Wireless Transfers

Quick notes on how I wirelessly transfer or stream data between a few different devices:

1. Windows PC > Android phone, and vice versa
2. Android phone > Kobo e-reader
3. Windows PC > Samsung Smart TV

Admittedly a rather mundane topic, but the first two are not super obvious, so I'd like to have notes for my own reference, and on the off chance that it helps someone else.

PC > Android

Sometimes I want to transfer files from my phone to PC, for example, a sound recording which I made on my phone but want to edit on my PC, or a video which I edited on my PC but want to share through a mobile app.

If you use a Windows PC and Android phone like I do, the integration is not as good as the Apple ecosystem where you can simply AirDrop files between Mac and iPhone. You need an app called Phone Link on your PC, and Link to Windows on your phone. Once they are set up, the connection and transfer are simple enough – just a matter of following on-screen instructions.

One minor (but fixable) annoyance is that the devices then keep wanting to connect. This (and the attendant notifications) is not something I want, because it's only about once a week that I need to make such transfers.

The fix is to first go to Apps > Startup on your PC, and deactivate Phone Link. Then open Link to Windows on your phone, go to Settings, and turn it off.

When you want to transfer, you'll need to turn it back on, but I prefer that to leaving it on and have it constantly trying to connect.

Android > Kobo

If I download an e-book to my phone and want to read it on my Kobo (which is a Kindle-like e-reader), the transfer can be accomplished through a third-party utility – send.djazz.se – as explained on this Reddit thread.

Windows PC > Samsung Smart TV

My parents have a Samsung Series 6 Smart TV, and occasionally I'll want to use the TV to watch a movie file that lives on my hard drive. The first couple of times I used an HDMI cable, but then I have to take my computer out to the living room. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to explore the possibility of a wireless connection.

Turns out, a wireless connection is possible, and quite straightforward, if the TV and PC are operating on the same Wi-Fi network. Sound gets streamed too.