Once you picked up elementary as your computer operating system, you will work with its desktop, file manager, and in modern days, need to synchronize it to your Android phone to transfer files and so on. There is an awesome software called Conecto, a modified KDE Connect, that can help you sync between both devices. This article explains how to pair and transfer files, however the installation guide is published in a separate article. not installing the software itself. This will make your life easier with GNU/Linux. Enjoy!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
Requirements
- KDE Connect installed on Android phone. Get it on F-Droid.
- Conecto installed on elementary.
- USB cable.
1. Connect Computer and Phone
- Plug USB cable in between computer and phone.
- Unable USB Tethering from your Android.
- Both devices are now connected in a network.
2. Run Conecto & KDEConnect
- On elementary computer, run Conecto.
- On Android phone, run KDEConnect.
Picture 2.1
(My sync'ed phone Xiaomi Redmi displayed on desktop)
3. Pair
- On elementary, on Conecto window, now you should see a new device recognized.
- Click toggle button to send pairing request to phone.
- On phone, KDE Connect displays a pairing request.
- Tap ACCEPT.
- KDE Connect displays controls.
- Both devices paired.
Picture 3.1
(Left: KDE Connect displays connected computer as elementary@elementary | Middle: pairing request displayed with ACCEPT button | Right: successfully paired device displays control buttons Send Files)
4. Test Ping
- On elementary, click PING button.
- Phone rings.
- On Android, tap triple dots > Ping.
- Computer says "Ping!".
- This makes you sure both devices are synchronized. You are ready to transfer files.
Picture 4.1
(A lively Ping! notification on desktop)
5. Transfer from elementary Computer
- On elementary, open file manager.
- Pick up a file you want to send to phone.
- Right-click that file > Send to Phone.
- Phone rings as a file received.
- File stored in Android phone.
Picture 5.1
(Clear and easy, one click to share a file from computer to phone)
6. Transfer from Android Phone
- On Android, open KDEConnect.
- Tap Send Files.
- File manager displayed.
- Select a file you want to send to computer.
- Tap OPEN.
- Computer does not say anything.
- On elementary, open file manager at ~/Downloads/Conecto/ folder.
- File sent from phone stored there.
Limitations
This early version of Conecto possesses a few limitations:
- I find that this version of Conecto failed to work with old version of Android's KDE Connect particularly version 1.6.6 but works with latest 1.13.7 (as per February 2020).
- Sending files from Android to elementary works. But sending from elementary from several folders does not work, but strangely works if the files are from other disk partitions.
- No phone-as-a-mouse input, no remote keyboard.
- No system tray.
- The application icon is missing.
- I could not make wifi tethering works. This is the reason this article uses USB Tethering instead.
This application is amazing and I say big thanks to the developers!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.