How to Send Files from Your Android Powered Phone

For an open source phone Android has some things which are closed at least initially, but because of its open source we can get around these closed doors. One such closed door is file sharing between android phones and desktop without wires. Say I have a file on my Motorola Droid I want to share with a friend who is either at his computer or another smart phone, is this possible?

By default if you use the gmail app then you have an option to attach files to your emails. But if you have ever tried this you will notice you can not send files other then pictures. From the gmail app you can not select files from your phones files system, which is a bit of a pain cause that is where most of the files are that you would want to send.

There is an app available for free in the android market called "Astro" which is a file manager for your Android smart phone. This app is very useful because it allows you access to your phones file system allowing you to move, rename or even delete files from your phone with out having to plug it into your computer and mount it. Also it has a nice built in search feature if you are having trouble finding a file if your file system is not exactly clean and organized. One of the best parts of Astro is that if you long press on a file a new menu pops up allowing you to select to send the file. Astro allows for two ways to share files from your phone with others. The first is via Bluetooth which is really nice if you and your friend both have Bluetooth capable phones and are in the same room. But if the person you want to share with is across the country lets say, then you can use the second option which allows you to attach files to your gmail emails. This works great for sending small files but I believe it caps out at 6mb, which is no use if you need to send a larger file.

If you want to send a larger file via email then you will want to check out the free app, "AttachEmail" from the android market. This app may not have as many features as Astro but it does one thing and it does it well. Upon launching "AttachEmail" you are automatically brought into your file system and all you have to do is select a file you want to send. Once your file is selected it will automatically open up a blank email for you to fill in whith the file attached. So far I have not reached any sending limit on file size with this app (I have gone up to 11mb), but I am sure it will be restricted by what ever normal gmail restrictions are. It may take a little for the email to send but it works, really well and my recipients have so far received all my emails sent from this application thus far. And the best part is the app is free!