Use This App to Send Someone a File Without Using Cloud Storage
Quick: send me a large file. Even today, decades after the famous comic book about the issue appeared , it’s not necessarily easy. Messaging services don’t allow you to store truly huge files; like most email providers. Of course, you can put a file in cloud storage , but only if you pay for enough storage space and are not currently using that space for anything else.
Isn’t there a way to send the file directly without taking up cloud space? Eat. File.pizza is a web service that allows you to directly share files from your computer with another device without the need for cloud storage or an app.
FilePizza is not the only such application. There’s p2pfileshare.com and Sharedrop.io , to name a couple. FilePizza stands out for its simplicity (just share the file and copy the URL) and because it has a unique URL. The app’s name, while silly, has the crucial advantage of being easy to remember.
On any computer, you can open a browser and enter the URL ” file.pizza ” to start sharing the file. Simply drag the file into your browser window, set a password if you want, then click Start .
You now have several ways to share the file. There is a QR code which is handy if you are trying to transfer a file to your mobile device. There are also links that you can copy and paste into the text.
You may have noticed that I haven’t blurred the QR code or link above. There’s a reason for this: these links only work as long as the computer is on and the browser window offering the file is open. Without a cloud service, you can share the file with someone who can download it on your device. Close the tab and the file will disappear. Obviously this has its downsides, but the upside is that you won’t have to worry about the file being shared in the long run. This is a tool for one-time transfers.
The person who opens the link will see the name of the file and a button to download it. When you press the button, a direct connection is established.
The download speed will obviously depend on your internet connection. However, if you have decent download speeds, this won’t be a problem. And it works very well if you are on the same Wi-Fi network. Try this the next time you need to send a file directly.