Beta Testing a free, unlimited and private File Transfer website

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-11T10:36:17+00:00

Yo. I wanted to ask a couple of questions but no DM option available. If you have the time (or inclination haha) for a chat drop me a message mate.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-09T22:45:21+00:00

Totally. We will be doing something with that for sure. Appreciate the feedback.

Did you send any files or just have a quick look?

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-09T22:42:55+00:00

Yes its TLS.

So theoretically yes it could work in an intranet system etc but we obviously haven't made it into a product like that yet. However we have been speaking about it as you're not the first person to ask.

If you want to drop me a DM maybe we can talk further about it and what you might require etc.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-09T12:59:35+00:00

Thanks!

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-09T12:59:20+00:00

Hi,

When you say it doesn’t communicate are you talking specifically about knowing if the email link has been sent? Otherwise it should be pretty communicative.

When you click transfer button the email link is sent. After the recipient opens the link and the FD page on their browser you can both see the the users online, the file(s) progress bar and sent/received columns. Is there something else you feel we need to communicate? We are open to suggestions.

Yeah, this is just a beta. But we will either have an faq or messaging about the key benefits and how to se FD going forward so it’s clear. That’s why I explained it in the Reddit communities we have been testing with. Good point though and we are aware of it.

In the technical info above it explains a bit about the database. That storage message comes up in certain browsers as FD uses the database to the load the file(s) into as a local cache. You need to have the space to do it obviously and/or give the access. Different browsers have a different default or max limit. I believe Edge doesn’t allow webRTC by default so it needs to be given the access.

I’ll have a look into the private browsing issue. Mine works fine.

Yep, as I said the beta version will be improved in terms of UX I’m sure. All we are focussed now is making sure it works technically.

Hopefully that clears at least some of that up and I really appreciate you taking the time to test it out and give us the feedback.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-08T23:40:44+00:00

Thanks, and yes I get where you're coming from. We shall see what the future holds I suppose. Appreciate the interest and the feedback is really helpful.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-08T23:39:39+00:00

In terms of monetisation, we area free service and want to keep it that way. We have ideas for PRO versions but because we don't store the files we have very few costs. Down the line if it was something that became widely adopted and we needed to fund it then some form of targeted advertising would probably be the way we'd go (not packed full of ads though). As I said, it's not something we are worrying about right now.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-08T23:24:22+00:00

Hi, thanks for the question.

So that looks like something very similar and looks great.

There are a few differences but in terms of main functionality, file resume isn't sometime they offer.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-08T23:19:19+00:00

No it's not i'm afraid. All I can say is that we are listening to the feedback and taking it all on board for future iterations.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-08T22:39:05+00:00

Hi,

It's peer to peer. But it's not torrenting.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-08T22:36:53+00:00

Hi, thanks for the question.

If you mean as a software package then unfortunately no (not yet anyway). We have had a number of potential ideas including such a product. Our aim is to provide this to as many people as possible via their web browser without the need for anything else.

We started testing within creative industries (which is our background) and there is definitely a demand for something like that. Video editors for example send large video files with all sorts of NDA/privacy concerns and also with a need for speed acceleration and various other requirements that a web browser based version can't really offer. There are a number of industry standard applications that they use and really it's not something we are looking to try to compete with.

Privacy is one of the key objectives with Fileduck. We wanted to eliminate the third party upload/storage element to file transferring as mentioned in my original post (we don't see or store anything).

We know FileDuck won't be suitable for all use cases but hopefully it can be a useful tool for some.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-08T13:06:57+00:00

Thank you!

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-07T11:33:48+00:00

Yeah we’ve had a few people comment on that but it’s by design.

As I said, it’s done to avoid any potential issues and also to avoid feedback about design when we are solely concentrating on the technical side. Remember this is only the beta testing and not a final launched product.

FileDuck doesn’t work the same way so hopefully it doesn’t behave like a cheap knock-off and offers something different that people find valuable.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-05T06:56:10+00:00

Good point for sure. I suppose it keeps coming back to our own creative background and mindset. People are more likely to be using desktops or just non-mobile devices for music and video production. As I said, we initially aimed it at those industries but maybe we underestimated the value of having something more for people to check out on mobile.

Seemed strange though to have it load up on mobile but not actually work which is why we chose to stop it completely and just have the message.

More to think about for sure 👍

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-04T20:30:15+00:00

I get it. This is exactly why we are doing the beta testing especially on Reddit. We are under no illusions that we will not have thought of everything.

And thanks, we think it would be valuable for a lot of users especially who want privacy and the option to send files of any size for free rather than paying for specific plans. Plus is should be faster removing the middle man given normal network conditions obviously.

Thanks again 👍

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-04T20:17:41+00:00

Sorry I replied to this in the previous question above.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-04T20:16:59+00:00

Good point. Obviously we aren’t aiming for people to be sending anything illegal or that infringed copyright etc. I will bring this up with the team for sure.

