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PairDrop for Linux 0.1.0

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@hackdefendr hackdefendr released this 05 Sep 22:18
· 1 commit to main since this release
linux-v0.1.0
070e469

First Linux release — a GTK4/libadwaita client for
PairDrop.

Install

Download the .flatpak and install it:

flatpak install --user PairDrop-0.1.0-linux-x86_64.flatpak
flatpak run app.pairdrop.Linux

Needs the GNOME 50 runtime, which Flatpak fetches automatically if you don't have it.
x86_64 only — on other architectures, build from source (below).

On first launch, open the menu → Preferences and enter your instance's address. Nothing
is configured by default; point it at your own server or a public one.

What it does

  • Nearby devices appear automatically. Drop files on one to send, or click it to
    pick files.
  • Incoming transfers prompt before anything touches the disk, and land in
    ~/Downloads by default.
  • Text sent to you is copied to the clipboard, which is what the web client does.
  • Pairing (menu → Pair a Device) connects two devices on different networks with a
    six-digit key. Paired devices stay visible from anywhere and can be set to accept
    files without asking.
  • Verification code — each connected device shows the same 16-digit code on both
    ends, so you can confirm you're talking to who you think you are.

Transfers are peer-to-peer over a WebRTC data channel and never pass through the server.

What the sandbox asks for

Permission Why
network The signalling WebSocket, and the UDP sockets WebRTC binds for ICE
xdg-download Received files are written without user interaction, so there's no portal request to hang them on
org.freedesktop.secrets Pairing secrets. Without it the app still runs — pairings just don't outlive the session

Files you send go through the file portal, so it never needs blanket read access.

Choosing a download folder outside ~/Downloads works for the session, but the portal
path isn't stable across restarts — under Flatpak, leaving it at the default is the
reliable choice.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/hackdefendr/pairdropapp
cd pairdropapp/linux
./install.sh          # → ~/.local, no root needed

Needs Rust 1.85+, GTK 4, and libadwaita 1.5 or newer. Debian 13, Fedora and Arch all
clear that; older LTS releases don't, which is what the Flatpak is for.

Not in this release

  • No tray icon. The window is the only surface. This is deliberate for now: GNOME
    removed the system tray in 2017 and needs an extension for one, so the app has to be
    fully usable without it either way.
  • No dragging of selected text onto a device — files only.
  • WebSocket fallback. Instances run with --include-ws-fallback relay for peers
    without WebRTC; peers advertising rtcSupported: false are ignored here.
  • Folders. Files only. Zero-byte files are skipped — the protocol has no way to
    signal their completion, and the web client stalls on them too.

If devices show "Couldn't connect", check your instance's ICE configuration: with STUN
only and no fallback, peers that can't reach each other directly have no path, and the
web client fails the same way. pairdrop-probe in this repo reports exactly that.

Verified

Peer discovery, the transfer prompt, accepting, and pairing were all exercised against a
real instance on x86_64 — both natively and through the installed Flatpak — with received
files checked byte-for-byte by SHA-256.

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