IPFS Mobile Guidelines
  • Introduction
  • Context
    • Considerations for Mobile
    • Methodology
  • Application Survey
    • Mobile Browsers
      • Android Chrome
      • iOS Safari
    • Mobile Sharing Interaction
      • Android sharing
      • iOS sharing
    • Application Survey
      • ManyVerse
      • Sharedrop.io
      • Status
      • FrostWire
      • uTorrent Mobile
      • Haven
      • Fairdrop
    • Features Survey
    • Interaction Survey
    • Findings
  • User Research
    • Assumptions
    • Interviews
      • Experts
        • P2
        • P3
        • P7
        • P14
        • P15
      • Early Adopters
        • P1
        • P4
        • P5
        • P6
        • P8
        • P9
        • P10
        • P11
        • P12
        • P13
      • Potential Users
        • P16
        • P17
        • P18
        • P19
        • P20
        • P21
    • Findings
  • Design
    • Design Strategy
    • Design Workshop
    • Principles
      • Respect the device
      • Explain, don't overwhelm
      • Make privacy work for the user
      • Give control over data
      • Be seamless
    • Scenarios
      • The user onboards confidently with minimal technical knowledge
      • The user shares a file through another app
      • Large file sent to user
      • User plays a shared media file without wifi or mobile network
      • A user manages their chat identity
    • Findings
    • Credits
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  1. Application Survey

Mobile Sharing Interaction

PreviousiOS SafariNextAndroid sharing

Last updated 4 years ago

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Mobile sharing of files is a common activity for all ranges of users, but what sort of file shared varies from the desktop. One of the most typical sharing and receiving interactions on mobile devices is the sharing of photos and is done often by sending the file from one phone to another, often with a messaging service. While sharing songs and videos is also common, it is usually not done by sending the actual file from device to device. A messaging app is generally used to send a link to an audio or videos streaming service such as YouTube. Sharing photos was chosen as an interaction to begin to understand how mobile users would think about how to get a file from their phone to another device.

Key findings

  • Messaging is the primary method of sharing or sending files such as photos

  • iOS and Android both share common patterns in how a user can share files on their mobile devices such as photos, which is find and select photo -> choose messaging app -> add contact -> add message -> send

  • AirDrop is quite possibly the simplest sharing pattern with the fewest steps. This is facilitated by using Apple devices already connected with each other. This means that each device has an ID already and the user clicks and it sends to them. It is also important to note the end user does not need to verify when they send the photo. Its seamless and just appears in the photos gallery.

Read more about sharing on Android
Read more about sharing on iOS