[Gys]

> We used to be able to send files over Bluetooth before the iPhone came out.

Cross platforms, really? So for example between a Blackberry and a Windows CE phone?

[_shantaram]

> Cross platforms, really? So for example between a Blackberry and a Windows CE phone?

Yes, it was part of the Bluetooth file transfer spec[0] and possible between any two devices that implemented it correctly.

0: https://www.bluetooth.com/specifications/specs/file-transfer...

[Gigachad]

It always kind of sucked though. You had to go through the pairing process, and then the transfer was incredibly slow since Bluetooth is very low bandwidth.

It’s still a classic Apple “the open standard sucks so build a proprietary one that’s great but only on iPhone”

[input_sh]

You could do it even before phones came with Bluetooth via Infrared. Granted, the two phones had to be placed perfectly for the IR sensors to connect, if you moved them the file transfer would break.

Bluetooth was a huge upgrade because you no longer needed to do that.

[magicalhippo]

I recall getting very surprised when my sister got one of the first Windows phones (one with the tile menu) and it didn’t support this feature.

[adrianmonk]

Yes. When my mom got her first Android phone, she wanted to transfer all her photos from her Motorola Razr flip phone. She said the guy at the AT&T store had a device that would plug in to the data ports of various phones and transfer stuff between them, but it wouldn't do it, so he declared it impossible.

My mom was upset that she would lose her photos, so I puzzled over it for a long time trying to figure out a way. Finally, I realized I was being stupid and missing the obvious: both phones had Bluetooth! I paired them with each other, dug through Razr menus, selected the photos, and did a Bluetooth file send. As expected, the photos went right over. Well, I shouldn't say right over because it was very slow, but it worked just as it should.

[rescbr]

When I was in high school we chatted exchanging notes/txt files between Nokias, LGs, Samsungs and Sony Ericsson feature phones and Windows Mobile (I had an HP one) and Symbian (two friends who had a N95) smartphones.

This was just as broadband was getting popular, so those who had it usually downloaded MP3s and then distributed them at school through Bluetooth. I remember one friend using her phone as a bridge to copy files from me using Bluetooth and sending to another friend's phone using IR.

This was across all the classroom, this definitely wasn't restricted to the nerdy clique. We found out that chatting through notes exchange worked pretty well and then it spread like wildfire. SMSes were expensive in my country!

This was like 20 years ago. Maybe 2006-2007. Twenty years later we're commemorating that Bluetooth File Exchange over WiFi is now interoperable between the only two major mobile OS as if it were a revolutionary technology. How backwards it is.

[marcodiego]

Most of what are called "dumbphones" allowed easy file sharing over bluetooth. Even the cheapest ones.

[randunel]

Yes, even "dumb" phones could share files with computers back then. Apple users have no idea how much harm their masters have done to society.

[joshuaissac]

Is this really a problem with Apple?

Phones other than iPhones can still share files with each other and with computers using Bluetooth. But people instead use apps like WhatsApp or e-mail for file transfers, even in places where iPhone's market penetration is near zero.

[trelane]

And you could tether, though it was complicated. And slow (1xRTT)

[msh]

I don’t know about blackberry, but it worked fine between feature phone Nokias and windows pdas / phones (before windows phone 7).

[kccqzy]

Not just phones, the Mac as well. So it’s not like Apple doesn’t know about this feature of Bluetooth. They just chose not to do it on the iPhone.

[kcb]

Yea, there's a Bluetooth protocol for it called OBEX.

[magnetowasright]

In the year of our lord 2007, my classmates would send (often explicit) videos via bluetooth from their phones (of any manufacturer/model/platform) to teachers' laptops when they were plugged into the projector. They would usually auto-play.