SimpleQRShare: Usage Guide
SimpleQRShare sends the files on your Android device to people who have no app installed. You show a QR code; they scan it with their camera and download in a browser. This page gives the steps for each situation.
In every case the receiver needs only a camera and a browser — no app and no account.
1. The basics: pick files and share them with a QR code
These are the steps when the sender and the receiver are on the same Wi-Fi.
- Open SimpleQRShare and tap “＋ Files” or “＋ Folder” to pick what to send.
- Set how many people may download at the same time (1 to 10) and how long the share stays open (5 minutes to 3 hours).
- Add a message if you like. It appears above the receiver’s download button.
- Tap “Share on current Wi-Fi”. A QR code appears.
- The receiver scans the QR code with their camera and presses the Download button on the page that opens.
- When you are done, tap “Stop sharing”. From that moment no new download can start (a download already in progress may still run to the end).
Several files and folders arrive as a single ZIP. The receiver can also take files one at a time from the list, and those downloads resume after a dropped connection.
2. Send from the Share menu of your gallery or file manager
You can start straight from another app, for example while looking at photos.
- Select the photos, videos or files in your gallery or file manager.
- Tap Share and choose SimpleQRShare from the list.
- SimpleQRShare opens with those items added. Continue from step 2 of “The basics”.
Files sent this way are copied into SimpleQRShare first. The share therefore keeps working after the other app closes, but it needs that much free space. For a large video, pick it with “＋ Files” inside SimpleQRShare and it is sent without copying.
Only files can be sent. Sharing text or a link on its own does not work.
3. Send photos and videos from Android to an iPhone
The iPhone needs no preparation.
- On the Android device, pick the photos or videos and start a share (section 1 or 2).
- Point the iPhone’s standard Camera app at the QR code.
- Tap the link that appears. The download page opens in the browser.
- Press Download to save.
If the iPhone and the Android device are not on the same Wi-Fi, or there is no Wi-Fi at all, use the method in “5. Share where there is no Wi-Fi”.
4. Send files from Android to a computer
A computer uses the address instead of the QR code. It works the same on Windows and Mac.
- Connect the phone and the computer to the same network (the same Wi-Fi, or a wired connection to the same router).
- Pick what to send on the phone and tap “Share on current Wi-Fi”.
- The sharing screen shows an address starting with
http://below the QR code. - Type that address into the computer’s browser. You can also tap “Copy” and send it to your computer in a note or a message.
- The download page opens in the computer’s browser. Press Download.
5. Share where there is no Wi-Fi
Outdoors or on the move, the app creates a temporary Wi-Fi of its own. Nothing goes over the internet, so no mobile data is used.
- Pick what to send and tap “Create a Wi-Fi and share”. The first time, Android asks for the nearby Wi-Fi devices permission (location on Android 12 and earlier).
- Two QR codes appear.
- The receiver first scans ① Connect to Wi-Fi. Their device joins the temporary Wi-Fi without typing a password.
- They then scan ② Open the page, and the download page opens.
- Tap “Stop sharing” and the temporary Wi-Fi shuts down by itself.
While the temporary Wi-Fi is on, the sending device’s own Wi-Fi connection may drop. It comes back when sharing ends.
6. Hand files out to a group
For giving material to everyone in a class or a meeting.
- People is a limit on simultaneous downloads (up to 10), not a total. When someone finishes, the next person can start. A receiver who arrives when every slot is busy sees a page that retries automatically.
- Time can be 5 minutes to 3 hours, and “+10 min” extends it while sharing. When the time runs out, new downloads stop and transfers already running are allowed to finish.
- The sharing screen shows each receiver’s progress.
- On a tablet held in landscape, the QR code fills one half of the screen. Stand it up facing your receivers and let them scan in turn.
- From a distance, tap the QR code to enlarge it to the full screen.
7. Restrict who can receive
For when the same Wi-Fi also has people you don’t want to share with. Both options are under Settings › Receiving.
- Ask receivers for a PIN — Every share gets a new 4-digit PIN, shown on the sharing screen. Tell it to the people you want to share with; they enter it on the download page.
- One download per device — Limits each receiving device to one download. If it is interrupted, opening the same link again resumes it.
Both are off by default.
8. When something doesn’t work
The QR code won’t scan
- Tap the QR code to enlarge it.
- If “Decorate the QR code” is on in the settings, turn it off. A plain black-and-white code is the easiest to scan.
- Keep “Keep the screen on while sharing” on so the screen doesn’t go dark.
The page doesn’t open
- With “Share on current Wi-Fi”, check that the sender and the receiver are on the same Wi-Fi. A receiver on mobile data only cannot open the page.
- Some networks, such as guest Wi-Fi, block devices from talking to each other. Use “Create a Wi-Fi and share” there.
- With “Create a Wi-Fi and share”, scan code ① to join the Wi-Fi first, then code ②.
“Create a Wi-Fi and share” won’t start
- Allow the permission when asked. If you denied it, you can allow it from the app’s settings in Android.
- Check that location is turned on.
- If it still fails, turn on the phone’s own hotspot, have the receiver join it, and share the usual way.
“All download slots are in use”
- The limit on simultaneous downloads has been reached. The page retries automatically, so the receiver can simply wait.
Sharing from another app shows “Already sharing”
- Files cannot be added while a share is running. Stop the current share, then share again.