How to Transfer Large Files FAST Between Two Android Smartphones/Tablets! [Fast File Transfer App]

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I get a lot of questions on how to transfer files between two Android smartphones or tablets.

Well, there are already couple built-in features to Android you can use.  The simplest one is the bluetooth file transfer, you can use this to transfer any files between two Android devices.  The problem is that bluetooth is very slow and it’s going to take you hours to transfer any files larger than 20MB.

If you have one of the newer Samsung Galaxy S3 or Note 2 phones, they support Wifi Direct sharing for files and also S-Beam for photos and videos.  This is a great way to transfer files between Galaxy S3/Note 2 phones but it is obviously limited to Samsung phones only.

Also, you can setup an FTP server on one of your Android devices and download using FTP on the other Android device but this is a bit more tricky to setup and not recommended for the average user.  (Or even SSH possible but again, that’s for the advanced user.)

There’s an app called “Fast File Transfer” I recommend for most large file transfers as it uses Wifi of one phone to transfer files.  You can expect Wifi Direct speeds, it took me about a minute to download a 250MB file as shown in video.

Now, this app isn’t supported on all Android devices but may work on yours.  You just need it working on the Android device you are sending files from.

So, let’s transfer a large file FAST!

Step 1. Download the Fast File Transfer app from the Play Store on the Android smartphone/tablet you are going to be sending files from.

Step 2. If you are in public area, you have the option to set your Wifi SSID and password to make it secure.

Step 3. Next just find the files you want to transfer in your Android device and select “Send” or “Share” and select “Fast File Transfer”.



Step 4. Your phone will ask you to connect to your set SSID or “Fast File Transfer” if you don’t have a password set.

Step 5. Go ahead and connect to your set SSID or “Fast File Transfer” via Wifi on your other Android smartphone or tablet device.

Step 6. Browse to the IP address (in this example, 192.168.43.1:8080) on your browser to start downloading.

Downloading should start and will be faster than Bluetooth, FTP, or other methods.  You should be able to get near 1-5Mb/s with Fast File Transfer.  (Bluetooth transfer does around 30-50Kb/s in my testings.)

You can also transfer multiple files by using select operations than selecting “Share” or “Send” via Fast File Transfer.

Now, this app doesn’t work with all smartphones because it uses wifi tethering feature on your phone.  If you have a phone like Droid Razr where Verizon has locked down that feature to not work, this app might not work for you.  (Workaround?  If you install a custom ROM with native wifi tether hacked, it may work then.  Also most AOSP ROMs support native wifi tether FYI.)

There’s also Wifi Direct File transfer app out there but I prefer this one since Fast File Transfer only requires one of the devices to run the app, not both.

And yes, you can actually use this to transfer files to “any” internet-enabled device including your computer.  But for transferring files to/from your computer, I recommend AirDroid app.

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Max Lee

Max Lee is the founder of HighOnAndroid.com. Max makes Android tutorials and review videos for people who want to get high on Android over at his YouTube channel and Korean YouTube channel.