Ask HN: What method do you use to send a link from smartphone to laptop? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What method do you use to send a link from smartphone to laptop?

Am I the only one still relying on the age old method of sending an email to myself on the smartphone and then opening it up on the laptop?

View on HN

For the reverse (computer -> phone) I use a browser extension called "The QR Code Extension." Click it and it displays a QR code to the current URL you just point your phone's camera at.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/the-qr-code-extens...

Chrome has this built in; I don't use an extension. There's a "Share" icon on the right side of the URL bar, with "Copy link", "Send to your devices", "Create QR code", "Cast", and "Save page as...".

You create a QR code, it's displayed, along with its URL, and you can "Copy" or "Download" it.

I use email.

I'm generally very defensive on any new apps, tooling, extensions, etc. Emailing a link only takes 5 seconds and I don't need to optimize it any further.

I also don't use bookmarks, or save anything for later, so maybe I'm just a heathen.

You can airdrop now if the phone is an iPhone and the laptop is a MacBook of some sort.

I also am a sucker for notes, I use the native apple notes, but this probably works for any syncing note client

- Just add the link in notes - Open notes on laptop - Link is there

I use Chrome, Windows 10, Android, ChromeOS

I rarely have a use case to go smartphone -> computer. I would have to think up something anew. Perhaps I could use a bookmark for it.

Chrome used to offer "Send to My Devices" which was tempting, but never ever worked.

Lately, if I want to send from a computer to my smartphone, I'll use Chrome's QR creator and use the phone camera for it. The main reason I want to send a link there is so that I can MMS it to a friend. I don't typically link up my phone to the computer, but when I do, I could just directly use the Messages app instead.

Sometimes I want to send a link to work. I usually email it to myself. But I also maintain a shared Drive folder where I could place files or add a link to a Sheet.

EDIT: I took a tour of Google Support Forums and took some advice there. I noticed that my Windows session was very "inactive" and so I signed out and back in again to Google. Now I'm receiving all links from "Send to my Device" which should be my preferred way to send back and forth.

I like Firefox Sync- this allows sending links to any of my devices. I find it particularly useful when I find a site if interest in my phone and want to look at it on my desktop later. Occasionally I’ll use email or message myself via Element/Matrix.

I run a bookmark server at home, where I keep all of my bookmarks so I can access them from any machine.

Any links I want to share between machines, I put on the bookmark server.

Telegram has a chat called "saved messages", it creates a private saved chat for you, to which you can forward links, pictures etc

I use that, surprisingly handy

I've been using Pushbullet[1] for at least 5 years. The Android app has some additional features like "copy to clipboard" when something is received. So useful for transferring tedious-to-type-on-a-phone strings that are not urls

https://www.pushbullet.com

Chrome tab sync if on non-apple devices, the native mac <-> phone (don't know know the name, handoff?) feature if on apple devices i own, airdrop if the handoff feature isn't working or on devices I don't own. Whatsapp, email or qr code otherwise, whichever is most convenient at the time

Apple ecosystem: shared clipboard.

Copy on phone paste on laptop and vice versa. Between any of my iOS / MacOS devices.

This honestly.

I know its not for everyone, but if theres any windows/linux/android users out there wondering why the Apple ecosystem is so sticky, this is one of the small but many reasons why.

I didn't know that worked on Apple.

For me, I click Share > Send to other devices and pick either my desktop or my Pixel depending on which way it's going.

Pretty simple.

Dealing with URLs un safari on ios is a nightmare!

I’m surprised that sharing tabs to a mac isn’t built in to the ecosystem. Ironically, firefox synch does this just fine

Airdrop and shared clipboard in the Apple ecosystem is pretty magical imo.

Chrome "send to your devices"

via: long press > share link > send to devices

you can also use "add to reading list/pane" which is a very underused feature

Due to ergonomics, I just airdrop it to my mac—easier to click a link than to copy it. From mac to iphone, I copy-paste (universal clipboard)

KDE Connect. It can share links, files, clipboard, and much more. I use it with both Windows and Linux (from an Android) and I love it.

AirDrop for instant open. And a 1-click "email myself" shortcut if I want to open it later, or just save it in general.

Like you I use email or if the link is sensitive I connect to my uMurmur instance and send myself a private message.

Obsidian with SyncThing.

I have a note called "Temp Notes" for this kind of stuff.

chat with myself on telegram. they call it Saved messages.

snapdrop

https://github.com/RobinLinus/snapdrop

I use theJoin app and extension.

the chrome browser's history is synced among devices.

I use this constantly!

Summary:

- open important page* on iPhone, using Chrome (* cat photo)

- on Chrome on macOS or Chromebook: three-dots > History > iPhone

There are stanzas for each device I use. The links get synced pretty fast but not instantly, sometimes you have to wait 20-30 seconds.

The above is also an easy way to share a page on the Chromebook, with someone in an SMS message or WhatsApp using iOS. Just reverse the above process.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com