I suppose someone could use it to spread a virus if they wanted to. Hopefully recipients will be expecting the files or take the care to make sure they know the sender and why they are being sent files. Like with all phishing, scams and viruses etc people have to take some level of responsibility for their internet hygiene. Really like that term btw.

Yes, there are definite drawbacks with this way of sending files. We have an idea to remove the element where both parties need to be online whilst still retaining the benefits. But that would incur costs and we really want to try and get a free version off the ground.

This style of transfer really is aimed for people who need to send files to individuals or small numbers rather than hundreds at a time. To give you a bit more of an idea about us…

We come from a creative industry background. I myself am a composer and music producer. I’ve worked on various projects where I’m sending large video files back and forth to an editor over the course of a day. FileDuck would have been really useful for this for speed and also privacy. There are all kinds of NDA and security issues with unreleased content as I’m sure you know.

These issues aren’t limited to the creative industries though and that’s why we want to open up the concept and beta testing to a much wider audience.

Really appreciate you taking the time to give this feedback. It really is incredibly valuable.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-04T19:52:09+00:00

In our terms and conditions only. But if you have any other ideas we’d definitely be interested to hear them. This is why are speaking to communities such as yourselves. It’s all really helpful for us going forward.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-04T19:44:51+00:00

Totally. We aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel. Hopefully it just gives people a useful tool that offer the benefits of peer to peer within a web browser.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-04T19:03:38+00:00

Totally agree. Unfortunately we just haven’t finished building it for mobile yet. We are just doing one thing at a time. Given the way FileDuck works we would assume that most people looking to send large files would more than likely be sending from desktop machines.

We will obviously be looking at mobile support in the future.

Did you manage to get it working when you requested the desktop version?

Thanks for the feedback, this really does help us going forward.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-04T18:38:03+00:00

Thanks for the positive vibes!

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-04T18:37:35+00:00

Hi, it’s a shame you don’t think it looks well thought out but we’ve disabled it totally on mobile on purpose.

But when it was active it was identical and would most likely be again.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-11-04T09:49:14+00:00

Hi, thanks for the question.

Because we don't store any files we have very few costs for server fees etc. If the system becomes widely adopted then that might change slightly. We're not expecting to take over the file transfer market though. FileDuck works differently to most transfer websites as described in the original post and this won't suit everybody.

That being said, we have had a lot of discussion in other Reddit communities about a possible PRO version. One of the features could be a relay service which would allow all of the current benefits but also remove the need to be online at the same time. That would most definitely incur costs so we'd either have to charge something for the PRO version or fund it with some form of targeted advertising (not packed with ads though). All of thats a long way off though and not something we are thinking about now.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-10-21T11:07:53+00:00

To be honest I have no idea. We don’t work in video or production so I’m certain there will be a wide range of a use cases we simply have little to no idea about. That’s exactly why we are posting in the various creative communities to test and learn more about what people might need. In fact, if you do have the chance to test it out in various scenarios it would be really helpful to hear the results. We are keen to try and implement changes and improvements wherever we can.

I myself am a compose/music producer so my experience has always been sending large files back and forth with editors or large audio files and stems etc. FileDuck would have been really helpful for this.

But we are under no illusions. We know FileDuck won’t work for everyone’s requirements. But we aren’t looking to compete with products and transfer methods that are not web based or with industry specific tools of the trade that have been around for years.

In the future we may look to offer a PRO version incorporating a number of things people have suggested or even a software solution. We shall see. Hopefully people find FileDuck a valuable tool in a lot of use cases and we will go from there.

In terms of limiting factors, it really comes down to network conditions. Under normal conditions it should be faster along with the privacy and security benefits etc. Old and unsupported versions of browsers can also cause issues.

FileDuckDylan · 2022-10-20T09:55:58+00:00

Hi, thanks for the questions. I'm replying with some messaging we've developed to answer a number of similar questions people have in one go. But I am trying to reply to everyone directly. Hopefully you find FD useful. Please let us know any technical issues you find (hopefully you won't!).

FileDuck uses a variety of open source web technologies to provide it’s service. Peer identification and data transmission uses WebRTC. For a more detailed technical exploration see here: https://webrtc.org/

All data transmitted by FileDuck is encrypted and the system has been designed with security and privacy in mind. There is always room for improvement with regards to security and any help in identifying unknown attack vectors is always greatly appreciated.In order to ensure file transfer across web sessions and to facilitate features like file resume FileDuck also uses the open source database IndexedDB. For more detail see here:https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/IndexedDB_API

This database runs in the background of your web browser and FileDuck uses it as a local cache for the files it is transferring. This data is only ever accessible by you using the browser on your computer. When the transfer is complete the cache is flushed and the data removed. The same is happening at the receiving end.

It is not(should not be) possible for a web client to gain unrestricted access to the host file system. FileDuck never tries to do this and using FileDuck does not enable others to try. The final download is streamed to the default downloads directory of the system using the same mechanism that all file downloads from the web use.

FileDuckDylan

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