Samba File Sharing

Samba Filesharing (root) is currently one of my favorite apps. It allows your android device to connect to your Windows workgroup that you may have set up. I personally have three computers on my workgroup at home and use the file sharing to save hard drive space as well as just feel cool.

Naturally I wanted an app that would allow me to file share over wifi on my phone so I went to the market and started looking. I’ve known about the SMB (samba) linux protocol for a while. Never set one up before but I knew it was possible. I have ASTRO File Manager and there is an SMB plug-in for it so I started there. It was a no go. Too complicated for me. (I don’t presume to be a linux expert.) It seemed more suited for WAN and not LAN. Two things that I need to learn more about, but when I was setting up my workgroup, didn’t have the patience for. So I kept looking.

Found several others like “AndSMB” and “SMB File Sharing” but they all seemed to be vague and not helpful for the everyday Android user.

Finally I found “Samba Filesharing.” It worked as advertised and is free! Little bit of set up to create a user name and password so you have to log into your phone from your PC, but this is straight forward and clearly laid out. Plus the help file is actually helpful! (Always nice) So I entered my workgroup name, turned on wifi, went to my network places folder and there was my android device ready to file share!

The only feature I wish it had is a file browser so I can browse my PC from my phone but other than that it’s perfect!