you think it's not a good idea? Is the need not there or do you not think that people would pay for such a functionality?

 

[Frost]

My vision is that only the market will give you answers to your questions.

You have a big advantage, you are a software engineer, so build something, not a final version, but just an MVP, share it publicly, communicate about your unique skews and how using your app may be better than other alternative apps. The reason for this ? Get real, valuable and actionable feedback that will help you build a better version, present it to the market and readjust again.

Good luck for your project, and as I like to think, if this is a problem for you, chances are that many people are also facing the same.

Thanks for your answer. Indeed it is a problem for me and judging from the download numbers of the alternative apps, I'm not the only one!

I agree with releasing a free MVP first to get feedback and see what feedback it gets. Based on that I will introduce more features and roll out the premium model. Is that similar to what you had in mind?

 

[BigRomeDawg]

You can do this (copy+paste and transfer files) natively and wirelessly between Mac+iPhone and Windows+Android.. am I missing something?

 

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[Frost]

You can do this (copy+paste and transfer files) natively and wirelessly between Mac+iPhone and Windows+Android.. am I missing something?

Between Mac and iOS I believe so. Between Windows and Android there's no native solution.

 

[The-J]

KDE Connect

KDE Connect: A project that enables all your devices to communicate with each other.

kdeconnect.kde.org

Open source, so you can build off of it if you want. Just was able to share a photo from my phone to my computer in 3 clicks. I am on Ubuntu (KDE) and Android but maybe it's the same on Windows.

 

[Frost]

KDE Connect

KDE Connect: A project that enables all your devices to communicate with each other.

kdeconnect.kde.org

Open source, so you can build off of it if you want. Just was able to share a photo from my phone to my computer in 3 clicks. I am on Ubuntu (KDE) and Android but maybe it's the same on Windows.

I saw it. It looks quite good, but it's Linux-only apparently, and not intended for the average user, in the sense that it feels quite technical.

I know that the idea is not groundbreaking. I just want to execute it better.

 

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[woken]

I know that the idea is not groundbreaking. I just want to execute it better.

So basically an app that would work like Airdrop but you would have to download it.

Best bet is to make the app so popular some of the big guys would just have to buy it, even though it’s easily replicable, and integrate it within their ecosystem. ( Take Shazam for example).

 

[BigRomeDawg]

Between Mac and iOS I believe so. Between Windows and Android there's no native solution.

Yes there is: Sync Your Phone to Computer: Your Phone App | Microsoft

+ a thousand third-party solutions

But, of course there are competitors..

Question is, what is your differentiating feature and does anyone care?

Are lots of people saying "damn, if only I could copy stuff between my phone and pc"?

I'm not, because I already have that. Wouldn't everyone already have it if they wanted?