Phenquestions
Remember Opera Touch? Opera Software released the first version of the mobile browser Opera Touch in April 2018 to the public. The browser was available for Android initially but it is now also available for Apple iOS devices.
One of the features that sets Opera Touch apart from other browsers, including Opera Software's main browser for Android or iOS, is a feature that Opera Software calls Opera Flow.
Opera Flow is available in Opera Touch and on desktop versions of the Opera web browser. The initial version of Opera Flow allowed users to share links, images, videos, and other content using Opera Flow.
Opera Flow restricted the file types that you could share between devices initially but the most recent Opera Touch update lifts the limit. Means: Opera users may use Opera Flow to transfer files between desktop and mobile systems using the feature.
Opera Flow file sharing works on all devices that Opera Touch or desktop versions of Opera are available on.
The very first thing that you need to do is set up Opera My Flow to connect Opera Touch to a desktop version of Opera.
- Make sure that My Flow is enabled in the Opera Settings on the desktop: opera://settings/?search=my+flow
- Install Opera Touch on your mobile device.
- Click on the My Flow icon in the sidebar panel on the desktop and follow instructions to connect the browser with Opera Touch; this is done by scanning a QR code that is displayed on the desktop system.
My Flow is set up from that moment on. To share files from the desktop to mobile devices, activate My Flow in the sidebar panel and click on the file upload icon in the interface that opens.
Pick a file from the local system that you want to upload to start the process. Opera restricts the file size to 10 Megabytes in the current iteration but does not restrict file types.
Files are uploaded to an encrypted space in the cloud and stored there for a period of 48 hours. You may access the files from any device that runs a version of the Opera web browser that supports My Flow.
If you uploaded a file on the desktop, select MyFlow on the mobile device to find it listed there immediately. A tap on download downloads it to the local device. Files may be deleted from any device: move the mouse over the file and select Menu > Delete on the desktop to do so, or long tap on the file in Opera Touch and select delete to delete it on mobile devices.
A click on the settings button in the My Flow interface on desktop or a tap on Menu > Settings in Opera Touch displays options to delete all My Flow data or delete the entire space. The latter disconnects the PC from the mobile device entirely.
Closing Words
The file sharing feature of My Flow is not new but the lifting of file type restrictions is. You can use the feature to share files between your desktop computers and mobile devices provided that are not larger than 10 Megabytes in size.
Opera users may use it to move files quickly between desktop and mobile devices. Others might install the browsers just to enable the file sharing functionality even though it is just one of many options to transfer files between devices. I could not find any information about the encryption that Opera Software uses to protect data.
Now You: how do you transfer files between your mobile devices and desktop computers?
