Phone Link is Microsoft’s late and closed source alternative to KDE Connect. It requires you sign in to a Microsoft Account for it to work.
This means all the transactions between your phone and your PC are monitored and sucked up by Microsoft.
I turned on phone link once. Had a hell of a time getting it to not connect to my phone.
@kde
#kdeconnect is really awesome. The only negative point is that it won’t allow you to send multiple files simultaneously. We have to send each file separately. If possible, please provide it soon.
@kde@lemmy.kde.socialThat’s my problem with KDE. Probably the one most useful feature it could implement, it doesn’t have.
Phone link is SHIT, it only works sometimes and never when ya need it to
so exactly like kde connect then
And it will never not connect even when you dont want it to
@kde@floss.social
Not anyone know that KDE connect works on all devices, Android to android, Linux to Windows and all combinations.So no need to use something like a bad copy from Microsoft.
I’ll just leave this here:
I love hearing about a new tool like this.
@kde@floss.social why isn’t it called KDE Konnect instead of Connect?
Based.
And yes, KDE Connect ftw
Does KDE connect actually work with SMS on Windows now? Last time I used it, I couldn’t text people, only reply using the notification if they texted me and I happened to click on it quickly enough. Pretty useless.
Removed by mod
Thanks, you have saved me the time of trying it again.
Apart from screen mirroring and sms that everyone has mentioned the proprietary alternative undeniably has more features. I don’t know whether it is phone link or link to windows but one of them has a feature where your phone can be used as a webcam over WiFi. As someone who set up ip webcam on my phone and used obs virtual camera through most of the pandemic’s online classes it’s quite useful and I’d like to see features like that just work and are not relying on mjpeg and proprietary software on the phone end. Their auto hotspot feature i haven’t gotten to work and i think is useless but I’m thankful that i don’t have to turn off kde connect when using samsung dex.
Look what they need just to mimic a fraction of our power
Interesting that they bothered to make this considering KDE Connect already works on Windows
The only unique (I think?) thing about phone link is that it enables you to use your Android phone camera as a webcam, which can be handy if you don’t have a quality webcam. I think its only in the beta version though.
I’m not sure if this is a Pixel feature or if its available across all of Android, but there is an option when you connect over USB to connect your phone as a webcam - but that is of course tethered instead of being wireless.
With phone link I have tested the beta version and you can use your phone camera wirelessly after initial setup. At least I was able to do this using a Redmi Note 9s without any obvious issues, apart from the privacy concerns noted elsewhere.
I’m sure it might stop working soon enough. For your safety.
I wonder if KDE connect could leverage the way Syncthing does device discovery and pairing
It works across networks, with no configuration
KDE Connect also runs on more operating systems. It’s worth mentioning to friends who run Windows.
I was not aware that KDE Connect ran on Windows! This is great to hear for recommendations. Thanks for spreading awareness!
It works on all platforms, I work on mobile apps so I have quite a few Androids and iPhones, as well as a linux laptop and a Mac mini. It works seamlessly between all of those.
also works on GNOME! (gsconnect)
like most apps on Linux, kde connect was never exclusive to any desktop. you don’t need gsconnect.
You can even connect e.g. Android devices with each other! No PC/laptop needed!
Ahh this one I didn’t know! Awesome thanks!
This feature is epic. Being able to save a file to my phone from my tablet or vice versa is fantastic.
Easiest way for me to transfer my ROMs to my Steam Deck, even while using it in Windows
Is there a port for M Macs? I’m missing it so much now that I don’t have Linux on the laptop.
https://github.com/KDE/kdeconnect-kde?tab=readme-ov-file#on-mac-or-windows
Weirdly shows not officially supported on github.
Thanks for the other links!
They probably mean they don’t provide support via the official channels due to the support being experimental, instead you’d report bugs directly to the kdeconnect-mac repo.
What’s preventing you from installing Asahi Linux?
KDE Connect is one of the most useful app on my phone, and I can’t believe I went as long as I did without knowing about it
closed source - true
alternative to KDE Connect - false
requires you sign in to a Microsoft Account for it to work - true
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