Send it across the room, not across the internet.
DropMate is a free messenger for your home Wi-Fi. Pair your family's phones and PCs once, then chat and send photos, videos and files of any size, straight from one device to the other.
Pair once. Then just send.
Setting up takes a minute, and you only ever do it once per person. After that, DropMate finds them by itself whenever you're both on the same Wi-Fi.
Install it on your devices
The Windows installer for PCs and laptops, the APK for Android phones. No sign-up, no phone number, no email.
Pair by matching emojis
One device shows a QR code, the other scans it. If the four emojis match on both screens, you're paired, and no one else can step in between.
Chat and send
Open their chat and send a message, a photo, a whole folder. It goes straight to their device at Wi-Fi speed, and they accept with one tap.
Everything a family chat needs. Nothing leaves the house.
DropMate knows people, not just devices. Your laptop and your phones are all "you", so whatever someone sends you reaches the device you're holding, and your history follows you.
A chat with each person
Messages, files and photos live in one timeline per person, the way you're used to from any messenger, except it all stays on your Wi-Fi.
- Ticks show when a message is waiting, when it's received, and when they've seen it.
- Messages to someone who's out wait and go the moment they're back home.
- Search every chat for a message or a file name.
Photos show as photos
Tap the gallery button, pick as many photos and videos as you like, and send. They arrive as pictures in the chat, not as file names.
- Tap a picture to open it full screen, then swipe through every photo in that chat.
- Pinch to zoom. Videos open in your video player.
- Full quality, every time. Nothing is compressed on the way.
Buzz: find a phone, or call someone downstairs
Press Buzz in a chat and their phone rings at full volume, even on silent, for up to 30 seconds. They see who's looking for them and a big Stop button.
- In the chat with your own devices, the same button rings your own phone. That's find my phone, with no account and no internet.
- Only people you've paired with can buzz you, and blocked contacts can't.
All your devices are you
Link your laptop and your phones once. They share your chats, contacts and settings, and keep each other up to date whenever they're home together.
- Move files between your own devices without accepting anything.
- Received a movie on the laptop? Fetch it to your phone from the chat.
- When someone sends you a file, every one of your devices rings, and the first to accept gets it.
You decide what arrives
Every file asks first. If you and a person both agree, files from them up to a size you pick come straight in. Apps and scripts always ask.
Receives while you sleep
On Android, files arrive with the app closed and the phone locked. On Windows, DropMate waits quietly in the tray.
Send from anywhere
Drag files onto someone's name, paste with Ctrl+V, right-click in Explorer, or use Share in any Android app. Whole folders keep their structure.
English and বাংলা
Switch the language in Settings. Light and dark themes, and calmer motion when your device asks for it.
Fast because nothing is in the way.
Cloud apps upload your file to a server and download it again. DropMate sends it once, straight across your Wi-Fi, so a phone-sized video takes seconds and a full movie takes minutes.
Private because there's nowhere else for it to go.
There is no DropMate server. Your photos, messages and files go from your device to theirs and nowhere else.
No internet, no account
DropMate never connects to the internet and sends no data about you anywhere. It works with your router unplugged from the internet.
Only people you paired with
Each device has its own key. After pairing, DropMate only talks to devices it knows, so a stranger on the same Wi-Fi can't send you anything.
Encrypted on your Wi-Fi too
Everything travels over TLS to a certificate pinned when you paired, and every request is signed, so no one else on the network can read it.
Open for anyone to check
Every line of DropMate is public on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 licence.
Get DropMate
Free, with no ads and no account. Install it on every device you want to share between. Version 1.1.0.
Windows
Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. Laptops and desktops.
Android
Android 8 or newer. Phones and tablets.
Older 32-bit phone? Get DropMate-1.1.0-android-older-phones.apk. Check your download with SHA256SUMS.txt, or see every release.
Installing on Windows
- Run the installer.
- If Windows says the publisher is unknown, choose More info, then Run anyway. The installer isn't code-signed yet.
- DropMate opens and lives in the tray.
Installing on Android
- Open the APK on the phone.
- When Android asks, allow your browser or Files app to install unknown apps, then tap Install.
- Allow notifications and background use, so files arrive with the app closed.
Questions
Does DropMate use my mobile data or internet?
No. Everything goes over your local Wi-Fi, device to device. DropMate works even when your router isn't connected to the internet at all.
Do both devices have to be on the same Wi-Fi?
Yes. That's the point: DropMate is for the people in the same home or office. Messages to someone who's away wait and are delivered when they're back on the same Wi-Fi.
Guest networks often stop devices from seeing each other ("client isolation"). DropMate tells you when it suspects this, and a phone hotspot works as a fallback.
How fast is it?
As fast as your Wi-Fi allows between the two devices. Files move in 4 MB chunks, six at a time, and a finished transfer shows exactly how long it took and its average speed, for example "1.2 GB in 38 s · 32 MB/s".
Is there a file size limit?
No. Send a 50 GB movie if your disk has room. If the Wi-Fi drops or someone walks out of range, the transfer pauses and continues from the same chunk when they're back.
Can I send from PC to PC, or phone to phone?
Yes, in every direction: PC to phone, phone to PC, PC to PC and phone to phone. Phones work with the laptop switched off.
Where do received files go?
On Android, into Download/DropMate, where your gallery and file manager can see them. On Windows, into Downloads\DropMate, or a folder you choose per person.
Why does Android or Windows warn me when I install it?
DropMate isn't on the Play Store, and the Windows installer isn't code-signed yet, so both systems ask you to confirm. The code is open on GitHub, and every release lists SHA-256 checksums so you can check your download is the real one.
What about iPhone and Mac?
Not yet. DropMate runs on Windows 10 and 11 and on Android 8 or newer.
Is it really free?
Yes. No ads, no subscription, no account. It's open source under the Apache 2.0 licence.
Built in the open
DropMate is one Flutter codebase for Windows and Android, with an HTTPS server on every device, Ed25519-signed requests and end-to-end tests that pair three devices and send files between them. Bug reports, ideas and pull requests are welcome.
# build it yourself git clone https://github.com/iamshihab2020/DropMate cd DropMate flutter pub get flutter test flutter run -d windows