Hadlee Simons / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Recently, a shareware called Bada was released on GitHub.
- Bada allows you to share files locally with Android devices with Quick Share.
- If you have a HUAWEI device or a Chinese version of your Android phone, it makes it convenient.
The vast majority Android phones There are Google Play Services that come with Fast Sharing. This feature lets you easily share files with a nearby Android device, Chromebook, iPhone, or PC with the Quick Share app. Android phones without Google services don’t have this sharing capability, but a new app closes that gap.
An open source Android app called Bada was recently released GitHub (h/t: r/Android) and it works with Google’s Quick Share service. In other words, the app allows you to transfer files between an Android device equipped with Quick Share and a phone without Quick Share. Bada only needs to be installed on the phone without Quick Share.
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Bada supports file transfers between devices over the same Wi-Fi connection, but the GitHub page also notes that you can share files via Wi-Fi Direct for proper device-to-device connectivity. However, I can’t find the files in a vivo X300 Ultra and Galaxy S23 Ultra and Galaxy S25 Ultra.
I also tried sharing files on a Windows computer equipped with Quick Share. I was able to accept the sharing request on the PC, but the PC said the transfer was incomplete. This was despite the phone app reporting that the file had been sent successfully. The developers also note that AirDrop is currently not supported.
Bada has a reasonable list of permissions, namely Bluetooth advertising, nearby Bluetooth/Wi-Fi devices, Bluetooth connections and notifications. You can also give the app access to specific or all files on your device. Finally, you can select the folder you want to receive files (defaults to the downloads folder) and customize the displayed Quick Share name.
Using the application is also quite simple, as you choose the visibility settings (appears on the scan or Always visible), then send the files or folder via the two buttons near the bottom of the page. The recipient simply needs to check that the PINs match before accepting the transfer, and that’s it in theory. I found that sharing can be temperamental, especially when sharing from phone to device with Bada with Quick Share. Additionally, sending files with a QR code worked fine, but Bada does not yet support receiving files with a QR code. So, you should not refuse such alternative programs LocalSend yet. However, I also appreciated Bada’s quick settings tile using Quick Share’s own tile.
But is it safe to use? If you are concerned about security, I would caution against using sideloaded shareware. existence a claude.md the entry also hints at (but doesn’t guarantee) some kind of AI involvement. However, the open source nature means that users can scan the code to verify that it is scratch-ready. Additionally, the team notes that file transfers still use Quick Share encryption.
If you have a Chinese version of your Android phone, this is an encouraging development, as those regional variants do not offer Quick Share. It’s also helpful if you have one HUAWEI device because these phones also lack Google services and Quick Share in global markets.
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