While most mobile devices are now Bluetooth-capable and sending and receiving files are— at least most of the time— easy, there are also times when the simple transfer of files from one device to another can be excruciating.
A London-based company called Asio Ltd knows exactly how painful this task can sometimes be, so they came up with a simple solution to this often neglected problem.
The British company took it upon themselves to develop an app created specifically to address this often neglected problem, and they came up with the Chirp app.
Asio Ltd’s Chirp app lets mobile users share links, photos and videos even without the use of their devices’ Bluetooth connectivity by way of “singing” to the nearby device that’s its intended recipient.
The app is able to send and receive files from other Chirp-enabled mobile devices by converting the files to audio clips, which are in turn heard or picked up by its intended recipient. These audio files are then decoded by the recipient’s Chirp app and are later on converted into links that lead to the files originally sent.
Chirp only requires mobile data whenever the user is in the process of uploading files onto the server, but once that task is completed, the app can proceed with the rest of the sending and receiving process without the need for internet connection.
Chirp is largely similar to Apple’s Airdrop technology, but what gives the app an edge is that it can work across Android and iOS devices. Asio Ltd is also currently in the process of developing a Windows version of the app.
Transfer completion of files from one device to another on Chirp can be completed in about two seconds.
According to Asio Ltd:
“You can think of a chirp as a tiny piece of music.
“The system listens out for a couple of dozen notes played rapidly in a certain order, within a certain range, at a certain speed.
“The audio engine tries to decode the sequence of notes into a sequence of letters which our server understands.
“The server then returns a link to the user so they can go wherever the short code points.”
The firm continued:
“Because we transfer little bits of data as sound, more than one person can receive a chirp at once,’ continued the developers.
“So you can send a chirp over a PA system, over the radio, or a YouTube movie.”
Chirp app is available for download on Android and iOS devices for free.
